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06/09/2007 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rogers Clemens made his much anticipated 2007 debut and pitched six innings as the New York Yankees downed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, in the second of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.
Clemens (1-0) struck out seven and walked two while giving up three runs on five hits. He threw a total of 108 pitches, 69 for strikes.
Clemens was initially slated to start this past Monday against the White Sox, but he developed a fatigued groin during his final minor league outing on Memorial Day and an MRI exam revealed disrupted scar tissue.
The seven-time Cy Young Award winner made three minor league starts to ready himself for a return to the majors. He signed a prorated $28 million contract on May 6 to begin a second tenure with the Yankees.
Clemens spent the past three seasons with the Houston Astros after his first retirement following the 2003 campaign with New York. He pitched with the Yankees from 1999 through 2003, winning a pair of World Series titles during his five years with the club.
An 11-time All-Star, Clemens' 349 victories rank eighth in big league history. He is also one of just four pitchers with more than 4,000 strikeouts, as his 4,611 trails only Nolan Ryan on the all-time list.
Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs while Johnny Damon went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Yankees, who are on a season-high five-game winning streak.
Jack Wilson hit a two-run double and Paul Maholm (2-9) lost his fifth straight decision as he was charged with five runs -- three earned -- on six hits in 5 1/3 innings of work for the Pirates, who have dropped three of their last four games.
The scored was tied in the fifth, but the Yankees grabbed the lead in the frame with one run. Derek Jeter led off with a walk, Bobby Abreu followed with a single and Rodriguez walked to load the bases. Jorge Posada's sacrifice fly to right scored Jeter to make it a 4-3 game.
In his last inning of work in the sixth, Clemens retired the Pirates in order, striking out the final two batters. Also, he retired the final seven batters he faced.
New York padded its lead in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs. After Melky Cabrera worked a one-out walk, John Grabow entered the game. Damon beat out an infield single and Jeter walked to load the bases. Abreu followed with a single to right to score Cabrera and a sacrifice fly from Rodriguez scored Damon to make it a 6-3 game.
The Yankees plated another two runners in the seventh for an 8-3 lead. Tony Armas started the inning on the mound and Robinson Cano led off the frame with a double. Miguel Cairo failed in his sacrifice attempt as he fouled out his bunt attempt, but Cabrera followed with a single to left to score Cano. Cabrera made it to third on the play as Jason Bay was charged with a throwing error. Damon's fielder's choice then scored Cabrera for the five-run lead.
Hideki Matsui's sacrifice fly in the eighth scored Abreu to make it a 9-3 contest.
Luis Vizcaino retired the Pirates in the ninth to close the game.
It was a rough start to the game for Clemens as he gave up a run in the first inning and Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead. Jose Bautista led off with a single and, after Freddy Sanchez flied out, he advanced to second with Bay at the plate on a wild pitch. Clemens got Bay to strike out, but Adam LaRoche punched a single to center to score Bautista. Clemens then got Xavier Nady to strike out and end the inning.
The Yankees answered in the bottom of the first with three runs to grab the lead. Damon led off with a single and moved to third on a Jeter double. Abreu then grounded out to the pitcher, but Rodriguez followed with a ground out to deep third to plate Damon. Posada followed with a single to left to score Jeter and moved to second on an error from Ronny Paulino. Matsui worked a walk and Cano punched a single to left to score Posada for a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates leadoff hitter got to base in the second and third innings, but Clemens kept Pittsburgh from getting on the board.
Pittsburgh, though, tied the game in the fourth with a pair of runs. Nady punched a one-out single to center and, after Ryan Doumit struck out, Paulino worked a walk. Wilson then nailed a double to right to plate Nady and Paulino to make it a 3-3 game.
Game Notes
To make room for Clemens, who was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre before the game, the Yankees optioned pitcher Chris Britton to Scranton. Also, New York transferred pitcher Phil Hughes from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list...Before the game, the Pirates placed pitcher Salomon Torres on the 15-day disabled list and purchased the contract of pitcher Masumi Kuwata from Triple-A Indianapolis...Clemens is 6-1 in nine appearances against the Pirates...Rodriguez has 58 RBI on the season.
<< Clemens K's seven in six innings
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens made
his 2007 debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday and lasted six full
innings.
The righty struck out seven and walked two while giving up three runs on
<< Knowles and Nestor capture French Open title
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time doubles stalwarts Mark Knowles and
Daniel Nestor rallied past Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to
win the 2007 French Open.
The sixth-seeded tandem of the Bahamian Knowles and Can
<< Green stretches lead to three at Fontana
Vienna, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Richard Green extended his lead
to three strokes through three rounds of the BA-CA Golf Open.
Green posted a four-under 67 Saturday at Fontana Golf Club to complete 54
holes at 15-under-par
<< Boston demotes Romero
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox on Saturday designated left-
handed reliever J.C. Romero for assignment.
In 23 appearances this season with Boston, Romero had a 1-0 record with a 3.15
earned run average in 20 innings of wor
Wallace on pole in Nashville >>
Lebanon, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Wallace, son of Rusty Wallace, won the
pole for Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 Busch race at the Nashville
Superspeedway. The No.66 Dodge circled the 1.333-mile cement oval in 29.753
seconds
Thompson four in front in Raleigh >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Thompson only shot a two-under 69 on
Saturday, but extended his lead to four after three rounds of The Rex Hospital
Open.
He missed Jimmy Green's 54-hole tournament record by one shot after he came i
Van Nistelrooy rescues Real Madrid's title hopes >>
Zaragoza, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 89th
minute to give Real Madrid a 2-2 draw against Real Zaragoza at Estadio La
Romareda on Saturday.
The result would have been a disaster for Madrid but Raul Tam
Mesa signs with Phillies; Garcia lands on DL >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies placed right-
hander Freddy Garcia on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a right
shoulder strain, and signed veteran reliever and former closer Jose Mesa to a
major l
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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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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