Yanks rout Rays to sweep doubleheader

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2007 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez belted his 33rd homer of the season, drove in four runs, and Johnny Damon had a four-RBI game as well to lead New York's 17-5 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, completing a sweep of a day/night doubleheader for the Yankees in the middle two games of a four- game set.

Rodriguez's homer brought him to within three of career number 500, and his four RBI put him at 96 on the season. Damon also scored three times for the Yankees, who pounded out 20 hits to win their seventh in nine games. Bobby Abreu finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored for New York.

Yankees starter Matt DeSalvo was rocked for seven hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. Luis Vizcaino (8-2) tossed 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his second win of the day.

JP Howell (1-4) surrendered a career-high 10 hits and career-high seven runs in five innings for the Devil Rays, who had won three of four after Friday's 14-4 rout of the Yanks, but have now dropped three of four. Jonny Gomes went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for Tampa Bay.

The Yankees picked right up with three runs in the first, plating two on Abreu's double to left-center. Rodriguez followed with a double to right- center, scoring Abreu.

Josh Wilson's two-run single in the second brought the Rays to within a run, but Damon's run-scoring groundout in the bottom of the inning made it a 4-2 Yankees lead.

New York tacked on three more in the third, courtesy of Robinson Cano's RBI single and Wil Nieves' two-run double, taking a five-run edge.

BJ Upton's two-run single in the fifth and Wilson's sacrifice fly in the sixth again pulled Tampa Bay to within two runs, but Rodriguez came through in the bottom of the inning to end any hopes of a comeback win.

Damon got things started in the sixth with a two-run double, and Abreu laced a one-out single to right, scoring Damon. Rodriguez followed by blasting a two- run shot to left-center, giving the Yanks a 12-5 lead.

"It's disappointing. We definitely had a good shot in the first game, the second game it just got away fast," said Devil Rays manager Joe Madden. "We battled back to 7-5, then the floodgates just opened up after that. We've just got to forget about this and move on to tomorrow."

New York locked up the laugher with five more runs in the seventh. Damon ripped a ground-rule double to left, scoring one run, and Rodriguez stepped to the plate later in the inning with the bases loaded and one out. D-Rays reliever Brian Stokes was able to hold Rodriguez to a sacrifice fly to deep center, but Hideki Matsui followed by blasting a three-run shot to right- center, and New York led by 12.

"I like the fact that we started that way and we kept going," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "We didn't have many dry innings, to me that's probably the manager's best friend."

Game Notes

During the game, the Yankees announced the acquisition of catcher Jose Molina from the Angels in exchange for right-handed pitcher minor-leaguer Jeff Kennard. DeSalvo is expected to head to the minors when Molina joins the team...Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford left the first game of the doubleheader in the fifth inning with a sprained left ankle, and did not play in the second game...The Rays have never won a doubleheader. They have been swept six times and split six...The Yankees had eight doubles, two shy of the franchise record, set in 1988 and tied in 2003.

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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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