08/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daisuke Matsuzaka tries for his 14th win of the season this evening, as the Boston Red Sox try and complete a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.
Matsuzaka, who won 15 games last season for the Red Sox, won his second straight start on Saturday against Chicago, as he allowed a run and four hits in eight innings to run his mark to 13-2 on the season, while lowering his earned run average to 2.90.
The 27-year-old right-hander defeated the Rangers earlier in the year and is 2-0 lifetime against them, despite a 6.97 ERA.
Texas will counter with 22-year-old rookie Tommy Hunter, who will be making just the third major league start of his career. Hunter lost to the Yankees his last time out, surrendering five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, dropping the righty to 0-1 in his young career to go along with a 10.61 ERA.
Hunter, who has never faced the Red Sox, has the unenviable task of slowing down a Boston offense that has crossed the plate 27 times through the first two games of this set.
After scoring 19 runs in a wild series opener, Boston again broke out the bats in game two of this set on Wednesday, as Kevin Youkilis hit three doubles and knocked in two runs to pace the Red Sox to an 8-4 win.
Jon Lester (11-4) pitched into the eighth inning to get the win and allowed three runs on seven hits, with one walk and six strikeouts, in 7 1/3 innings.
Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie each finished 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Red Sox, who won their third in a row, despite not having third baseman Mike Lowell. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle on Wednesday, after leaving in the seventh inning of Tuesday's matchup.
Luis Mendoza (3-6) gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- on nine hits in four- plus frames to absorb the loss for the Rangers, who have lost six of seven.
Milton Bradley hit a three-run homer, while Ian Kinsler added a solo shot for Texas. Outfielder Josh Hamilton was 0-for-3 before leaving to fly back to Texas in order to be with his wife, who went into labor.
The Rangers will be trying to end a string of seven straight defeats at Fenway Park tonight. The Red Sox swept a four-game set from Texas at home from April 18-21.
Boston has also won 12 of the last 14 overall meetings between these teams.
<< Diamondbacks aim to get on track in finale with Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks try to maintain at least a share
of the top spot in the National League West this afternoon when they conclude
a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Arizona relinquished sol
<< Astros host Giants seeking eighth straight win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot veteran Brian Moehler tries to keep the magic going
for his rolling teammates today when the Houston Astros host the San Francisco
Giants in the fourth and final game of their cross-division series at Minute
Maid Park
<< CFL Previews - Week 8 (August 14-15)
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (2-5) AT WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (1-6)
DATE & TIME: Thursday, August 14, 8 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: It's not even the midpoint of the regular season and already the
Winnipeg Blue
<< Let's settle arguments on the track
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trash talk is not a common feature in
horse racing. The humans involved in the Sport of Kings don't usually bad-
mouth the other people in the sport. They talk about their horses and find
reasons
Jays shoot for rare sweep of Tigers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blue Jays have never swept a four-game series with the
Tigers. Toronto gets a chance to do just that today, when it wraps a four-game
set with Detroit at Comerica Park.
Toronto has outscored Detroit 17-9 over the
KC tries to plate runs in finale at Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have been unable to plate any runs
in this series with Chicago, and today face a young hurler they failed to
score against in his major-league debut.
With Lance Broadway set to take the hil
Shields leads Rays against A's at McAfee Coliseum >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Shields tries for his seventh win in his last 10
outings this afternoon, as his Tampa Bay Rays close out a three-game series
with the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum.
Shields is 6-2 with an earned run
NCAA Football Preview - UCLA Bruins >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Last season the Bruins opened the campaign ranked 14th
in the nation, and after victories over Stanford (45-17) and BYU (27-17) UCLA
moved up to 11th in the country, but after that the
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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