A-Ram leads Cubs over D'Backs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/07/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aramis Ramirez belted a pair of two-run homers, and the Chicago Cubs secured back-to-back road wins for the first time since late May with a 6-4 decision over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the middle installment of a three-game series.

Ramirez, who came into Tuesday hitting .178, went deep off starter Barry Enright in the sixth inning and Aaron Heilman in the eighth as the Cubs posted consecutive victories for the first time since June 16-17 vs. Oakland. They hadn't won two in a row on the road since May 22-23 against Texas, which was their last road series triumph.

Kosuke Fukudome hit a solo homer for the Cubs, who moved to 9-2 against National League West competition this season. Chicago is 28-45 against all other foes. Tuesday's result also gave the Cubs their first series win at Chase Field since August 22-24, 2003 when the club won two of three games.

Carlos Silva (9-2) gave up four hits and a pair of runs over six innings to snap a four-start winless skid. He's 5-0 on the road this season. Carlos Marmol pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his 16th save.

Kelly Johnson homered for the Diamondbacks, who lost their fourth in a row. Enright (1-1) was charged with seven hits and three runs over 5 2/3 innings in his second major league appearance.

Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly gave the Diamondbacks an early lead in the second inning, but they failed to add to that despite having runners at the corners and nobody out in the fourth as Mark Reynolds struck out and Adam LaRoche grounded into a double play.

Fukudome homered to right leading off the sixth. Derrek Lee doubled later in the inning and scored on a Ramirez longball to left-center.

Johnson's homer to center in the bottom of the inning had the Diamondbacks within 3-2, but Ryan Theriot singled in Geovany Soto in the seventh. Ramirez then made it 6-2 in the eighth. Tyler Colvin walked to start the inning and Ramirez then crushed a homer to left.

Johnson and Justin Upton singled in runs in the bottom of the eighth, but with two runners on base, Miguel Montero and Reynolds both struck out to keep Chicago ahead.

LaRoche struck out to start the ninth, but made it to first on a wild pitch. Marmol retired the next three batters.

Game Notes

It was Ramirez's first multi-homer game since August 23, 2008 against Washington...The Cubs captured their first series victory since taking two of three games from Oakland June 15-17 at Wrigley Field...Ramirez has 22 multi- homer games in his career.

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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.

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