Uribe, Renteria homer in eighth as Giants nip Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Uribe led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a tie-breaking homer off Brian Sanches and Edgar Renteria added a two-run shot later in the frame, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 6-4 win over the Florida Marlins.

Rookie Buster Posey had an RBI single in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. Andres Torres went 3-for-4 and scored twice for the Giants, who won for the fifth time in six contests and moved within 2 1/2 games of San Diego for first place in the NL West.

Dan Uggla belted a pair of solo homers for the Marlins, who lost for just the third time in their last 11 games. Cody Ross added a two-run homer in defeat.

Both starting pitchers lasted seven innings with Florida's Josh Johnson allowing eight hits and three runs. Matt Cain gave up four hits and three runs, while logging six strikeouts.

The second contest of the four-game series was tied 3-3 until Uribe, who came into the game with 15 hits in his last 77 at-bats, stepped to the plate and crushed a 1-2 offering over the wall in left-center field for his 14th homer of the year.

Aaron Rowand singled with one out and Renteria followed with a homer to left field. Before the homers, Sanches (0-2) hadn't allowed a run in his last nine appearances, spanning a total of 10 innings.

Sergio Romo (4-3) retired the side in order in the eighth inning to get the win. Uggla homered off Brian Wilson with two outs in the ninth, but the right- hander fanned Wes Helms to end the game to pick up his major league-leading 30th save.

Torres doubled with one out in the third and scored on Aubrey Huff's two- bagger with two down. Posey then singled in Huff, but was thrown out at second base.

Ross homered to left in the fifth inning to tie it, but the Giants regained the lead in the bottom half when Freddy Sanchez singled in Torres.

Uggla homered to left leading off the seventh for his 20th long ball of the year.

Game Notes

Posey is just the seventh Giants player in the San Francisco era to have a hitting streak of at least 20 games. His streak is the second-longest by a rookie in San Francisco-era history behind Hall of Famer Willie McCovey's 22- gamer in 1959...The Marlins released pitcher Nate Robertson a week after designating him for assignment. The Marlins also designated minor league pitcher Kris Harvey for assignment...Johnson had gone 13 straight starts without allowing more than two earned runs, a streak dating back to May 8 when he surrendered three runs to the Washington Nationals. The only streak longer was Mike Scott's amazing 14-game run with the Houston Astros in 1986.

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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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