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07/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros can continue a season's worth of success against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight, when the teams get together for the middle game of a three-game series at PNC Park.
Houston made it seven in a row against the Pirates in Friday's series opener, as Jeff Keppinger homered and drove in three runs to support 7 2/3 sturdy innings from Brett Myers in a 5-2 win.
Hunter Pence singled twice, scored two runs and walked, while Jason Bourgeois scored a pair of runs and swiped two bases for the Astros.
Myers (7-6) allowed two runs on five hits for Houston, which has won five of its last seven games.
He walked one and struck out four in extending his franchise record to 19 straight starts of six innings or more to open the season. Matt Lindstrom retired the side in order in the ninth to nail down his 22nd save of the season.
Zach Duke (3-9) suffered the loss in his first start since June 16, yielding a pair of runs on five hits over five frames, while fanning five for the Pirates, who have dropped seven straight overall.
Right-hander Bud Norris, who beat the Pirates in his lone matchup against them as a rookie last season, gets the call for the Astros Saturday.
The 25-year-old former sixth-round draft pick allowed six hits and a run in six innings against Pittsburgh in 2009, but has gone without a win this season since a 4-1 triumph in St. Louis on May 13.
In five starts since, he's 0-2 with three no-decisions, including an 8-0 loss to the Cardinals in his most recent outing on July 9.
In that game, Norris was touched for seven hits and five runs in 7 2/3 innings.
He is 2-2 in six road starts with a 4.76 earned run average.
For Pittsburgh, righty Ross Ohlendorf makes his ninth career appearance against the Astros while still searching for his first victory.
The 27-year-old Austin, Texas native was a hard-luck 2-0 loser to Houston in his last start on July 8, scattering seven hits and striking out five while his lifetime mark against the team fell to 0-6.
Ohlendorf scored his lone win of 2010 one start earlier, tossing seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over Philadelphia on July 2.
The Princeton University product is 1-3 in seven starts at home, where he sports a 4.15 ERA in 39 innings.
<< Soderling to meet Almagro in Swedish Open finale
Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Swedish stalwart Robin Soderling
and Nicolas Almagro will square off in the Swedish Open final after each won
their respective semifinal matches on Saturday.
Soderling lost the first set for
<< Cubs seek another win over visiting Phils
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been all smiles for the Chicago Cubs on their current
homestand and they'll go for a series victory this afternoon in the third test
of a four-game series versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs o
<< Braves aim to bounce back against Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves can't afford to lose any ground in the
competitive National League East Division. Tonight they have a good shot at
bouncing back with Tim Hudson on the mound in the third test of a four-game
series
<< Cards send Wainwright to hill vs. Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Wainwright will try to become just the second 14-game
winner in the major leagues and remain perfect at home when he leads the St.
Louis Cardinals into the third test of a four-game series tonight versus the
Los Ang
Angels, Mariners continue set at Big A >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have owned the Seattle
Mariners this season and they will try to continue that dominance tonight as
the squads resume a four-game set at Angel Stadium.
Following last night's 3-2 res
Twins hope to make up more ground vs. White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will try to make up some more ground on
the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox, as the teams continue a four-game
set tonight at Target Field.
Last night, Joe Mauer had two hits, including a bi
A's try to keep rolling in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics take aim at their fourth win in a row
tonight, as they resume a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at
Kauffman Stadium.
On Friday, Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in two runs and Gio Gonzalez
Rangers lefty Lee toes rubber in Boston >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Lee is hoping for a better showing in his second
start for Texas, as the Rangers and Boston Red Sox continue a four-game series
tonight at Fenway Park.
Lee, who was acquired on July 9th in a six-player deal wit
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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