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07/21/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Drew hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks held on to beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2, in the middle contest of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.
Orlando Hudson went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Chris Young scored twice for the Diamondbacks, who had lost five of six.
Arizona starter Micah Owings lasted just four innings after giving two runs on four hits. Juan Cruz (4-1) took over for Owings and pitched three no-hit innings to pick up the win.
Jose Valverde worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to nail down the victory and pick up his 29th save of the season.
Angel Pagan hit a two-run triple for the Cubs, who had won three in a row and seven of eight.
Rich Hill pitched six innings, yielding two runs -- one earned -- on six hits with six strikeouts and four walks.
Bob Howry (5-5) struck out pinch-hitter Augie Ojeda to start the eighth, but Drew stepped to the plate and smoked a 3-1 pitch over the right-field wall to give Arizona the lead.
Ryan Theriot led off the eighth with a walk, but after Mike Fontenot flied out, the Diamondbacks got out of the inning on an impressive double play by Drew and Hudson.
Aramis Ramirez hit a groundball up the middle and Drew, running away from second, caught up to the ball and backhanded a throw to second. Hudson caught the ball with his bare hand before throwing to first for the twin-killing.
A fielding error by Ramirez in the first inning allowed Arizona to jump out to an early lead. Young led off the game and bounced a groundball to third base that got by Ramirez, allowing Young to reach second.
Young then swiped third before scoring on Hudson's groundout.
Owings struggled with his command in the home half of the first, walking two batters and almost hitting Ramirez with a pitch that was high and inside. Ramirez took exception and approached the mound before cooler heads prevailed.
Chicago then took the lead in the fourth as Jacque Jones led off with a double, DeRosa walked and Pagan cleared the bases with a triple to right field.
Arizona answered right back in the fifth as Young walked, went to third on Hudson's single and scored on Eric Byrnes' groundball.
Game Notes
The Diamondbacks are 14-7 against Chicago since the start of the 2004 season...It was Pagan's second triple of the season...Attendance was 41,632.
<< Eschauer, Darcis to meet in Dutch Open final
Amersfoort, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Werner Eschauer of Austria and
Belgian Steve Darcis posted semifinal victories on Saturday at the Dutch Open.
Eschauer, who upset third seed Carlos Moya in the quarterfinals, whipped
Dutc
<< Towers, Blue Jays blank Mariners
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Towers pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings as
the Toronto Blue Jays edged the Seattle Mariners, 1-0, in the second contest
of a three-game set.
Towers (5-6) gave up just three hits while striking out four
<< Tampa's Crawford exits with ankle injury
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Carl Crawford
left Saturday's game against the New York Yankees in the fifth inning with a
sprained left ankle.
Crawford legged out an infield single in the third and began
<< Marlins' Olsen arrested
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins pitcher Scott Olsen was
reportedly arrested Saturday morning after he did not pull over his car during
a traffic stop.
According to the Miami Herald, Olsen was charged with driving
Power wins Champ Car pole in Edmonton >>
Edmonton, AB Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power won Saturday's final
qualifying session for the Rexall Grand Prix Edmonton at the Rexall Speedway.
The No.5 Team Australia driver circled the 1.973-mile, 14-turn,temporary
course
Local favorite Francella bounced from Match Play >>
New Rochelle, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With no big names left entering the
quarterfinal round, a local favorite breathed life into the HSBC Women's World
Match Play Championship.
But not for long.
Meaghan Francella's run as the 33rd
Ortiz day-to-day with shoulder injury >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz underwent
an MRI Saturday on his strained left shoulder.
The MRI, taken at Massachusetts General Hospital, revealed no structural
damage and Ortiz, who was out of th
Yanks sting Devil Rays in first game of doubleheader >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hideki Matsui and Shelley Duncan each hit two-
run homers as the New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-3, in
the first game of a doubleheader.
Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run
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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