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09/01/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Longoria singled in Ben Zobrist with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Rafael Soriano survived a shaky ninth as the Rays edged Toronto, 2-1, in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Sean Rodriguez homered in the fifth inning off Shaun Marcum, as the Rays remained a game behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. New York edged Oakland, 4-3, on Wednesday.
David Price (16-6) added to his club-record in victories by pitching eight solid innings, allowing four hits, including a homer to John Buck in the fifth. Price also had two walks and fanned seven batters to move his career mark to 6-0 in seven lifetime starts against Toronto.
Marcum gave up five hits and fanned seven over six frames. Shawn Camp (4-3) was hit with the loss, Toronto's third in four games.
The Rays, who posted their fourth victory in five games, barely pulled it out with Soriano getting his major league-best 40th save. Vernon Wells tripled to left-center with one out in the ninth. Adam Lind then struck out and Buck flied out to the warning track in left.
Buck started the fifth with a homer, but Rodriguez tied it with one out in the bottom half of the frame. Tampa Bay wasted a bases-loaded chance later in the inning when Dezmond Jennings grounded a ball back to the mound, and Marcum made a great stop and flip to home for the force play.
The Rays stranded a runner at third in the seventh, but Zobrist walked in a pinch-hitting role with one out in the next frame. Scott Downs then entered from the bullpen, but Carl Crawford singled to left field. Longoria followed with a ground single to left and the throw home was late.
Brad Hawpe struck out swinging to leave the bases full before Soriano survived the ninth.
Game Notes
Soriano's 40 saves are the third-most in a season by a Ray, trailing only Roberto Hernandez (43 in 1999) and Danys Baez (41 in 2005)...Blue Jays left fielder Fred Lewis left the game due to an injured elbow...The Rays (82-51) assured themselves of becoming just the seventh team all-time to follow 10- plus losing seasons with three straight winning campaigns, joining the Philadelphia/KC A's (3 times, 1915-27; 1934-49 and 1953-70); Boston Braves (1903-1916), Washington Senators (1901-14) and Montreal Expos (1969-81)...Before the game, the Blue Jays recalled catcher J.P Arencibia from Triple-A Las Vegas and reinstated pitcher David Purcey from the 15-day disabled list.
<< Red Sox use six-run seventh to upend O's
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marco Scutaro hit a two-run homer and Adrian
Beltre notched a three-run blast in a six-run seventh inning as Boston rallied
past Baltimore, 9-6, in the second of three from Camden Yards.
Ryan Kalish, J.D. D
<< Hanigan's bat, Chapman's arm lead Reds over Brewers
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Hanigan's three-run homer fueled a
six-run seventh inning, as the Cincinnati Reds beat Milwaukee, 6-1, to
complete a three-game sweep at Great American Ball Park.
The win gave first-place
<< Giants reinstate Renteria from DL
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants reinstanted
shortstop Edgar Renteria and left-handed hurler Dan Runzler from the 15-day
disabled list on Wednesday.
Renteria missed 19 games with a left biceps strain an
<< Hanson ends long drought as Braves top Mets
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hanson won for the first time since early
July and Jason Heyward finished with four hits, as Atlanta downed the New York
Mets, 4-1, in the third of four games at Turner Field.
Hanson (9-10) had not won si
Marlins beat down Nationals; Morgan charges mound to start brawl >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wes Helms drove in five runs and Florida blew out
the Nationals, 16-10, in a game marred by a benches-clearing brawl in the
sixth inning.
It was during the top of that frame when Washington center fiel
Valencia the hero as Twins beat Tigers in extras >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danny Valencia's single to center scored
Michael Cuddyer with the winning run in the 10th frame, as Minnesota downed
Detroit, 2-1, at Target Field.
"Great feeling. My first walk-off hit in pro baseba
Giants capitalize on eighth-inning miscues by Rockies >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Ford scored on a crazy turn of
events after a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth frame, as the Giants
edged the Rockies, 2-1, at AT&T Park.
In a battle of marquee hurlers, Mike Font
Tipsarevic ousts Roddick in second round at U.S. Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Andy Roddick suffered one of
his earliest exits at the U.S. Open, falling to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in
four sets in a second-round encounter Wednesday night.
The ninth-seeded Roddick,
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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