How Andruw got his groove back

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For most of the first half of the 2007 MLB season, Atlanta Braves center fielder Andruw Jones couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag with scissors in his hand.

Forget that Jones is a treasure chest full of talent in the outfield because he was not producing offensively to help his team reach the win column on a regular basis. Not that he has to do all of the work, but from June 10 - 25 Jones did not record a home run or an RBI and was mired in an 0- for-21 hitless streak.

Then the sleeping giant awoke from his slumber and began making contact with the ball similar to his days as a teenage rookie. Since June 26 Jones has hit safely in 17-of-19 games with eight home runs, 23 RBI and a .303 batting average (23-for-76). Over his last 10 games, the nine-time Gold Glove award winner is batting .385 (15-for-39) with five homers and 16 runs batted in.

In Thursday's series-opening 10-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, Jones homered and knocked in three runs. However, his season marks are still low with a .220 batting average, 19 home runs and 65 RBI. But what do you expect from a player who opened the first eight weeks of the season hitting much like former Golden Girls star Betty White circa 2007?

Jones, a five-time All-Star, is on pace for his 10th straight season with at least 25 home runs and will most likely add a 10th Gold Glove to his name. Manager Bobby Cox surely hopes so since his ballclub is only 2 1/2 games off the lead in the National League East standings. And don't forget Jones is in his contract year so big numbers will bring in big bucks.

Jones and the Braves have won 13 of their last 20 games, and put the brakes on a three-game losing streak with last night's nine-run triumph over the defending World Series-champion Cardinals.

CHIPPER RIPPIN' IT UP/ FRANCO RETURNS

Chipper Jones has been on a tear since coming off the disabled list on June 13 because of sore hands.

Jones is batting .388 (45-for-116) and has hit safely in 26 of his last 30 games, including 14 multi-hit games. Jones went 2-for-3 in last night's win.

Meanwhile, ageless veteran Julio Franco made his return to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday after the New York Mets placed him on waivers.

"If it wouldn't have been Atlanta, I would have gone home because I know this is one organization that I can trust to know what I'm capable of doing and how to use me," said, Franco, who started at first base on Thursday and drove in a pair of runs with a single.

The 48-year-old Franco batted .292 with the Braves from 2001-2005 and has already earned the trust and confidence from his manager.

"It's nice to see his smiling face in that clubhouse," longtime skipper Bobby Cox said. "He looks good. He loves the game of baseball and he has fun with it. Plus he's a winner. He was a big cog in our wheel during the years that he was here."

Franco will be primarily used as a pinch-hitter and will also get most of his starts at first base against left-handed starters. Rookie Jarrod Saltalamacchia will play first base against right-handed starting pitchers.

To make room for Franco on the roster, the Braves sent starting pitcher Kyle Davies to Triple-A Richmond. Davies was 4-8 with a 5.76 ERA in 17 starts this season, but was 1-5 with a 7.31 ERA in his past seven trips to the mound.

"He's just got to be more consistent," Cox said of Davies. "He's got everything going for him. He's a sharp kid. He's got all the pitches. He's a great athlete."

SMOLTZ BACK IN ACTION

Veteran starting pitcher John Smoltz was activated off the disabled list this week because of shoulder inflammation.

Smoltz, who was shelved on July 6, pitched seven shutout innings and gave up five hits in a 5-4 15-inning loss to the Reds. He struck out 11 and walked just two, and even struck out five consecutive batters during the game.

"Mentally I was as good as I've ever been -- you have to be when you've had a long layoff," Smoltz said after the game. "The physical part will click back in when I get back in a five-day routine.

"I guess it was best that it was a day game, to get really hot and be able to stay loose."

The right-hander was named to his eighth All-Star Game but couldn't play because of injury.

He is 2-2 over his last five outings with a 3.00 ERA.

WHO'S HOT

Andruw Jones. (See above)

Also, starting pitcher Tim Hudson is riding a five-game unbeaten streak.

Hudson is 4-0 with a 2.61 earned run average in his last five starts, with his only poor performance during that stretch coming on July 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That day Hudson yielded six runs and 10 hits in three innings of an 8-6 Atlanta victory.

The right-hander is currently riding a personal two-game winning streak.

WHO'S NOT

Starting pitcher Kyle Davies was certainly not doing well as of late and the recent acquisition of Julio Franco made him expendable.

ON DECK

Atlanta is 4-3 on a 10-game homestand and will wrap it up with three more games against the St. Louis Cardinals.

After the Braves close out the stand on Sunday, they will open a seven-game road trip to San Francisco and Arizona.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


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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