Phillies split DH with Marlins; pull within half-game of Braves

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Utley and Placido Polanco each had two hits and two RBI, and Roy Oswalt won his fifth straight decision as the Phillies downed the Marlins, 7-4, to close out a day-night doubleheader and inch closer to the division lead.

Philadelphia lost the opener of the twin-bill, 7-1, thanks to Florida's Adalberto Mendez pitching six shutout innings in his major league debut, but with the win in the nightcap and Atlanta's loss to Pittsburgh earlier in the day, the club pulled within a half-game over the National League East front- runners by stopping a short two-game slide.

Oswalt (11-13) survived home-run balls to Mike Stanton, Hanley Ramirez and Cameron Maybin to get the win. The right-hander was charged with four runs on six hits and a walk to go with seven strikeouts in as many frames.

Anibal Sanchez (11-9) didn't have as much success as Mendez, surrendering seven runs on seven hits and three walks in four-plus innings for the Marlins, who had won four of five coming into this four-game series.

In the away second, Stanton gave the Marlins an early lead by crushing a payoff pitch into the second deck in left.

The Phillies responded with a five-spot in the bottom half. After loading the bases with no outs, Sanchez walked Carlos Ruiz to force in a run before Shane Victorino, who had three hits, plated Raul Ibanez with a base hit.

Though Dominic Brown was thrown out at home on the play, Polanco kept the inning alive by lacing a ground-rule double down the third base line to bring in a pair. Utley followed with a run-scoring single to left for a 5-1 game.

Oswalt walked Logan Morrison in the third in front of Ramirez before yielding a home run to the slugging shortstop, then served up a solo long ball to Maybin two innings later.

The Phillies got two of the runs back in the home fifth, as Polanco tripled off the wall in center to start the inning and raced home on Utley's single up the middle. Ibanez's one-out double made it a three-run game, and the bullpen behind Oswalt finished it off.

Ryan Madson retired three straight in the eighth after J.C. Romero walked the leadoff batter, and Brad Lidge worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his 21st save of the season.

Game Notes

This doubleheader was made necessary when the middle contest of a slated three-game set in Philadelphia on June 9 was postponed...The four earned runs were the most Oswalt has given up since his debut with the Phillies on July 30. He had allowed just one run in 21 1/3 innings coming into the game...Stanton's home run was his 17th, Ramirez now has 21 and Maybin upped his total to eight.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

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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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