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07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Madison Bumgarner shoots for his fourth straight win this evening when the San Francisco Giants continue their four-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Bumgarner has been sensational over his winning streak, allowing two earned runs in his last 19 2/3 innings. On Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers the 20-year-old lefty gave up just two runs (one earned) and six hits in 5 2/3 frames to get the win.
The former 10th overall pick, though, worked just one 1-2-3 inning in the effort.
"He wasn't as sharp tonight. But that's a good sign," Giants catcher Buster Posey said.
Arizona, meanwhile, will pin its hopes on a streaking young hurler of its own in 25-year-old righty Ian Kennedy, who has won his last two starts. Kennedy got a ton of support in beating the New York Mets on Monday, but did not need it, as he surrendered just one run and four hits in five innings.
Kennedy did not get a decision the last time he faced the Giants, but beat them back on May 19, surrendering a run and three hits in eight innings.
San Francisco improved to 4-1 on its current road trip on Friday, as Aubrey Huff hit two home runs and drove in three, as the Giants spoiled Kelly Johnson's cycle and beat the Diamondbacks, 7-4.
Andres Torres added the tie-breaking two-run triple in the seventh inning for the Giants, who took advantage of several Arizona errors to win for the ninth time in its last 11 games overall. San Francisco beat Arizona by a 3-0 score in Thursday's series opener.
Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez got out of several jams to allow only one run. However, the left-hander lasted just five innings, as he threw 109 pitches, gave up four hits, walked five and struck out 10.
Santiago Casilla allowed three runs in the sixth while recording two outs, and Chris Ray (1-0) got the final one to get the win. Brian Wilson recorded the final four outs to earn his 28th save.
Johnson finished 4-for-4 and became the fourth player in team history to hit for the cycle, but it was not enough to keep the Diamondbacks from losing their fifth consecutive game to the Giants.
"Pretty cool thing to say that you did," Johnson said. "But unfortunately we lost."
Edwin Jackson (6-9) took the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks in six-plus innings.
San Francisco leads the 2010 season series with Arizona by a 5-2 margin, and is 18-7 over the past 25 meetings between the two ballclubs.
<< Rays eye first win in Cleveland in nearly five years
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay has had a hard time winning in Cleveland.
Hopefully its ace can turn things around, as the Rays send David Price to the
mound this evening trying to stop the Cleveland Indians' incredible 18-game
home winning streak
<< Latos returns from DL to face Pirates
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mat Latos returns from a short stint on the disabled list
this evening when the San Diego Padres continue their three-game set with the
Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Latos, who had been sidelined with a strained left obl
<< Tigers, Blue Jays try again in Detroit
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Cabrera's primary goal is to help the Detroit Tigers
capture an American League Central title. Still, one would think the
possibility of becoming baseball's first Triple Crown winner in 43 years has
got to cross the Al
<< Pelfrey hopes for a rebound in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Pelfrey hopes to bounce back from the shortest start
of his career this evening when the New York Mets continue their four-game set
with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
Pelfrey could not make it out of the
Twins send Baker to hill in Baltimore >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Struggling to keep pace with the White Sox and Tigers in
the AL Central, the Twins will try to solve their road woes when Minnesota
battles the Baltimore Orioles in the third installment of a four-game set this
evening at Cam
Red Sox shoot for third straight win against battling M's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox try to make it three straight wins this
evening when they continue their four-game set against the Seattle Mariners at
Safeco Field.
The Red Sox will turn to Jon Lester to keep them in the win column, as
Parra tries to get on track against Nats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Manny Parra can end a personal two-start losing
streak while giving Milwaukee a second straight win tonight when the Brewers
host the Washington Nationals in the middle game of a three-game series at
Miller Park.
On
Johnson joins Choi in first at Scandinavian Masters >>
Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden's own Richard S. Johnson posted a
two-under 70 on Saturday to join second-round leader K.J. Choi in first place
after the 54 holes of the Scandinavian Masters.
Johnson and Choi, who had a one-u
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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