Giants send Zito to the hill aiming for another sweep of Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

05/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco's Barry Zito will try to rebound from a wild first loss of the season as the Giants try for their second sweep this year of the Houston Astros in today's finale of a three-game series at AT&T Park.

Zito, who entered the season 31-43 over the past three seasons with the Giants, won his first five decisions, spanning six starts, before taking a loss versus the Padres on Tuesday. The left-hander allowed three runs on six hits over five innings and also matched a career high with seven walks, falling to 5-1 on the season with a 1.90 earned run average.

Zito, who turned 32 on Thursday, got his season off on the right foot versus Houston on April 6, hurling six scoreless innings of three-hit ball in a 3-0 triumph. He improved to 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in four career starts versus the Astros.

While Zito hopes he isn't entering a cold stretch, Brett Myers brings a solid four-start run into his outing today for the Astros.

The right-handed Myers has held opponents to three earned runs or fewer in each of his last four starts, going 2-1 in that span. Myers picked up a victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks over six innings of a 6-3 triumph.

Myers is also doing a good job at keeping teams in the park. He gave up 18 homers in 18 games with the Phillies last year, but has yielded just four this season.

The 29-year-old made his Astros debut on April 7 versus the Giants and allowed four runs on a career-high 12 hits over six innings of a no-decision.

Myers will try to help the Astros snap a seven-game losing streak to the Giants, who swept them in three games in Houston back on April 5-7. San Francisco was able to extend that run last night by winning a close 2-1 game.

Tim Lincecum gave up the lone Houston run over eight innings to improve to 5-0 on the season, while Brian Wilson worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to earn his eighth save.

"I had a few starts in my first year -- three in a row -- where I thought I was going to get sent down. I just let things unravel as opposed to just taking a deep breath," Lincecum said of his growth as a pitcher. "I'm here for a reason. I have confidence that my defense is going to make a play. I don't need to strike everybody out."

Lincecum once again outdueled Houston's Roy Oswalt, who took the loss in a seven-inning effort. The right-hander made just one mistake, a slider that Juan Uribe hit out of the park for a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Uribe ended 3-for-3 on the night for the Giants.

"I needed to probably throw a shutout," said Oswalt, who has yet to get more than four runs of support in any of his eight starts this year. "The pitch kind of backed up on me on the slider. I was trying to go down and away, and it kind of went back over the plate."

Michael Bourn had a hit, walked twice, stole three bases and scored Houston's lone run on a wild pitch in the first inning. Houston went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 men on the bases.

The Astros had won four straight coming into this series, while the Giants had been swept in three games by the Padres.

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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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