Boston and Buchholz spoil Samuel's Orioles debut

Baseball Betting Lines

06/04/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clay Buchholz threw his second career shutout to help the Boston Red Sox rout the Orioles, 11-0, in Juan Samuel's managerial debut on the Baltimore bench.

Buchholz (8-3), who threw only his third career complete game and first since 2008, set a new career-high in wins with the five-hitter. Ironically, both of his whitewashes have come against Baltimore, although the first one was a no- hitter in his second career start on September 1, 2007.

The 25-year-old walked only one batter and struck out two to move into a tie atop the AL's win list with Tampa Bay's David Price. It was the fifth consecutive start in which Buchholz earned a win and Boston's fifth overall in six games.

Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro all homered for the Red Sox, who snapped a four-game losing streak to the Orioles.

Chris Tillman (0-1) was unable to get out of the second inning for Baltimore, which was playing its first game since the firing of manager Dave Trembley. Trembley, who ended his O's tenure with a 187-283 record, guided the Orioles to a league-worst 15-39 record at the time of his dismissal.

Trembley was replaced with Samuel, who is making his managerial debut after a 16-year playing career that ended in 1998. Samuel was unable to change the results in the short-term for Baltimore, which had just one runner reach third in its ninth consecutive defeat.

Tillman, meanwhile, gave up four runs, five hits and two walks in just 1 1/3 frames.

The Red Sox dominated from start to finish, scoring three runs in the first to get going.

Tillman quickly allowed Boston to load the bases with nobody out, allowing a leadoff single to Scutaro before issuing walks to Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.

Baltimore nearly got out of it with minimal damage, as Youkilis struck out and was followed by a Victor Martinez RBI groundout. J.D. Drew, though, came up and hammered a two-run double to center for a 3-0 advantage.

The O's put two runners on in the home half but couldn't score, and Pedroia added an RBI single in the second for a 4-0 lead, prompting Baltimore to bring in Mark Hendrickson out of the bullpen.

In the fourth, Bill Hall reached on a passed ball third strike leading off, and Scutaro followed with a single. Hendrickson retired the next two hitters, but Youkilis stepped up and belted a three-run homer to left for a 7-0 cushion. The lead grew to eight on Beltre's leadoff shot in the fifth off Matt Albers.

Scutaro's solo shot off Frank Mata in the eighth made it 9-0. Beltre's RBI double and Darnell McDonald's RBI groundout against Alberto Castillo in the ninth accounted for the final score.

Game Notes

Buchholz has won nine straight road starts, dating back to August 19, 2009...Red Sox starters have gone at least six innings in six straight games...The Orioles still lead the season series, 4-3...Boston has won six straight road games overall...Samuel was previously Baltimore's third base coach. Triple-A Norfolk manager Gary Allenson was promoted to take over Samuel's position on an interim basis.

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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.