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07/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim close out a three-game weekend set from the Coliseum this afternoon.
These teams have split the first two meetings of this series, with the Athletics rebounding from a loss on Friday with a 15-1 rout last night. Rajai Davis' grand slam capped an eight-run third inning for Oakland, with the outfielder finishing 4-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored.
"It's just nice to get an opportunity to play," Davis said. "To get some hits and get them early, it takes a lot of pressure off yourself."
Adam Rosales went 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored for the Athletics, who snapped a four-game skid. Ben Sheets (4-8) threw six shutout innings and gave up just two hits and a walk with four strikeouts for the win.
Cory Aldridge drove in the lone run for the Angels, who have lost five of six. Starting pitcher Scott Kazmir (7-9) was blown up for a franchise-record 13 runs on 11 hits and walked three over five innings to drop his fourth straight start
"Between he's pitched some good baseball, and there's been some games that have gotten away from him," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Kazmir. "[Saturday], obviously he struggled with a lot of things."
Jered Weaver has been outstanding for Anaheim this season, and the righty will take the mound for this afternoon's rubber match. Through 18 starts, Weaver is 8-4 with a 2.97 ERA and has posted 130 strikeouts and only 27 walks through 115 innings, while yielding 96 hits.
In his most recent start, Weaver allowed four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings against the White Sox on Tuesday en route to defeat.
Weaver is 0-1 against Oakland this season and 3-4 with a 3.10 ERA lifetime against the A's.
As for Oakland, it will give the ball to Trevor Cahill today. Cahill lost his last outing, permitting six earned runs in six innings against the New York Yankees on Tuesday, but still is an impressive 8-3 overall with a 3.17 ERA. He has only allowed 65 hits through 88 innings.
Cahill has yet to face the Angels this season and is 2-1 with a 2.56 ERA in his career against them.
The Angels have won seven of 12 meetings with Oakland this season and are 11-5 in the 16 most recent contests between the AL West foes.
<< Red-hot Rockies attempt to draw even with sliding Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies appear to be putting together one of
those long winning stretches they've become known for during the past few
seasons, much to the chagrin of the rest of the National League West.
The resurgent Rockie
<< Brewers ready brooms for skidding Bucs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran lefty Randy Wolf pitches for the sweep when the
Milwaukee Brewers host the Pittsburgh Pirates today in the finale of their
three-game series at Miller Park.
Milwaukee has taken one-run verdicts in each of the first
<< Cardinals try to end first half with needed win over Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The skidding St. Louis Cardinals can climb within a game of
first place to end the season's unofficial first half today, when they visit
Minute Maid Park for the finale of a three-game series with the Houston
Astros.
The
<< Nalbandian sends Argentina past Russia in Davis Cup quarters
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Nalbandian gave Argentina a Davis Cup
quarterfinal victory over Russia with a straight-set triumph over Mikhail
Youzhny in Sunday's fifth and decisive singles rubber.
After Nikolay Davydenko ke
Rookie arms on display in Diamondbacks-Marlins clash >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie right-hander Barry Enright aims for a series
clincher in just his third start as a big-leaguer today, when the Arizona
Diamondbacks host the Florida Marlins in the finale of their four-game series
at Chase Field.
T
Ryall wins Van Lanschot Senior Open >>
The Hague, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - George Ryall birdied the final hole
Sunday to come from behind and win the Van Lanschot Senior Open on the
European Senior Tour.
Ryall finished with a six-under 66 and won the title by a st
Silva tries to send Cubs to split with Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- In a first half filled with disappointment, Carlos Silva
has been an unexpected source of joy for the Chicago Cubs. Tonight the
rejuvenated pitcher takes aim at a 10th victory of 2010 when he takes the
mound for the North Si
Orioles have chance for surprising sweep of West-leading Texas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers, who continue to lead the American League
West, will close out a four-game weekend series with the lowly Baltimore
Orioles today in Arlington.
The Orioles may have the worst record in baseball at 28-59, b
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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