A National disgrace in Washington

Baseball Betting Lines

07/09/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the National League East, four of the five teams in the division can still see the top of the standings, save for the Washington Nationals.

The Nats now have the worst record in all of baseball (34-57) and while Florida and the Mets are within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Phillies and Atlanta is just five games out despite a rough 10-game stretch, Washington can barely get out of its own way these days. On Tuesday night the Nationals opened a three-game homestand with Arizona by failing to score a single run for the second time in the last four outings. The 2-0 setback dropped Washington to just 1-3 on the season versus the Diamondbacks and 2-9 against the club over the last two years.

Since sweeping each three-game series at home against Arizona in both 2005 and 2006, the Nats are still waiting for their next home win versus the D'Backs. Washington, which currently owns the longest losing streak in the NL (six games) and has dropped eight of the last 10 overall, has been shut out an astounding 11 times already this season. In each of the past two seasons the Nationals have bounced back from having losing months in March/April, May and June by playing above .500 in July, but with a 1-6 start to the month the team is destined to give their dismal 9-18 mark of 2005 a run for their money.

With a nine-game road trip on the horizon after the 79th All-Star Game next week, the outlook doesn't appear too promising for the Nationals. Although, heading into the Midsummer Classic, Washington does catch Houston at home for three games and the team has managed to take 10 of the last 18 meetings with the Astros since the beginning of the 2006 campaign.

CRISTIAN BLESSED WITH ALL-STAR SELECTION

Needing to find a representative from the Washington Nationals for the All- Star Game in New York next week, the National League opted to choose Cristian Guzman. The shortstop seems like the only sensible choice given that he's played in all but three games for the Nats and leads the club in quite a number of statistical categories.

A nine-year veteran who was initially drafted by the New York Yankees in 1995 but never represented the Bronx Bombers in the majors, Guzman already has more hits this season (119) than he's had in any of the previous three. Guzman leads the team in both doubles (25) and runs scored (50), the latter more than double the total of all but just three of his teammates at the moment.

Although he had his 14-game hit streak snapped on Tuesday night in the loss to Arizona, Guzman, who has knocked in just a total of five runs since June 13, still ranks as one of the team leaders in RBI. However, that stat (29 RBI) tends to be misleading because the two men ahead of him, Lastings Milledge (32 RBI) and Jesus Flores (30) have both played far fewer games than Guzman.

This is the second time in his career that Guzman has been invited to the All- Star game, first earning a spot on the 2001 American League roster when he was a member of the Minnesota Twins. In his only All-Star at-bat at Safeco Field seven years ago, Guzman struck out.

WHO'S HOT

Since coming off the disabled list last week, Austin Kearns has accounted for six hits in 19 at-bats. Similarly, Dmitri Young has also generated six hits in the last five games for the team and now has 32 hits in his last 32 games with the club. In addition, Young has added to his on-base percentage in the last week with a total of seven walks.

WHO'S NOT

The Nationals as a whole have been in a hitting slump the last six games, batting a collective .212 with just one home run and a total of nine extra- base hits. The lone long ball was sent out by Elijah Dukes, the outfielder adding a pair of doubles during the stretch as well. However, the team will have to try and make up for his production now due to the fact that he's been sent to the DL with torn cartilage and a partially torn tendon in his right knee. Willie Harris, who has started four of the last six games for the Nats, has just three hits in his last 20 at-bats.

ON DECK

The Nationals play the second of a three-game set against Arizona Wednesday night at home, sending John Lannan (4-9) to the hill to counter Micah Owings (6-7). Thursday night finds Jason Bergmann (1-6) trying to dig himself out of a miserable hole this season, as he sets up against Dan Haren (8-5) for the Diamondbacks. Houston comes to town on Friday night for three straight heading into the All-Star Break, with the Nationals throwing Tim Redding (6-3) at Roy Oswalt (7-8).

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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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