Cards use long ball to down Braves in extra innings

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2007 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols' two-out home run in the eighth tied the game and Skip Schumaker and Scott Rolen both went deep in the 10th inning, as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past the Atlanta Braves, 7-2, in the finale of a four-game set at Turner Field.

Trailing 2-1 in the eighth, Pujols sent a 1-1 offering from Rafael Soriano off the glove of left fielder Willie Harris and over the wall for a game-tying home run.

Atlanta had the bases loaded with two outs in the home half of the inning, but Ryan Franklin got Jarrod Saltalamacchia to line out to end the threat.

Aaron Miles then led off the 10th with a single off Tyler Yates (2-2) and one out later, Schumaker sent an 0-1 pitch just over the wall in right field to give St. Louis the lead.

Pujols followed with a walk and Juan Encarnacion's single put runners on the corners. Oscar Villarreal entered the game in place of Yates and struck out Chris Duncan, but Rolen smacked a three-run blast into the left field bleachers to blow the game open.

Jason Isringhausen (4-0) didn't give up a hit over the last two innings for St. Louis, striking out four to pick up the win.

Pujols finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Cardinals, who earned a split with Atlanta and finished a 10-game road trip at 5-5.

Kelly Johnson hit a solo home run for the Braves, who ended a 10-game homestand with a 5-5 record.

Atlanta got on the board in the third inning with two outs and nobody on base. Edgar Renteria beat out an infield single before Chipper Jones sent him home with a double to left.

Johnson followed with his 10th home run of the season to lead off the fourth inning and make it 2-0.

Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes, meanwhile, pitched five shutout innings before running into trouble in the sixth. So Taguchi led off with a single and Pujols' double put runners on second and third with no outs. Encarnacion's subsequent groundout was enough to score Taguchi from third.

Reyes followed with a walk to Ryan Ludwick and his night was over. Peter Moylan took the mound for the Braves and got Rolen to ground into an inning- ending double play.

Reyes, looking for his first major league win in his third career start, gave up just one run on three hits through 5 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and four walks. St. Louis starter Brad Thompson, meanwhile lasted six innings, yielding a pair of runs on six hits.

Game Notes

Rolen is now four RBI shy of 1,000 for his career...Franklin finished with two shutout innings of relief for the Cardinals...Attendance was 39,181.

Wwwbetonsports Baseball Betting News

<< Erpen helps Rapids earn draw against 10-man K.C.
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eddie Johnson scored a pair of goals in the first half but a goal by Colorado's Facundo Erpen in the 77th minute earned the Rapids a 2-2 draw against a 10-man Kansas City Wizards team at Arrowhe

<< Ambres' hit sends Mets past Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chip Ambres hit a two-out RBI single in the 10th inning to give New York the lead, as the Mets rallied late to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, in the finale of a four-game set. Nomar Garciaparra's tw

<< Schelotto's double carries Crew to victory over TFC
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored a pair of second-half goals to lead the Columbus Crew to a 2-0 win over Toronto FC at Crew Stadium on Sunday. Schelotto scored his third and fourth goals of the season

<< Ogilvie finally has first PGA Tour win
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The smile didn't go away, stuck to Joe Ogilvie's face all the way through his post-round interviews. It will likely still be there when he wakes up Monday morning. Why wouldn't it be? Ogilvie, on

<< Durbin dazzles as Phils blank Padres
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.D. Durbin tossed nine scoreless innings to notch his first-career shutout, as the Philadelphia Phillies blanked the San Diego Padres, 9-0, at Petco Park. Durbin (2-2) gave up five hits while striking o

Indians rip Rangers >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Barfield went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI to lead the Cleveland Indians past the Texas Rangers, 8-3. Casey Blake also had three hits, including a pair of doubles, for the Indians, who h

Report: Florida lawmen called to home of NBA ref being investigated for betting on games >>
NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who's being investigated by the FBI for betting on games he worked, had local lawmen at his Florida home Sunday because of threatening phone calls he's received, according to The New York Post.Three squad cars from the Manat

Report: former NBA ref receives death threats >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who is under investigation by the FBI for allegedly betting on and fixing games that he worked during the past two seasons, reportedly called local police t

Minor league coach dies during game >>
North Little Rock, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines ) - Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday after being hit in the head by a line drive while he was serving as the team's first base coach against the Arkansas Travelers. Tino Sanchez hit a line

Nets sign Frank to extension >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets signed head coach Lawrence Frank to a multi-year extension. Per club policy, financial terms were not disclosed. "We are pleased to announce this contract extension, which wil

Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards

Sportsbooks That Take US Credit Cards for NFL football betting

Sportsbooks that take credit cards are not always easy to come by....Everything from credit card companies denying gambling transactions to the fear of chargebacks by customers has slowed down sportsbook credit card transactions by a high percentage.

There are however still sportsbooks that take credit cards.

When using your credit card it is highly recommended that you try either: MySportsbook.com or Sportsbooks.com. Both sportsbooks have a high rate of accepting credit cards and will save you the time and hassle of looking around the web to make a credit card transaction.

Furthermore, Sportsbooks.com is one of the oldest sportsbooks on the web and Sportsbook offers security in that they are the biggest online sportsbook in the world! Publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, they are ROCK SOLID!

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.