Angels hope to add to Dodgers' woes

Baseball Betting Lines

06/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In addition to calling the same metropolitan area home, both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers hold the title of defending division champions. Only one of these teams has been playing like a contender as of late, however.

The Angels will try to pin a sixth consecutive loss on the reeling Dodgers when the Southern California foes continue the latest edition of the Freeway Series tonight at Angel Stadium.

Anaheim extended the Dodgers' woes with a 6-3 triumph in Tuesday's opener of this three-game interleague set, with the Angels scoring three times in both the sixth and seventh innings to overcome an early 3-0 deficit. The win was also the fourth in the row for the Halos in this rivalry, with Mike Scioscia's squad having swept a three-game series at Dodger Stadium from June 11-13.

The Angels have also prevailed in 17 of their past 24 meetings with the Dodgers and own a 9-3 record at Angel Stadium over that span, although the Dodgers did take two of three bouts between the teams at the Big A last season.

Anaheim tied last night's contest on Bobby Abreu's three-run homer off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the sixth, then went in front on a Howie Kendrick RBI single one inning later. Kevin Frandsen followed with a two-run double to lengthen the margin to 6-3.

Kendrick finished 3-for-4 and scored twice for the Angels, who have won four of their last five tests and are 14-5 since June 2. The team still trails red- hot Texas by 3 1/2 games for first place in the American League West. Ervin Santana (7-5) did his part as well, with the Anaheim starter allowing three runs and striking out six over the first seven innings to record the victory.

Kershaw (7-4) was charged with giving up five runs in his 6 2/3-inning stint, with the young southpaw fanning six while issuing three walks.

"Abreu hitting the three-run homer was a game-changer," said Kershaw. "He's a good hitter. It was my fault. This one hurts."

The Dodgers have now dropped eight of their last 10 tilts and have fallen into third place in the NL West, three games behind front-running San Diego. The club has not lost six straight times since an eight-game skid from August 22-29, 2008.

A matchup with Joel Pineiro may not help the Dodgers break out of their funk, considering the Anaheim hurler's track of record of success against Joe Torre's team. The veteran right-hander owns a 3-0 record with a 2.67 earned run average in four lifetime starts against the Dodgers and fired a complete- game five-hitter with seven strikeouts in the Angels' 10-1 rout at Chavez Ravine on June 11.

Pineiro followed up with an equally-as-good performance on June 16, limiting Milwaukee to a run on three hits over eight innings to win his third consecutive start. He's pitched to a 2.35 ERA over that strong stretch.

The 31-year-old has gone 6-6 with a 4.45 ERA in 14 starts for the season, his first since signing a two-year free-agent contract with Anaheim in January. In seven starts at Angel Stadium, Pineiro is 3-2 with a very solid 2.40 ERA and surrendered just two homers in 48 2/3 innings of work over those games.

The Dodgers will hand the ball to John Ely this evening, with the rookie hoping to atone for a rough last start. The right-hander lasted just 4 2/3 innings of his team's 7-1 loss at Cincinnati on Thursday and was rocked for seven runs on eight hits, three of which were homers.

Ely had compiled a 3-2 record with an impressive 2.54 ERA through his first eight major league starts, but he's gone 0-2 with an awful 9.20 ERA over his past three assignments and hasn't pitched beyond five innings at any point during that span. One of those defeats came against the Angels on June 12, with the 24-year-old permitting four runs in five frames.

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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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