Cardinals hope to keep playoff hopes alive vs. Astros
Baseball Betting Lines
09/28/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have a chance to punch their ticket to the postseason tonight in the finale of a three-game series against the Houston Astros from Minute Maid Park.
The Cardinals forced a tie with Atlanta atop the National League wild card standings thanks to a 13-6 win last night coupled with Atlanta's setback to Philadelphia. If the Cardinals and Braves are tied at the end of the day, there will be a one-game playoff between the teams Thursday at Busch Stadium.
"There's a different story between tying and finishing it off, so we have another step," Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said.
LA Russa's club was at one point 10 1/2 games off the wild card lead.
Allen Craig finished 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and four RBI, while Nick Punto collected four hits, including a home run, for the Cardinals, who had dropped three of five games. Skip Schumaker knocked in three runs and Lance Berkman posted three hits and three runs scored in the win.
Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook lasted only 2 1/3 innings and allowed five runs and seven hits for the no-decision. Eduardo Sanchez tossed 1 1/3 shutout innings of relief for the win.
La Russa will hand the ball to staff ace Chris Carpenter tonight and he's 10-9 with a 3.59 earned run average in 33 starts this season. Carpenter owns a 2-0 mark in his previous five outings and did not figure into the decision of Friday's 5-1 loss against the Chicago Cubs. He held the Cubs to a run and five hits in seven innings of work.
The right-hander has faced Houston 18 times in his career, all starts, and is 7-5 with a 2.79 ERA in that stretch. Carpenter is 6-6 in 16 road starts.
Houston has lost five of eight games and hopes to close out a disappointing campaign on a high note. Enerio Del Rosario was charged with three runs in St. Louis' game-changing four-run seventh to take the loss.
"They have guys on their bench right now that for a lot of teams would be playing," Astros reliever Wesley Wright said of St. Louis' depth. "They can take out guys and replace them with guys that are just as good if not better."
Henry Sosa started for the 'Stros and allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings. Jose Altuve collected three hits and both Jimmy Paredes and Brett Wallace knocked in a pair of runs for the Astros.
Brett Myers draws the assignment for Houston on Wednesday and has won his last four trips to the mound. Myers fired six innings of one-run ball in an 11-2 win over Colorado his last time out on Friday, lifting his season record to 7-13 in 33 games (32 starts) with a 4.31 ERA.
In 19 career meetings (17 starts) against St. Louis, the right-hander is 6-5 with a 4.54 ERA.
St. Louis has won nine of 14 matchups with Houston this season.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran right-hander Miguel Batista starts his fourth game with the New York Mets when they end the 2011 season with the finale of a three-game series against Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. Batista began the year with 26 a
<< Royals, Twins conclude season at Target Field
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Bruce Chen can equal a career-high in victories
tonight when the Kansas City Royals wrap up the 2011 season in the finale of a
three-game series with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
Chen, who's played fo
<< Land of Lincoln battle pits Wildcats against Illini
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Ten rivals will collide in Champaign on
Saturday, as the hometown Illinois Fighting Illinois, ranked 24th in the
nation, play host to the Northwestern Wildcats.
Northwestern opened the season with back-to
<< Aggies and Hogs mix it up in Arlington
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas A&M Aggies of the Big 12 Conference
and Arkansas Razorbacks of the SEC will clash this weekend at Cowboys Stadium
in Arlington, Texas.
Texas A&M will be joining the SEC next season, so all f
<< Big Ten brawl features top-10 foes in Madison
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Ten action with conference title
implications is on tap this weekend in Madison, as the seventh-ranked
Wisconsin Badgers play host to the eighth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Bo Pelini's Cornhuskers will get
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A big reason the Boston Red Sox are in the position they are in is because of the way Jon Lester has pitched of late. Tonight, they hope the left-hander can extend their season when they wrap up a three-game series with the B
Rangers shoot for Texas-sized win vs. Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A victory tonight by the Texas Rangers would be significant
for a number of reasons.
The biggest?
It would lock up home-field advantage for the American League West champions
in the division series.
Texas is also
Tigers wrap set with Tribe seeking homefield >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers try to wrap up their regular season with
a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians this evening at Comerica Park.
The Tigers will open the American League Division Series on Friday, but who
they play i
Rays hope to come up big again versus Yankees >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays shoot for a fifth straight win but, more
importantly, try to extend their season this evening when they play the finale
of a three-game series with the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.
The Rays were
Marlins turn off lights at Sun Life Stadium vs. Strasburg, Nats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-handed phenom Stephen Strasburg makes his fifth and
final start of his comeback season today when the Washington Nationals visit
the Florida Marlins in the finale of both a schedule-closing three-game series
and the bas
MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds
With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.
Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season. Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money.
This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy. A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:
| Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame) Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma) Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State) Michael Bush (RB, Louisville) Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia) Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville) Chris Leak (QB, Florida) Mike Hart (RB, Michigan) Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State) Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame) Drew Tate (QB, Iowa) Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal) Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn) Chad Henne (QB, Michigan) Kyle Wright (QB, Miami) Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State) Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama) JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU) Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State) Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina) Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech) |
5-2 7-2 7-1 10-1 10-1 12-1 12-1 18-1 18-1 20-1 30-1 35-1 35-1 40-1 50-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 |
For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.
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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