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09/08/2007 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lastings Milledge's three-run homer highlighted a six-run sixth inning as the New York Mets thumped the Houston Astros, 11-3, in the opener of a three-game set at Shea Stadium.
Milledge ended 2-for-4 and Carlos Beltran also had two hits, including a homer, for the NL East-leading Mets, who have won six of seven. David Wright and Luis Castillo each contributed with an RBI and two runs scored for New York, which increased its lead in the division to six games over the Phillies. Philadelphia lost 6-3 to Florida on Friday night.
Mike Pelfrey (2-7) picked up his second straight win, allowing two runs on 10 hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
Lance Berkman homered and scored a pair of runs for the Astros, who have lost three straight and five of six.
Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez (8-13) was hit with the loss, surrendering five runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Berkman played a part in the first two runs for the Astros, homering in the first and scoring on a Mark Loretta base hit in the third. However, after that it was all New York.
In the home half of the inning, Wright doubled home Pelfrey and Castillo, who was going to stop at third on the hit, scored when center-fielder Hunter Pence committed a throwing error. Wright then scored the go-ahead run on a Beltran single.
Beltran added a solo homer and Jeff Conine singled home a run in the fifth to increase the lead to 5-1.
The Mets escaped trouble in the sixth inning. Pelfrey was lifted with one out and the bases loaded in favor of Jorge Sosa. Craig Biggio greeted Sosa with the sinking liner to right that Milledge made a diving catch on to record the out and hold the runners. Sosa then struck out Berkman to end the inning and hold the Astros in check.
A six-run home half of the inning put the game out of reach. Castillo singled home Jose Reyes, who tripled the at-bat prior, with the first run of the frame and later scored on Moises Alou's double. Paul Lo Duca later added a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 8-2 and Milledge capped the inning's scoring with a three-run homer.
Houston got one run back in the seventh when Ty Wigginton doubled home Luke Scott.
Game Notes
Prior to the game, the Mets recalled outfielder Carlos Gomez from New Orleans...Berkman has 29 homers this season...Beltran hit his 28th homer...Milledge's HR was his fifth...Reyes hit his first triple since August 5. He has 12 triples this season.
<< McGowan, Blue Jays top Devil Rays
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin McGowan hurled eight innings and
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Field.
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Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson made major league history by
belting his 20th homer of the season as Detroit downed Seattle, 6-1, in the
opener of a crucial three-game set at Comerica Park.
With the home run, Granderso
<< Busch rules Richmond from start to finish
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch won Friday night's Emerson Radio
250 at the Richmond Internationals Raceway leading all but 25 laps. The No.5
Chevrolet crossed the finish line 0.461 seconds ahead of Carl Edwards.
The victory
<< Olivo powers Fish past Phils
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Olivo went 2-for-3 with a solo
homer, two RBI and two runs scored as the Florida Marlins downed the
Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3, to open a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park.
Cody R
Rice and Scarlet Knights down Midshipmen >>
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41-24, at Rutgers Stadium.
Rice, who scored one of his touchdowns receiving, be
A-Rod clubs 49th homer as Yanks edge Royals >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez finished 3-for-4 and hit his
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City, 3-2, in the first of three between the clubs at Kauffman Stadium.
The Rodrig
Rockies down Padres, gain ground in NL wild card >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaz Matsui hit a two-run home run as the
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Troy Tulowitzki went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two run
Catalanotto leads Rangers past A's >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frank Catalanotto finished 3-for-4 with three
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three-g
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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