Reds, Owings seek to slow down Pujols

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Brad Thompson starts against the Cincinnati Reds for the second time this season today when the St. Louis Cardinals head to Great American Ball Park for the middle test of a three-game series with their National League Central Division rivals.

Thompson, who entered 2009 with just 24 starts in 153 big-league appearances, began this season with nine straight outings out of the bullpen before getting a start against the Reds on June 2.

He went five innings in the Cardinals' 5-2 win, getting a no-decision after giving up five hits and two runs in five innings.

Since, he's 2-3 in five starts, allowing 16 earned runs in 28 1/3 innings.

For Cincinnati, resurgent No. 5 starter Micah Owings seeks a third win in four starts.

The 26-year-old Georgian was 3-7 after losing four straight starts between May 16 and June 5, before toppling Atlanta, 4-3, on June 17.

He dropped a 7-5 verdict at Toronto six days later, but recovered again in the northeastern portion of the "Battle of Ohio," defeating the Cleveland Indians, 8-1, with six innings of five-hit, one-run ball.

Owings got a no-decision in his lone career start against the Cardinals while with Arizona, giving up four hits and seven runs - two earned - in 2 2/3 innings.

The Cardinals enter the day in sole possession of first place in the tightly- bunched NL Central, leading second-place Milwaukee by a game, while the Reds sit fourth in the six-team loop, three games behind.

On Friday, Jarrett Hoffpauir came through in a big way in his major league debut, hitting the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth inning, lifting St. Louis to a 7-4 win.

Fresh off being named NL Player of the Month, Albert Pujols belted his fourth grand slam of the season in the eighth inning and knocked in five runs over the final two frames. He upped his major league- leading totals to 31 homers and 82 RBI.

Jerry Hairston Jr. had three hits and an RBI for the Reds, who had won four of five coming into the weekend.

Reds starter Homer Bailey had a strong outing, yielding three hits and two runs over 7 1/3 innings, while St. Louis' Joel Pineiro allowed eight hits and three runs -- two earned -- in seven frames.

Nick Masset was on the mound for the top of the ninth, but left after taking a ball of his arm. Danny Herrera (1-4) then relieved Masset and retired Joe Thurston on a pop-up, but Colby Rasmus and Brendan Ryan singled and Skip Schumaker was safe on an error by shortstop Paul Janish, a ball that he couldn't handle on a short hop.

Then, in his first official big league at-bat, Hoffpauir smacked a soft liner to left field. Hoffpauir, a sixth-round draft pick by the Cardinals in 2004, was called up Wednesday from Triple-A Memphis and became the 15th rookie to appear with St. Louis this year.

Pujols then greeted reliever Carlos Fisher with an RBI double down the left- field line.

It was a tenuous bottom of the ninth, but Ryan Franklin was able to pick up his 20th save of the year. Edwin Encarnacion doubled with one out, and Willy Taveras walked with two down, putting runners at the corners. Joey Votto walked before Brandon Phillips struck out to end the game.

Cincinnati has split its eight meetings with the Cards this season.

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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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