A's Cahill puts unbeaten streak on the line against Orioles

Baseball Betting Lines

07/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics young starter Trevor Cahill is making a case for the American League All-Star team and will try to keep his unbeaten streak intact tonight against the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of a three- game series from Camden Yards.

Cahill is 6-0 with a 2.24 earned run average in his last eight starts with the opposition batting only .198 over that streak. Cahill's run is a career best and he has yet to allow a run in the first inning this season. He previously pitched in Saturday's 5-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and held them scoreless through 7 2/3 innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts.

The right-hander, whose last loss came on May 16 against the LA Angels of Anaheim, beat the Orioles on the road this season on May 26. Cahill lasted six innings and gave up one run to improve to 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in three career starts against Baltimore. In 12 total starts this season, Cahill is 7-2 with a 2.88 earned run average.

Baltimore will send out a young hurler of its own for Thursday's series finale, as Jake Arrieta is slated to make his fifth career start. Arrieta broke out on the scene with consecutive wins, but is 0-1 with a 12.27 earned run average in his last two trips to the hill.

Arrieta did not record a decision versus Washington last Friday, when he gave up six runs -- five earned -- and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings of his team's 7-6 win. Overall, the righty is 2-1 with a 6.20 ERA and 1-0 in two home starts. Arrieta has never faced the Pirates.

The Orioles hope Arrieta can stay unbeaten at home as they try to win their second straight series after beating Oakland, 9-6, in Wednesday's second portion of this three-game set. After the A's took a 6-3 lead with a six-run fourth inning, the homer parade started with Ty Wigginton belting a two-run shot and Luke Scott adding a solo homer in the seventh.

Baltimore then closed out the scoring for a 9-6 advantage thanks to Miguel Tejada's two-run shot in the eighth. Corey Patterson and Adam Jones also went deep and Matt Albers was credited with the win for tossing a scoreless inning of relief. Kevin Millwood started and yielded six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits in six frames for the no-decision.

Alfredo Simon then closed the door in the ninth for his 10th save.

"We're trying to continuously play hard," Jones said. "Play the game we all know. All we can do is leave it on the field. Everybody wants to win, so we're going out there and giving all we got."

After today's game versus the Athletics, Baltimore will hit the road for 10 games against Boston, Detroit and Texas.

Oakland has lost 11 of its last 17 games and had a four-game winning streak come to an end with yesterday's 9-6 loss. Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer during a six-run fourth inning and Mark Ellis finished 3-for-4 with a run scored for the A's, who will visit Cleveland for three games after this set.

"This was a really frustrating loss," Ellis said. "We scored some runs ... When we score runs, we usually win games, and this was a tough one for us. We've got another one tomorrow, and we can still win the series."

Athletics starter Ben Sheets lasted six innings and gave up four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in the no- decision. Cedrick Bowers was tagged with the loss.

Oakland has won six of nine meetings with Baltimore this season and is 16-4 in the previous 20 contests between the clubs.

Horsetacing Baseball Betting News

<< Yanks, Sabathia aim to avoid sweep at hands of Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot Yankees ace CC Sabathia puts his five-start winning streak and unblemished home record on the line this afternoon against the Seattle Mariners in the finale of a three-game series from the Bronx. Sabathia has pitch

<< Jays, Marcum hope to avoid brooms in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blue Jays were left without an ace when they traded Roy Halladay this past offseason, but Shaun Marcum has wasted little time claiming ownership of the title. Marcum will try to prevent his Toronto squad from getting s

<< Zvonareva reaches Wimbledon final
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Vera Zvonareva landed in her first career Grand Slam final on Thursday by overcoming upstart Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in semifinal action at Wimbledon 2010. The 21st-seeded Zvonareva's oppon

<< Ex-NHLer Hinote joins Blue Jackets staff
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -Former NHL veteran Dan Hinote (HIGH'-note) has been hired as an assistant coach by the Columbus Blue Jackets.The club announced the hiring on Thursday. Hinote helped the Colorado Avalanche win the 2001 Stanley Cup.Hinote will be

<< Report: Bucks reach deal with Gooden
Sunnyvale, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly reached an agreement on a multi-year contract with forward Drew Gooden, just hours after the NBA free agency period began. According to Yahoo! Sports, Gooden has

Pavano goes for Twins in opener with Rays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An injury on Wednesday forced the Twins to go to their bullpen a little earlier then they might have needed to. With Carl Pavano set to start tonight versus the Rays, Minnesota's relief group might get rewarded with some mor

Santana leads Mets into series opener at Nationals Park >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Santana tries to avoid a third straight loss this evening when the New York Mets begin a four-game series with the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Santana has actually lost three of his last four out

Giants kick off road trip in Colorado >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants hope to avoid a sixth straight loss this evening, as they kick off an 11-game road trip with the first of four games against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Giants managed to bea

Red-hot Rangers go for another series win in Anaheim >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers turn the page on an outstanding June, the arrival of Vladimir Guerrero's old team has him getting in on the offensive act as well. Hamilton and Guerrero will attempt to lead their cl

Cardinals, Brewers renew rivalry at Busch Stadium >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals are once again on the outside looking in when it comes to the National League Central Division. Tonight they'll open a four-game series with the rival Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium

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.