Angels and Dodgers to wrap up latest Freeway Series

Baseball Betting Lines

06/17/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelvim Escobar will try continue his strong start to the season as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim wrap up a three-game interleague set with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the latest edition of the Freeway Series from Dodger Stadium.

Escobar, who came into the 2007 campaign with a 25-28 record in three seasons as an Angel, is off to a strong start and currently ranks sixth in the AL with a 2.89 earned run average. The veteran right-hander has yielded just 10 earned runs in 38 innings over his last five starts, with five of those runs coming in a loss to Baltimore on May 31.

On Tuesday, Escobar failed to earn a decision in a 5-3 loss at Cincinnati after allowing three earned runs and five hits over six innings of work. He walked just one while striking out a career-high 14 batters. It was the most strikeouts by an Angel since Chuck Finley fanned 15 against the Yankees in 1995.

In three career starts against the Dodgers, Escobar is 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. He picked up the win against the Dodgers on May 20th, allowing just three hits over eight scoreless innings of a 4-1 triumph.

Taking the hill for the Dodgers today will be Randy Wolf, who has earned victories in five of his last six decisions. On Monday, the left-hander defeated the Mets by yielding three earned runs and nine hits over six innings in a 5-3 Los Angeles triumph.

Wolf, who is 6-2 with a 3.62 ERA in nine home starts this season, has never faced the Angels in his career.

On Saturday, Jered Weaver tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings to win his fifth consecutive decision as the Angels blanked the Dodgers, 3-0.

Weaver (6-3) yielded four hits and four walks while striking out three for the Angels, who have won three of their last four and 10 of 14.

The Angels scored all of their runs in the fifth-inning, highlighted by a Reggie Willits two-RBI single and a run-scoring hit from Howie Kendrick.

After retiring the first two batters of the fifth, Dodgers starter Jason Schmidt got into trouble. He plunked Vladimir Guerrero before Gary Matthews Jr. singled to right and Casey Kotchman walked to load the bases for Willits, who singled to right to plate Guerrero and Matthews.

Schmidt (1-4) went 4 2/3 frames, allowing three runs on five hits while walking four and striking out two for the Dodgers, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

The Angels swept the Dodgers in a three-game set in Anaheim last month, outscoring their area rivals 19-4 in the process. However, the Angels have lost five of the last six games as the visitor in this series.

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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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