Woodward's ninth-inning hit sends M's past Sox
Baseball Betting Lines
07/04/2009 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Woodward knocked in the deciding run in the ninth inning as Seattle clipped Boston, 3-2, in the middle contest of three at Fenway Park.
Russell Branyan added a pair of RBI for the Mariners, who have won three consecutive games.
Roy Corcoran (2-0) hurled 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for the win. David Aardsma turned in a perfect final frame to notch his 17th save.
Jason Varitek's two-run homer was the only offense for the Red Sox, who have dropped the first two games in the series. Takashi Saito (2-2) was saddled with the loss after allowing the game-winning run with three walks in the ninth.
Saito began the fateful inning by walking Ken Griffey Jr., and two batters later walked Ryan Langerhans. Kenji Johjima followed with another base on balls before Woodward dumped a single to right which scored Wladimir Balentien, who was pinch-running for Griffey.
Aardsma retired the Sox in order in the home half to lock up the win.
Varitek's two-run shot in the second gave the Sox the early lead, but Branyan doubled home Ichiro Suzuki for a 2-1 game in the third.
A base hit from Woodward and a bunt single from Ronny Cedeno preceded a line out, then a sacrifice fly from Branyan evened the score in the fifth.
Game Notes
The Mariners have won four of five meetings in 2009...Seattle starter Garrett Olson yielded four hits and two runs over 6 1/3 innings, while Boston hurler Brad Penny allowed six hits and a pair of runs over six full frames.
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Micah Owings tossed 6 2/3 strong innings and hit his third home run of the year, lifting Cincinnati to a 5-2 victory against St. Louis in the second of three games between these NL Central rivals.
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Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey McGehee finished with four hits, a double
short of a cycle, and drove in five to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to an 11-2
win over the Chicago Cubs.
Mike Cameron was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer and
<< Nats rally in the eighth off Braves bullpen
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit his 300th career home run and
drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single during a four-run eighth, as
Washington topped Atlanta, 5-3, halting the Braves' season-high win streak at
five ga
<< New jockey for Mine That Bird on the horizon
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chip Woolley, trainer of Kentucky Derby
winner Mine That Bird, indicated Saturday that an announcement on a new rider
for the three-year-old could come as soon as Sunday morning. Earlier in the
week Ca
<< D'Backs activate Petit off DL for Saturday start
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have activated
right-hander Yusmeiro Petit from the 15-day disabled list to start Saturday's
game versus Colorado.
Petit has been shelved since May 9 with a right shoulde
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alberto Callaspo went 2-for-3 and hit the go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, as the Kansas City Royals came back to top the White Sox, 6-4, and snap Chicago's seven-game win streak. Callaspo
Mike Smith back on Mine That Bird >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eclipse Award winning jockey Mike Smith has
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Saturda
Wang leaves game >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang left
Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a shoulder injury.
Wang departed in the sixth inning with a right shoulder strain, and is
scheduled to
Yi shoots 61 for Jamie Farr lead >>
Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Korea's Eunjung Yi fired a 10-under 61 and
took the third-round lead Saturday at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Yi holed out from the fairway for an eagle at No. 10 and collected eight
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McNair found dead >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens
quarterback Steve McNair was found dead Saturday. He was 36.
At a brief press conference Saturday, Nashville police department public
affairs manager Don Aaron con
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.