Paulino, Bucs top Cards

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2007 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ronny Paulino belted a three-run homer, and Jack Wilson drove in three runs in Pittsburgh's 8-2 win over St. Louis, spoiling Mark Mulder's 2007 debut and sending the Cardinals to another tough defeat in their playoff chase.

Mulder (0-1) underwent left rotator cuff surgery last September and missed St. Louis' run to a World Series title. The lefty, in his first outing since August 29, 2006, was torched for eight hits and six runs over four innings. This marked his first career loss (6-1) in nine starts against the Pirates.

Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who fell two games behind first-place Chicago in the NL Central. St. Louis is also 1 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the division.

Adam LaRoche added a solo homer and scored twice for the Pirates, who have won two of three in the series, which concludes Thursday afternoon.

Tony Armas (3-5) allowed five hits and two runs over six innings for Pittsburgh.

The Pirates loaded the bases in the first inning on singles by LaRoche, Jason Bay and Paulino, and with one out Wilson doubled to left field to clear the bases.

Ankiel homered with David Eckstein on base in the third, but Paulino's big blast in the fourth extended Pittsburgh's lead. Bay walked before Steven Pearce doubled. Paulino then pounded his 10th homer of the year, a shot to center.

LaRoche homered off Brian Falkenborg with two down in the fifth, and Cesar Izturis singled in Pearce in the sixth for the final margin.

Game Notes

The start of the game was delayed nearly an hour due to rain...The Cardinals have still enjoyed much success over the Pirates, having gone 41-21 against them since the start of the 2004 season. That includes an 8-6 record this season...Ankiel has seven homers this year.

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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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