Red Sox close homestand with finale against Jays

Baseball Betting Lines

05/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox will attempt to close out a long homestand with a result that's been a familiar one so far this season, a win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

With Tim Wakefield set to make his first start in more than two weeks, Boston aims for a three-game series sweep of the Blue Jays this afternoon at Fenway Park.

Last night's 6-1 victory over Toronto was the Red Sox' fifth straight over its American League rival in 2010, as well as the team's 11th in its past 14 overall matchups in this series. The win also improved Boston to 7-2 on a 10- game homestand and two games over .500 (18-16) for the first time this season.

The Red Sox rode the right arm of Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-1) in Tuesday's triumph, with the Japanese star yielding just one run and three hits while striking out nine batters over seven outstanding innings.

"I thought he was terrific," manager Terry Francona told Boston's official site about Matsuzaka, who had recorded a poor 9.90 ERA over his first two starts after spending the early portion of the season on the disabled list. "He was aggressive with the fastball, attacking the zone and held the fastball from the first inning through the seventh."

Jason Varitek paced the Boston offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate which included the longtime catcher's sixth home run of the season. J.D. Drew also finished with two hits and an RBI to help the Red Sox to a third straight win.

All six runs came against Toronto starter Dana Eveland (3-2), with the left- hander lasting only four innings and allowing six runs while issuing four walks.

Fred Lewis went 2-for-4 and knocked in the Blue Jays' lone run with a sixth- inning double. The outfielder is batting .421 (16-for-38) over the course of an eight-game hitting streak.

Teammate John Buck ended 2-for-3 with a run scored and has hit safely in six consecutive contests, batting .450 (9-for-20) with three homers, six RBI and seven runs scored during his tear.

Toronto has now lost three of four since stringing together a season-best six straight wins from May 2-7. The club wraps up a 10-game road trip with this afternoon's encounter with Wakefield, who takes the mound in the finale as part of a modified Boston rotation.

Wakefield began the season as a starter before being shifted to the bullpen once Matsuzaka was activated from the disabled list in late April. The veteran knuckleballer was 0-1 with a 5.40 earned run average in four starts prior to the switch, but has surrendered six runs over a 6 1/3-inning span in three relief appearances since moving into a relief role.

The 42-year-old gets another shot at starting due to Josh Beckett having been ailing and ineffective as of late. Francona had initially decided to push Beckett back two days and pitch Friday's game at Detroit, but the standout righty has been since scratched from that scheduled assignment because of back spasms.

Wakefield has faced Toronto 51 times with 41 starts over his long career and owns a 17-13 record with a 3.93 ERA lifetime against today's opponent. He was just 1-2 with a 6.89 in three starts versus the Blue Jays last year, however.

Toronto counters with Opening Day starter Shaun Marcum, who pitched extremely well in a no-decision against the Sox back on April 27. The right-hander held Boston to one run on four hits and struck out five over seven effective innings in that game, but left with the score tied at 1-1.

Marcum followed that outing by firing 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball to defeat Oakland on May 2 and worked a season-high 7 2/3 frames this past Friday in Chicago, although he did not factor in the decision of Toronto's 7-4 win.

The 28-year-old has made a successful comeback from Tommy John surgery which caused him to miss the entire 2009 campaign. Marcum has posted a solid 3.19 ERA and limited the opposition to a .219 average so far this season, while generating a quality start in six of his seven times out.

In 12 career appearances (7 starts) against Boston, Marcum is 4-2 with a 3.33 ERA and owns a 2-0 mark with a 2.84 ERA over five visits (3 starts) to Fenway Park.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

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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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