08/27/2008 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jody Gerut had three hits, including the game-winning RBI single in the eighth, as San Diego defeated Arizona, 5-4, to complete a three-game sweep of the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.
Nick Hundley hit a two-run homer while Edgar Gonzalez and Chase Headley had RBI singles as part of San Diego's five-run comeback. Mike Adams (2-3) got the win with a scoreless eighth frame. Padres starter Cha Seung Baek lasted 5 2/3 innings in the no-decision after giving up two runs on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts to remain winless over his last four starts.
San Diego, playing the role of spoiler, swept the D'Backs with wins against Dan Haren and NL Cy Young Award candidate Brandon Webb before besting future Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson. The Padres entered the series on a seven-game skid and hold the National League's second-worst mark at 51-82.
"At this point, we're probably just going to be spoilers here. We're going to make other teams sweat a little," Gerut said of San Diego's sweep. "The last thing we want to do is have people come in and think we're pushovers. I think this series is a good message that we're going to continue to fight."
Despite the sweep, Arizona continues to hold a 2 1/2 game advantage in the NL West by virtue of the LA Dodgers' current five-game skid. The Dodgers continue a three-game set with Washington later Wednesday.
Johnson received his second straight no-decision after winning six of eight starts and remains six wins shy of becoming the 24th pitcher to reach 300 wins. The veteran lefty allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while fanning nine in seven innings. He also contributed at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI single.
Miguel Montero, Chris Young, and Mark Reynolds also knocked in a run each as part of a four-run sixth. The D'Backs, who have lost four straight and five of their last six, have had the bullpen register losses in three of those games.
Chad Qualls (2-8) came on for Johnson in the eighth and was greeted by a single from Brian Giles, who moved to second on a sacrifice. Headley tied the game with an RBI single to right two batters later, stole second and scored the go-ahead run on a single to right from Gerut.
Trevor Hoffman entered in the ninth to earn his 27th save of the season by striking out the side.
In the visitors' sixth, Chad Tracy singled with one out, moved to third on a single to left from Adam Dunn and scored on a Reynolds sacrifice fly. Baek exited in favor of Clay Hensley, who immediately gave up an RBI triple to Montero and an RBI double to Young. Johnson completed the scoring by lacing a run-scoring single to left.
The Pads made it a game with a three-run seventh. Gerut tripled to right- center with one away and scored on a Gonzalez infield single. Hundley followed with a two-run shot to left to make it a one-run game.
"The pitch to Hundley, it kind of came out of nowhere the way he was pitching," Arizona skipper Bob Melvin said of Johnson's performance. "He was cruising pretty well and all of a sudden it's a 4-3 ballgame and a completely different game after that."
Game Notes
Arizona swept a three-game series from the Padres last week and finished off the season series with a 10-8 edge, with four of those victories coming in San Diego...The Padres will play host to the Rockies for a three-game weekend set following an off-day Thursday while Arizona returns home for a decisive three- game series with the Dodgers following Thursday's off-day...The Padres optioned pitcher Josh Banks to Triple-A Portland and activated pitcher Bryan Corey from the 15- day disabled list and sent him to Portland prior to the game.
<< Padres send Banks, Corey to minors
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres optioned pitcher
Josh Banks to Triple-A Portland and activated pitcher Bryan Corey from the 15-
day disabled list and sent him to Portland Wednesday.
Banks, 26, was 3-6 with a 4.
<< Djokovic, Davydenko cruise in Big Apple
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Novak
Djokovic of Serbia and Russian star Nikolay Davydenko were easy first-round
winners Wednesday at the U.S. Open.
A third-seeded Djokovic won his seventh match in his last
<< Dodgers recall DeWitt, designate Ozuna for assignment
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled third
baseman Blake DeWitt from Triple-A Las Vegas Wednesday and designated
utilityman Pablo Ozuna for assignment.
DeWitt, an unlikely starter at the hot corne
<< Lakers sign second-round pick Crawford
El Segundo, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers signed second-
round draft pick guard Joe Crawford on Wednesday. Per team policy, terms of
the agreement were not released.
Crawford, 22, started all six games for the Lak
Braves obtain Dessens >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves signed pitcher Elmer
Dessens on Wednesday to a contract through the end of this season. He is
expected to be added to the club's roster later this week.
Dessens, 37, last pitche
Portland signs F Jackson, two rookies >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers signed a trio
of players Wednesday including forward Luke Jackson and two rookies, center
Steven Hill and guard Jamaal Tatum.
Per team policy, terms of the contracts were no
Johnson goes the distance to lead Fish past Bravos >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson's brilliant four-hitter marked the
first complete game of his career and Dan Uggla was the offensive catalyst, as
the Florida Marlins defeated the Atlanta Braves, 4-1, and evened their three-
game se
Pena's homer provides lone run as Rays edge Blue Jays >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Pena homered and Matt Garza went
7 2/3 strong innings as Tampa Bay edged Toronto, 1-0, in the second tilt of a
three-game series at Tropicana Field.
Garza (11-7) allowed only six hits without
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 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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