Rodriguez's three-run blast in ninth caps rally as Yanks stun Tribe

Baseball Betting Lines

04/19/2007 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez blasted a three-run, game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning as New York stunned Cleveland, 8-6, to complete a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees were dead and buried, down 6-2 in the ninth, when they began a stunning six-run, two-out rally against Cleveland closer Joe Borowski.

Josh Phelps started things with a solo homer to make it a 6-3 game. Jorge Posada then singled up the middle and took second base on defensive indifference. Johnny Damon followed with a walk to bring up the tying run in Derek Jeter, who promptly ripped a single to left that scored Posada. Bobby Abreu made it a one-run game by slicing another single to left.

Borowski (0-1) continued to struggle from there and uncorked a wild pitch to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position for Rodriguez. Despite first base being open, Borowski pitched to the All-Star, who calmly stepped to the plate and crushed his 10th homer over the wall in center to complete the comeback for New York.

"I'm so excited for Alex (Rodriguez) and Josh (Phelps) who innocently started this thing," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of the rally. "This team certainly isn't giving anything away. We are going to get beat occasionally but it just means so much when you fight and claw to the end."

Jason Giambi also hit a solo homer for the Yankees, who have won four of their past five games and now move on to face division rival Boston in a weekend set. Abreu was 4-for-5 with two RBI.

Darrell Rasner started on the hill for the Yankees and went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and a run en route to a no-decision. Sean Henn (1-0) earned the win despite giving up a run in one inning of relief.

Victor Martinez had a three-run home run for the Indians, who have lost three straight for the first time this season. David Dellucci added a solo home run and two runs batted in, while Travis Hafner finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Fausto Carmona hurled six solid innings, surrendering just two runs on six hits. Borowski picked up the loss after imploding in the ninth.

The Yankees went on top with a run in the third. Damon led off with a single to right, swiped second and advanced to third on Jeter's fly ball before Abreu slapped an RBI single to right through a drawn in infield.

The Indians quickly evened things in the fourth when Dellucci lined a one-out solo homer to right. Things could have been much worse for New York, however. After Dellucci's homer, the Tribe loaded the bases but Rasner settled down and got Casey Blake to foul out before fanning Jhonny Peralta to end the threat.

Cleveland had another great chance to take the lead in the sixth, loading the bases with no one out. But, Brian Bruney induced Blake to line out at third before whiffing Peralta and getting Mike Rouse to fly out.

The Yankees then went back in front in the sixth, Giambi turned on a Carmona pitch and deposited his fourth home run of the year over the wall in right to give the Yankees a 2-1 advantage.

The Indians seemingly took over the game with a four-run seventh off Luis Vizcaino. Jason Michaels worked a walk and quickly moved to third when Grady Sizemore ripped a double into the gap in right-center. Dellucci then evened things by grounding out to first. Vizcaino issued a free pass to Hafner to put runners on the corners but the move backfired when Martinez crushed a pitch way over the wall in right center to make it a 5-2 game.

Cleveland added an insurance run in the ninth thanks to Rodriguez's throwing error but the third baseman redeemed himself with the game-winning homer.

Game Notes

Rodriguez has hit safely in each of the first 14 games of the season and 19 straight dating back to 2006. He leads the majors in home runs and RBI (26)...Rodriguez also hit a game-ending grand slam against Baltimore with two outs in the ninth for a 10-7 victory on April 7...The Yankees last swept the Indians at home from July 2-4, 2002.

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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.

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