Giants, Lincecum welcome a returning Beltran to the Bay Area

Baseball Betting Lines

07/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum didn't help the National League break its lengthy losing streak in the All-Star Game, but the New York Mets may have wished he had.

The rested two-time NL Cy Young Award honoree will take the mound when the San Francisco Giants start up their second-half schedule tonight against the Mets in the opener of a four-game series between postseason hopefuls from AT&T Park.

Lincecum received a third consecutive All-Star nod after compiling a 9-4 record with a 3.16 earned run average and a league-best 131 strikeouts through 18 pre-break starts, but didn't pitch in the NL's 3-1 victory over the American League in Tuesday's Midsummer Classic. That will enable the hard- throwing right-hander to start tonight's matchup of this key set, which takes place on his 26th birthday.

The San Francisco ace was last in action on July 7, when he struck out 10 Milwaukee batters and yielded just one run and four hits over seven sharp innings to defeat the Brewers. It was a needed return to form for Lincecum, who was reached for eight runs over a combined nine innings in back-to-back losses to Boston and Colorado during his two previous starts.

For all the success Lincecum has attained since breaking into the majors in 2007, he hasn't fared well in past matchups with the Mets. The former first- round pick has registered a loss and three no-decisions in three prior matchups with New York, while pitching to a subpar 5.04 ERA in those games.

Lincecum will be getting the call for a San Francisco squad that finds itself just two games back of fellow NL West members Colorado and Los Angeles for the lead in the league's Wild Card standings and is four behind first-place San Diego in the division race. The Giants closed out their first half strongly, winning six of their final seven contests and taking the final two bouts of a three-game series at Washington that culminated with Sunday's 6-2 triumph.

Travis Ishikawa went 2-for-3 with three RBI and rookie sensation Buster Posey delivered an two-run triple to help support a strong six-inning start from Giants youngster Madison Bumgarner in Sunday's victory. The 20-year-old Bumgarner (2-2) held the Nationals to one run and struck out a career-best six without a walk in earning his second win at the major-league level.

"My last two starts have been a little better," said Bumgarner, who's posted consecutive wins after losing his first outings since being recalled from Triple-A Fresno in late June. "I would have liked to go a little deeper [Sunday], [I] threw more pitches than I needed to early on, but that's a good hitting team. They're aggressive and are going to make you make good pitches."

Posey, San Francisco's other prized prospect, has been on a serious tear during his team's recent strong run. The highly-regarded catcher is batting a torrid .516 (16-for-31) with five homers and 14 RBI during an eight-game hitting streak that has raised his season average to a robust .350.

Closer Brian Wilson finished off Sunday's win by throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings and helped the NL prevail as well in the All-Star Game, working a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth to protect the Senior Circuit's two-run lead.

The Mets currently sit just one game off the pace in the NL Wild Card picture and are four behind Atlanta in the battle for first place in the NL East. New York will also get a welcome boost to its lineup as it begins the season's final 2 1/2 months, with standout center fielder Carlos Beltran set to make his 2010 debut this evening.

Beltran, a five-time All-Star selection with three Gold Gloves to his credit as well, sat out the entire first half recovering from knee surgery performed in January. The speedy switch-hitter, who hit .325 for the Mets last season and has knocked in at least 112 runs in three of the past four years, completed a successful minor-league rehab stint last weekend and is expected to bat cleanup in the lineup tonight.

"I'm happy to be back and be part of the team [and] to try to help accomplish our mission, which is to try and win a division and try to be in the playoffs," Beltran told the Mets' official site on Sunday.

While Beltran is ready to go, it's unclear as to whether the Mets will have leadoff hitter Jose Reyes available for the opener. The dynamic shortstop sat out both Sunday's 3-0 victory over Atlanta and the All-Star Game due to an oblique strain that has plagued him for the past two weeks.

New York didn't need Beltran in their last game, thanks to a top-notch performance out of starting pitcher Johan Santana. The two-time AL Cy Young recipient firing seven shutout innings as the Mets averted a three-game sweep by the division-leading Braves on Sunday, scattering five hits and three walks in improving his 2010 record to 7-5.

The Mets also received some clutch hitting on the afternoon, with both Alex Cora and Josh Thole coming through with RBI singles and Ike Davis supplying a solo home run as part of a 2-for-3 day. Angel Pagan finished with three hits for New York, which halted a three-game overall losing streak with Sunday's verdict.

"We scratched a couple runs on the board and got a [win]," said Davis afterward. "It's huge."

New York hopes to carry that momentum over into a critical 11-game West Coast road trip that begins this evening. The Mets have amassed an impressive 30-16 mark at home this season, but are a lackluster 18-24 away from Citi Field.

The Mets have acquitted themselves well as the visitor in this series, however, winning in nine of their last 12 stops at AT&T Park. New York took three of four matchups with the Giants held in San Francisco last season and also won two of three bouts between the teams at Citi Field back in May.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel will hand the ball to R.A. Dickey for tonight's opener, with the journeyman seeking to build off his pleasantly surprising first half. Since joining the club's rotation in mid-May, the knuckleball specialist has gone 6-2 with a 2.77 ERA in 10 starts and lasted at least six innings in all but one of those appearances.

Dickey has struggled some as of late, however. After ripping off six straight wins from May 25-June 23, the right-hander is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in a three- start span. His latest defeat took place against the Braves last Saturday, where he was reached for four runs (three earned) and gave up a pair of homers in 6 2/3 innings.

The 35-year-old, who's 3-1 with a 3.32 ERA in six road starts so far this season, has never previously faced the Giants.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.