Shields and Verlander square off at the Trop

Baseball Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After being on the receiving end of several no-hitters over the past year, the Tampa Bay Rays finally got one of their own last night.

Fresh off Matt Garza's pitching gem, the Rays will attempt to pin an eighth consecutive road loss on the slumping Detroit Tigers when these two teams continue a four-game series from Tropicana Field this evening.

Tampa Bay kicked off its current 11-game homestand in memorable fashion on Monday, when Garza became the first pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter in a 5-0 triumph over the Tigers. The standout right-hander faced the minimum 27 batters, with a second-inning walk to Brennan Boesch accounting for Detroit's lone baserunner on the night.

"I don't care who it came from, we needed one," said Garza, who struck out six and tied a career high with his 11th win. "We've been on way too many of those in the last year. We've seen three of those and we've seen some almost happen. We needed one just for our own confidence."

Tampa Bay was the victim of a no-hitter twice earlier this season, including a perfect game by Oakland's Dallas Braden on May 9. Former Ray Edwin Jackson also held his old team hitless while with Arizona on June 25, and Chicago White Sox ace Mark Buehrle's unforgettable perfect game came against Tampa on July 23, 2009.

The Rays seemed to be on their way to another hitless night on Monday, as Detroit starter Max Scherzer didn't allow one over the first 5 2/3 innings of the contest. That streak came to an end when Matt Joyce belted a grand slam on a full-count pitch to snap a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the sixth.

Tampa Bay had loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an interference call on Tigers catcher Gerald Laird.

"I honestly had the approach where I was going to hit a hard ground ball up the middle," said Joyce. "You know, 3-2, it was a fastball and I put good wood on it."

Scherzer (7-8) left after giving up a single to Jason Bartlett following Joyce's slam and was reached for four runs (three earned) while striking out eight over his 5 2/3-inning stint.

Carl Crawford added a solo homer later on for Tampa Bay, which has now won three in a row and remained three games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East. The Rays lead the Wild Card standings by five games over Boston.

Detroit, on the other hand, has now dropped 10 of their last 13 and fallen three games back of Chicago for the top spot in the AL Central. The Tigers have also lost eight straight on the road and are a woeful 16-30 as the visitor this year.

The Tigers will turn to ace Justin Verlander tonight in hopes of getting back on track. The All-Star hurler has been one of the few recent bright spots for the sputtering club as of late, as he's won four straight and seven of his last eight decisions to improve to 12-5 over 20 overall starts in 2010. The 2006 AL Rookie of the Year honoree has also been able to pitch deep in games, having worked into the seventh inning in 10 of his last 13 trips to the hill.

The hard-throwing righty kept up his strong recent form by limiting Toronto to two runs over eight innings to lead Detroit to a 5-2 triumph last Thursday at Comerica Park. He's also one of the few Tiger pitchers to have some success on the road, bringing a 5-3 record with a 4.99 earned run average in 10 away starts into tonight's clash.

The Rays are well aware of Verlander's abilities, considering the 27-year-old boasts a 4-0 record with a 3.55 ERA in six career meetings with Tampa Bay. He's prevailed in both of his two previous starts at Tropicana Field and allowed only four runs in a combined 13 innings over those games.

Verlander has also thrown a no-hitter once in his career, having accomplished the feat against Milwaukee on June 12, 2007. He may have to be in top form again tonight, considering how a Detroit offense that's missing three key regulars in Magglio Ordonez (fractured right ankle), Brandon Inge (broken hand) and Carlos Guillen (calf strain) has fared of late.

Detroit did sweep a three-game set from the Rays at Tropicana Field last September and won six of eight overall meetings between the clubs in 2009.

Verlander's counterpart this evening, James Shields, has also performed quite well when called upon in this series. The Tampa righty sports a 3-0 mark with a 3.93 ERA in six lifetime starts against Detroit.

Unlike Verlander, Shields hasn't been on top of his game as of late. The durable 28-year-old has permitted four or more runs in five of his last six outings and has posted a substandard 7.25 ERA in a 10-start stretch dating back to May 30. He's lost eight of his last 11 decisions as well and had problems pitching at home, where the California native carries an unwanted 1-5 record and 5.59 ERA in nine 2010 starts.

Shields was able to notch a win by battling through 6 1/3 innings at Baltimore this past Wednesday, surrendering four runs on eight hits in the Rays' 5-4 decision.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

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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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