First-place Rangers, Royals square off in KC

Baseball Betting Lines

08/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Texas Rangers can get their road record to .500 and maintain a stranglehold on the American League's West Division tonight, when they visit the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Rangers dropped an 8-2 decision to Oakland on Sunday in the rubber match of their three-game series, but still own a 7 1/2-game lead on the second- place Athletics. Texas heads to Kansas City at 30-31 in 61 road games in 2010.

A's starter Gio Gonzalez (12-8) gave up just two runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts for the Athletics, who took the final two games after dropping Friday's opener. Coco Crisp finished 2-for-4 with an RBI while Kevin Kouzmanoff and Mark Ellis each hit a solo home run.

Josh Hamilton hit a solo home run as well and drove in the other run for the Rangers, who have dropped three of four.

Colby Lewis (9-11) was tagged for seven runs -- six earned -- on eight hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

The Rangers go with breakout lefty C.J. Wilson, a former closer who's won six straight decisions since July 11.

The 29-year-old, who entered the season with 12 wins in 258 major-league appearances, picked up his 13th win of the year with a 4-3 decision over Minnesota on Aug. 25 after allowing seven hits and three runs in six innings.

He's pitched at least six innings five times and allowed three runs or less seven times in the unbeaten streak, which has seen his earned run average drop from 3.35 to 3.02 in eight starts.

Wilson tossed a complete game in his most recent meeting with the Royals, allowing five hits and a run in a 4-1 victory on May 7 in Texas.

He is 1-0 with six saves in 11 career meetings with Kansas City and 3-3 in 10 road starts this season.

For the Royals, righty Kyle Davies starts for the seventh time in his career against the Rangers while still seeking his first win.

The 26-year-old got a no-decision after he was ripped for nine hits and nine runs in four innings of a 13-12 Texas win on May 6.

He is 0-3 with a 7.62 ERA against the Rangers in 28 1/3 innings.

Davies was a 9-1 loser at Detroit in his most recent start on Aug. 24 after giving up 12 hits and seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.

His last win came Aug. 13 against the New York Yankees.

On Sunday, Mitch Maier homered and drove in two runs, helping the Royals salvage a three-game series with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.

Alex Gordon added two hits, while Kila Ka'aihue had an RBI double for the Royals, who had lost four of their last five. Brayan Pena drove in a pair of runs in the win.

Bruce Chen (9-7) won for the fourth time in six starts after allowing just two runs on six hits and two walks in six-plus frames.

The Rangers had a six-game series winning streak halted in the last meeting between the club's on May 26. That victory by the Royals gave them a split of a quick two-game set at Kansas City, where Texas has still won eight of the past 11 meetings.

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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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