Garza gets Rays' first no-hitter by blanking Tigers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/26/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history in a 5-0 win over Detroit in the opener of a four-game set at Tropicana Field.

Garza (11-5) walked one, struck out six and faced the minimum 27 hitters for the Rays, who have won three in a row and four out of five. Brennan Boesch was the only baserunner for Detroit and was erased on an inning-ending double play grounder in the second inning.

Tampa Bay was the victim of a no-hitter twice earlier this season at the hands of Oakland's Dallas Braden, who tossed a perfect game on May 9, and Arizona's Edwin Jackson, who needed 149 pitches to finish the job on June 25. In fact, the Rays have been no-hit three times since last season with the White Sox' Mark Buehrle turning the trick in another perfect game July 23, 2009.

The New York Mets and San Diego Padres are now the only major league teams not have not thrown a no-hitter.

Matt Joyce hit a two-out grand slam in the sixth inning to break up dueling no-hitters and Carl Crawford added a solo shot in the eighth.

Max Scherzer (7-8) had kept the Rays hitless until Joyce's decisive blow and wound up taking the loss after allowing four runs -- three earned -- on two hits and four walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings for the Tigers, who have dropped three out of four.

Garza threw 120 pitches to etch his name in the record books and throw the fifth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. It's the first time since 1991 that at least five no-hitters have been thrown in a single season.

He set down Miguel Cabrera on a line drive to left to open the eighth and then retired Boesch on a called third strike and got Ryan Raburn on a swinging third strike to end the frame.

The right-hander set down Don Kelly on a ground ball to second to open the ninth and then got Gerald Laird on a called third strike to reach the brink of history. He completed the no-hitter by retiring pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago on a fly ball to shallow right field. The Rays then mobbed their teammate, who had been 0-4 in six previous starts against the Tigers.

Ben Zobrist started the winning rally in the sixth with a one-out walk and moved up when Crawford reached on catcher's interference. Evan Longoria walked to load the bases for Carlos Pena, who struck out. Joyce then broke up Scherzer's no-hit bid with a grand slam off the right field foul pole on a 3-2 pitch. He had hooked the prior pitch foul down the right field line.

Jason Bartlett followed with a single to center field that chased the Tigers' young right-hander from the game. Brad Thomas came on and retired Reid Brignac to end the inning.

Crawford's homered in the eighth off Enrique Gonzalez.

Game Notes

Garza has won his last four decisions...Tampa Bay is 17-8 against the AL Central this year...Joyce's grand slam was his second of the year and of his career. Detroit skipper Jim Leyland was thrown out of the game after B.J. Upton stole second base the third when he appeared to have been tagged out before arriving at the bag...Scherzer is 0-6 in his last eight road starts and has won only once away from home all season, April 18 in Seattle...Austin Jackson had a 10-game hit streak snapped, while Santiago and Cabrera lost seven-game hit strings.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.