Granderson makes history as Tigers beat Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2007 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson made major league history by belting his 20th homer of the season as Detroit downed Seattle, 6-1, in the opener of a crucial three-game set at Comerica Park.

With the home run, Granderson became just the sixth player in major league history with at least 20 home runs, 20 doubles and 20 triples in one season.

Placido Polanco finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Tigers, who won their third straight game and vaulted above Seattle in the AL wild card race.

The Tigers are now 2 1/2 games behind New York for the wild card, pending the Yankees game against Kansas City.

Justin Verlander (16-5) was brilliant for eight innings. The flame-throwing righty allowed just one run on seven hits while fanning three.

Jose Vidro was 3-for-4 with a run scored for the reeling Mariners, who have dropped 12 of their past 13 games and are now 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

Miguel Batista (13-11) was touched for six runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings en route to the loss.

The Tigers jumped in front with a pair of runs in the first. Granderson led off with an infield single and quickly scored on Polanco's double. Polanco moved up a base on a wild pitch and Batista walked Gary Sheffield to put runners on the corners before Magglio Ordonez slapped an RBI single up the middle to make it a 2-0 game.

Detroit tacked on another run in the second. Timo Perez doubled to left and, a batter later, came around to score on Brandon Inge's run-scoring single.

The Mariners finally got on the board in the fourth. Vidro got on with a leadoff double, moved up 90-feet on Jose Guillen's ground ball and scored when Raul Ibanez lofted a sacrifice fly to right.

The Tigers got that run back in the sixth. Ordonez doubled to center, moved to third on Carlos Guillen's ground ball and crossed the plate on Ivan Rodriguez's single to right.

The Tigers then put the game away with two more runs in the seventh. Granderson's got things started with a one-out solo homer. Polanco followed with a walk and moved up a base on a wild pitch before crossing the plate on Carlos Guillen's RBI single.

Game Notes

The other players to have at least 20 home runs, 20 doubles and 20 triples in one season are George Brett, Willie Mays, Jeff Heath, Jim Bottomley and Frank Schulte...Granderson also has 19 stolen bases. If he reaches 20, he will join Mays and Schulte as the only players to have 20 in all four categories...Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki and Ordonez entered the game tied atop the AL batting chart. Suzuki was 0-for-4 and fell to .349 and Ordonez was 2- for-3 and is now hitting .354.

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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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