Bailey, Reds shut out Pirates again for sweep

Baseball Betting Lines

05/12/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Homer Bailey pitched his first career shutout, allowing only four hits, as the Cincinnati Reds completed a three- game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 5-0 win at PNC Park.

Joey Votto hit a two-run homer and Drew Stubbs went 2-for-4 with a solo shot for the Reds, who earned their first sweep of the Pirates since September 22-24 of last year in Pittsburgh. Bailey (1-2) added six strikeouts to his ledger without walking a batter. He came into the contest with a 7.24 earned- run average in six previous starts this season.

Bailey, who threw just 90 pitches, is the second straight Cincinnati starter to throw a shutout, as Johnny Cueto threw a one-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Pirates on Tuesday night. It was the first time Reds starters tossed back-to back shutouts since Jose Rijo and Tom Browning did so on June 9-10, 1989, against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Garrett Jones had a pair of hits, while Steve Pearce and Lastings Milledge each singled for Pittsburgh's only offense. The Pirates have dropped four in a row. Zach Duke (2-4) was roughed up for nine hits and five runs with two strikeouts and one walk in five innings of work.

Cincinnati posted runs in each of the first two innings to grab the early lead. Brandon Phillips doubled with one out in the first and crossed the plate when Votto followed with a two-run homer. Ryan Hanigan's RBI double and a bloop run-scoring single by Orlando Cabrera in the second made it a 4-0 game.

Stubbs cracked a solo homer to straightaway center in the fourth to give the Reds a five-run cushion.

Bailey retired seven straight batters before surrendering a single to Milledge leading off the eighth. However, the right-hander got Andy LaRoche to bounce into a force out and Jason Jaramillo to hit into a nicely-turned 4-6-3 double play.

The Reds went quietly in the top of the ninth, then in the bottom half, Bailey retired the Pirates in quick order to complete the gem.

Game Notes

The Pirates, who swept a three-game set from Cincinnati from April 16-18, finished 4-5 on their nine-game homestand...Bailey improved to 5-0 in five career starts against Pittsburgh...Duke dropped to 3-7 in 12 lifetime starts versus the Reds, who have won five straight overall.

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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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