Angels hope to add to Dodgers' woes

Baseball Betting Lines

06/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In addition to calling the same metropolitan area home, both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers hold the title of defending division champions. Only one of these teams has been playing like a contender as of late, however.

The Angels will try to pin a sixth consecutive loss on the reeling Dodgers when the Southern California foes continue the latest edition of the Freeway Series tonight at Angel Stadium.

Anaheim extended the Dodgers' woes with a 6-3 triumph in Tuesday's opener of this three-game interleague set, with the Angels scoring three times in both the sixth and seventh innings to overcome an early 3-0 deficit. The win was also the fourth in the row for the Halos in this rivalry, with Mike Scioscia's squad having swept a three-game series at Dodger Stadium from June 11-13.

The Angels have also prevailed in 17 of their past 24 meetings with the Dodgers and own a 9-3 record at Angel Stadium over that span, although the Dodgers did take two of three bouts between the teams at the Big A last season.

Anaheim tied last night's contest on Bobby Abreu's three-run homer off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the sixth, then went in front on a Howie Kendrick RBI single one inning later. Kevin Frandsen followed with a two-run double to lengthen the margin to 6-3.

Kendrick finished 3-for-4 and scored twice for the Angels, who have won four of their last five tests and are 14-5 since June 2. The team still trails red- hot Texas by 3 1/2 games for first place in the American League West. Ervin Santana (7-5) did his part as well, with the Anaheim starter allowing three runs and striking out six over the first seven innings to record the victory.

Kershaw (7-4) was charged with giving up five runs in his 6 2/3-inning stint, with the young southpaw fanning six while issuing three walks.

"Abreu hitting the three-run homer was a game-changer," said Kershaw. "He's a good hitter. It was my fault. This one hurts."

The Dodgers have now dropped eight of their last 10 tilts and have fallen into third place in the NL West, three games behind front-running San Diego. The club has not lost six straight times since an eight-game skid from August 22-29, 2008.

A matchup with Joel Pineiro may not help the Dodgers break out of their funk, considering the Anaheim hurler's track of record of success against Joe Torre's team. The veteran right-hander owns a 3-0 record with a 2.67 earned run average in four lifetime starts against the Dodgers and fired a complete- game five-hitter with seven strikeouts in the Angels' 10-1 rout at Chavez Ravine on June 11.

Pineiro followed up with an equally-as-good performance on June 16, limiting Milwaukee to a run on three hits over eight innings to win his third consecutive start. He's pitched to a 2.35 ERA over that strong stretch.

The 31-year-old has gone 6-6 with a 4.45 ERA in 14 starts for the season, his first since signing a two-year free-agent contract with Anaheim in January. In seven starts at Angel Stadium, Pineiro is 3-2 with a very solid 2.40 ERA and surrendered just two homers in 48 2/3 innings of work over those games.

The Dodgers will hand the ball to John Ely this evening, with the rookie hoping to atone for a rough last start. The right-hander lasted just 4 2/3 innings of his team's 7-1 loss at Cincinnati on Thursday and was rocked for seven runs on eight hits, three of which were homers.

Ely had compiled a 3-2 record with an impressive 2.54 ERA through his first eight major league starts, but he's gone 0-2 with an awful 9.20 ERA over his past three assignments and hasn't pitched beyond five innings at any point during that span. One of those defeats came against the Angels on June 12, with the 24-year-old permitting four runs in five frames.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.