08/27/2008 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Shoppach and Shin-Soo Choo each hit a two-run homer to lead Cleveland to its 10th straight victory, as the Indians edged the Tigers, 9-7, in the finale of a three-game set.
Grady Sizemore ended with a pair of RBI for the Indians, who have won five of their last seven versus the Tigers. Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Garko drove in a run apiece in the win. Fausto Carmona (7-5) got the win after lasting six innings and giving up four runs on seven hits.
"I thought Fausto got better as the game wore on," said Indians manager Eric Wedge. "He did a very good job of settling down."
Curtis Granderson went 3-for-4 and notched his 17th career leadoff homer for the Tigers, who have dropped four in a row and five of their last seven. Magglio Ordonez went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and finished with three RBI in defeat. Justin Verlander (10-14) was tagged with the loss after getting touched for five runs on seven hits in six frames while fanning eight and walking three.
"I felt the best that I have all year tonight," Verlander said. "I had good stuff. It's funny, I had nothing in Kansas City in my last start and won and tonight I lost."
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the first as David Dellucci doubled, moved to third on Ben Francisco's ground out and crossed home when Peralta singled to left. Granderson led off the home half with a shot to left, and the game was knotted at one.
The Tribe got back to business in the second. Garko led off with a walk and Shoppach followed with a single before Andy Marte advanced them both into scoring position with a sac bunt. Two batters later, Sizemore plated them both with a single to center, making it 3-1.
In the bottom half, though, the Tigers went in front. It was second and third as Jeff Larish singled, Gary Sheffield walked and Edgar Renteria dropped down a sac bunt. Brandon Inge, Ramon Santiago and Granderson all clubbed RBI singles to give Detroit a 4-3 advantage.
The game tilted back in Cleveland's favor, 5-4, as Garko opened the fourth by getting drilled by a Verlander fastball and Shoppach followed with a homer to left.
Gary Glover came in to pitch for Detroit in the seventh and walked leadoff hitter Peralta before Choo took the first pitch he saw over the fence in right for a 7-4 Indians lead.
Granderson worked a one-out walk off Rafael Perez in the bottom half and Rafael Betancourt came on in relief to get Marcus Thames to go down swinging. Ordonez, though, belted an RBI double to the gap in right to pull the Tigers within two.
Cleveland tacked on two more insurance runs in the ninth as back-to-back RBI singles from Garko and Shoppach made it 9-5.
Ordonez crushed a two-out homer to right off Jensen Lewis in the ninth inning, which also scored Granderson, to pull Detroit within 9-7. But Miguel Cabrera went down swinging to end the game.
Game Notes
Carmona improved to 6-2 lifetime against Detroit and 3-0 this season...Since August 8, the Indians are 16-3...Sheffield is 0 for his last 16...Cleveland's team record for consecutive wins is 13. The Indians pulled within two games of .500 for the first time since May 21...The Tribe improved to 8-7 in their 15 matchups with the Tigers this season...Detroit recalled Larish from Triple-A Toledo and optioned pitcher Chris Lambert to Toledo prior to the game.
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While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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