Maholm blanks Astros as Pirates bang out 19 hits

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Maholm twirled a three-hit shutout to pitch Pittsburgh past Houston, 9-0, and finish off a three-game set at PNC Park.

Maholm (6-7) did not walk a batter, struck out one and did not allow a runner to advance past first base in his second career shutout for the Pirates, who took the last two games of the series by outscoring the Astros, 21-6.

Garrett Jones belted a two-run homer, Ronny Cedeno had four hits -- three doubles -- and scored twice and Ryan Doumit added three hits, a run scored and a run batted in for Pittsburgh, which banged out a season-high 19 hits to win a third straight home series.

Roy Oswalt (6-11) took the loss after yielding two runs on seven hits while fanning five over four frames. He left the game with a left ankle contusion after being struck by a Pedro Alvarez batted ball in the second inning.

Oswalt, who threw a one-hit shutout over the Buccos in his last start against them on July 8, was touched for a pair of runs in the second inning.

Alvarez started the rally with a one-out single off the left ankle of Oswalt and scored when Doumit doubled to center field. Lastings Milledge followed with a run-scoring single and advanced to third base when Cedeno doubled. The veteran right-hander worked out of further difficulty by striking out Maholm and Andrew McCutchen.

Milledge reached second on a fielder's choice in the fourth inning and was thrown out trying to score by Carlos Lee on a Cedeno base hit to left field.

Oswalt was removed from the game after the inning ended with a left ankle contusion and was followed on the hill by Chris Sampson.

Jose Tabata singled with one out, stole second base and scored when Jones blasted his two-out, two-run home run to right field to push the lead to 4-0.

Wilton Lopez took over for Sampson in the sixth and gave up a single to Milledge and a double to Cedeno that put runners on second and third with one out. After Maholm grounded out, McCutchen singled to right to drive in both runners to extend the home team's edge to 6-0.

McCutchen then left the game after making a diving catch on a Pedro Feliz line drive for the second out in the top of the eighth inning.

The Pirates tacked on a trio of runs in the bottom of the frame on RBI doubles by Ryan Church, who replaced McCutchen, and Tabata along with a run-scoring single by Neil Walker off Casey Daigle.

Game Notes

The Pirates have won seven of their last nine at home and are now 7-6-1 in home series...Delwyn Young had hit Pittsburgh's last home run with a runner on base, off Stephen Strasburg on June 8, before Jones' long ball in Sunday's game...Alvarez has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games, while Milledge has hit safely in six in a row...Maholm matched Zach Duke for the most wins at PNC Park with 27...He is now 9-5 in 15 starts against the Astros. Oswalt remains one win shy of Joe Niekro's franchise record 144 victories...Oswalt had gone at least six innings in all 27 career starts versus the Buccos before Sunday. Houston's Hunter Pence lost an eight-game hit streak after going 0-for-3.

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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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