Abreu's homer lifts Angels past Royals, completes sweep

Baseball Betting Lines

08/11/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobby Abreu hit a game-winning home run with one out in the 10th inning, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-1 victory and a three-game sweep over the Kansas City Royals.

Abreu's 14th home run of the season helped the Angels nab their fifth win in six games. Maicer Izturis added three hits, while Reggie Willits also scored a run in Los Angeles' 16th win in its last 20 games against Kansas City.

Jered Weaver went eight innings, allowing just one run on six hits and two walks while fanning 11. It was the sixth straight quality start and third straight in which he's given up one run or fewer. Brian Fuentes (4-1) earned the win for a scoreless inning.

Yuniesky Betancourt homered for the Royals, losers in four straight and six of seven. Zack Greinke matched Weaver inning for inning, lasting eight frames and yielding one run, six hits and a walk while striking out six.

Jesse Chavez (1-1) took the loss for giving up Abreu's homer.

The Royals threatened in the second with runners on the corners with two outs, but Weaver struck out Brayan Pena swinging to keep Kansas City off the board.

The Angels took advantage of their first threat of the game, taking the lead in the third inning.

Jeff Mathis singled leading off, but was erased at second on Willits' fielder's choice groundout. Willits moved to third on a single from Bobby Abreu, and Erick Aybar's sacrifice fly made it 1-0.

Weaver struck out five consecutive batters from the end of the fourth through the fifth, but Betancourt began the sixth inning with a home run to center, tying the game, 1-1.

Kansas City nearly went ahead in both the seventh and eighth, but came up short. Weaver allowed runners to reach the corners with one out in the seventh, but struck out Pena and induced a fly out from Betancourt. The Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Alex Gordon's swinging bunt was fielded by Weaver, who tagged out Gordon running down the first base line.

The Angels put a runner in scoring position in the ninth, but Mathis struck out with a chance to win the game. Fuentes struck out two in a perfect 10th inning, needing only nine pitches, to set up Abreu's dramatics.

Game Notes

The Angels won the 2010 season series, 7-3...Los Angeles recorded its first series sweep since June 11-13 against the Dodgers...The Royals finished 2-7 on a nine-game road trip, scoring just 17 runs in that stretch...The teams combined to finish 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position...With 11 strikeouts on Wednesday, Weaver set a new career-high, increasing his season total to a league-leading 182.

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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.

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