05/09/2008 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivan Rodriguez was 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs as Detroit held off New York, 6-5, in the opener of a three-game set at Comerica Park.
Placido Polanco and Magglio Ordonez each finished 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Tigers, who won for just the second time in eight games but beat New York for the fourth consecutive time this season
Kenny Rogers (3-3) allowed just two runs on nine hits in six-plus innings to earn the win.
Jason Giambi was 2-for-4 with a home run for the Yankees, who have dropped three of four games. Chad Moeller, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu added an RBI apiece for New York, while Hideki Matsui finished 0-for-4, snapping a career-best 17-game hitting streak.
Kei Igawa (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre before the game, made his season debut and was rocked for six runs on 11 hits in just three-plus innings of work.
Igawa was already a huge bust for the Yankees last season after the team spent $26 million to negotiate with him before signing the Japanese star to a five- year, $20 million contract.
With the game deadlocked at one, Detroit went in front for good with three runs in the third. Ryan Raburn started things with an infield single and Rodriguez followed with an RBI double to left.
Polanco kept things going with a bunt single to third. After Carlos Guillen popped out to short, Ordonez slapped a run-scoring single to left. Gary Sheffield then capped the inning with a two-out double to left that scored Polanco.
The Tigers continued to tee-off on the overmatched Igawa in the fourth. Marcus Thames, Raburn, Rodriguez and Polanco started the inning with four consecutive singles, putting two more runs on the board to make it a 6-1 game.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi mercifully pulled Igawa at that point and went to Jonathan Albaladejo, who managed to wiggle out of the trouble with no further damage.
New York finally got back on the board in the seventh. Cano ripped a ground- rule double to center that chased Rogers from the game. Zach Miner came on and uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Cano to move up 90-feet, before Moeller served an RBI single into right to make it 6-2.
Miner settled down from there to get through the rest of the seventh and eighth before the Yankees threatened to deadlock things against closer Todd Jones in the ninth.
Wilson Betemit greeted Jones with a double to left, advanced to third on a wild pitch and crossed the plate on Cano's ground ball to short.
Pinch hitter Johnny Damon then got on with an infield single, moved to second on another wild pitch and advanced to third on Melky Cabrera's grounder, before Jeter laced a two-out RBI single to left. Abreu followed by slicing an RBI double just inside the left field line, bringing Matsui to the plate with the tying run in scoring position.
The Tigers elected to walk Matsui, ending his long hitting streak, and pitch to Shelley Duncan, who lined out to Curtis Granderson in center to end things.
The Tigers jumped on top with a run in the first. Rodriguez led off the frame by ripping a double to left-center, advanced to third when Polanco bounced back to the box and crossed the plate on Guillen's sacrifice fly to center.
The Yankees quickly deadlocked things when Giambi drove a Rogers fastball deep over the wall in right for his seventh home run of the year.
Game Notes
Albaladejo was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with a right-hand injury...Igawa was 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA this year at Scranton/Wilkes Barre...To make room for Igawa, New York optioned reliever Chris Britton to Scranton...Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth had his suspension reduced from three games to one by MLB on Friday. The hard-throwing Farnsworth, who was suspended for throwing behind the head of Boston's Manny Ramirez last month, served the suspension during this game...Sheffield's RBI was the 1,583rd of his career, tying AL Kaline for 35th on the all-time list.
<< Shields throws another shutout; Longoria hits winning HR in ninth
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Longoria hit the game-winning
homer in the bottom of the ninth and James Shields pitched a one-hit shutout
as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Angels, 2-0, in the opener of a three-game
series.
<< Stiles, Morris share Fort Smith lead
Fort Smith, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darron Stiles and Rich Morris both fired
rounds of seven-under 63 Friday to grab a share of the lead after two rounds
of the Fort Smith Classic.
Stiles and Morris completed 36 holes at 10-under-par 130
<< Wells leaves game early
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells
left Friday's game against the Cleveland Indians after diving for a fly ball
hit by Franklin Gutierrez in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Wells made the catch, bu
<< Sorenstam on top in Williamsburg, Ochoa three back
Williamsburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 2 Annika Sorenstam fired a five-
under 66 Friday to take a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the Michelob
ULTRA Open at Kingsmill.
Sorenstam completed 36 holes at 12-under-par 130, whic
Sanchez lifts Pirates over Braves >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddie Sanchez ripped a bouncer up the
middle to plate the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Pi
game series at PNC Park.
The Pirates blew a one-run lead in the eighth, but a
Malkin guides Pens past Flyers in Game 1 >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Malkin scored twice and added an
assist, as Pittsburgh doubled up Philadelphia, 4-2, in Game 1 of the Eastern
Conference finals from Mellon Arena.
Sidney Crosby and Petr Sykora also tallied f
Gonzalez, Marlins dominate Nats in nation's capital >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Gonzalez stroked a three-run double and
Ricky Nolasco threw six strong innings in Florida's 7-3 win over the
Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game series.
Jorge Cantu had a pair
Rangers record third straight shutout in win over A's >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Boggs went 3-for-4 with a home run
and three runs batted in, and the Rangers pitching staff recorded their third
consecutive shutout with a 4-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the
opener
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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 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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