08/21/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI and Derek Lowe silenced the recently resurgent Rockies to help the Dodgers to a 3-1 victory over Colorado in the series finale of a three-game set.
Lowe (10-10) struck out seven and surrendered just one run on four hits and a pair of walks for Los Angeles, which finished a ten-game homestand at 7-3.
The Dodgers currently stand 1 1/2 games behind the NL-West leading Arizona Diamondbacks, who have Brandon Webb pitching on the mound against San Diego Thursday night.
Jorge De La Rosa (6-7) was nearly as effective as Lowe, allowing two runs -- just one earned -- on four hits and two walks but was credited with the loss. Clint Barmes was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored for Colorado, which won the first five games of a six-game road trip.
The Rockies got on the board in their first at-bat. Barmes singled, stole second, moved up another 90 feet on Seth Smith's grounder to second and scored when Matt Holiday lofted a sac fly to center field.
LA tied it up in the fourth thanks to third baseman Ian Stewart's inability to control Manny Ramirez's bouncer to his left. Ramirez reached safely, stole second and was brought home on Loney's single to left.
Matt Kemp's two-out double an inning later preceded Andre Ethier's single into the right field gap. Though Ethier was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double, Kemp came around for the go-ahead run.
Lowe retired eight straight before walking Jeff Baker with one away in the eighth. The Dodgers went to the bullpen, and Hong-Chih Kuo got out of the inning unscathed despite allowing a two-out double to Barmes.
Loney's lead-off blast off Luis Vizcaino in the bottom of the frame made it a two-run game. It was the first run Colorado's bullpen yielded on the road trip, a stretch spanning 17 innings.
Kuo shut down the heart of the Rockies order in the eighth, and Jonathan Broxton struck out the side in the ninth after giving up a lead-off double to Stewart, earning his 10 save of the season.
Game Notes
The Rockies out-hit the Dodgers, 6-5...The Dodgers lead the season series 8-7 despite winning just two of the past eight meetings...The only time the Rockies swept a six-game road trip occurred during their magical run at the end of the season, as San Diego and LA fell victim in three-games apiece between September 21-27, 2007...On Friday, the Rockies go home to play Cincinnati for three games, while the Dodgers open a 10-game road trip with four straight in Philadelphia.
<< Verdasco, Fish reach New Haven semis
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain and
last year's runner-up Mardy Fish were quarterfinal winners Thursday at the
$708,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final U.S. Open tune-up.
Verdasco held off German Mi
<< Zambrano uses arm and bat to help Cubs down Reds
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano was brilliant on the hill and
helped his own cause with a home run as Chicago edged Cincinnati, 3-2, in the
rubber match of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.
Zambrano (13-5) allowed just o
<< Chakvetadze charges into Pilot Pen semis
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia was
an easy quarterfinal winner Thursday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis
event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
Chakvetadze charged past Romanian Sorana Cirs
<< Benesova, Suarez Navarro reach Forest Hills semis
Forest Hills, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Czech Iveta Benesova
and fourth-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro were a pair of quarterfinal
winners Thursday at the $74,800 Forest Hills Tennis Classic, a final U.S.
Open tune-up.
American Univ. gives head men's hoops coach new contract >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American University rewarded head men's
basketball coach Jeff Jones with a new contract on Thursday.
Jones led the Eagles to a Patriot League title in 2007-08 along with a berth
in the NCAA Tournament
L.A. clears salary cap space then adds U.S. midfielder Lewis >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Galaxy signed U.S. national team
midfielder Eddie Lewis, the team announced on Thursday. To make room for Lewis
on the club's 18-man senior roster, the Galaxy traded forward Carlos Ruiz to
Toronto
Marlins let one slip away in San Francisco >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marlins reliever Kevin Gregg's wild
pitch in bottom of the ninth inning scored Emmanuel Burriss to send San
Francisco past Florida, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game series.
Gregg (6-6) wal
Mahan's 62 gives him Barclays lead >>
Paramus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hunter Mahan fired a nine-under 62 on Thursday
to take the opening-round lead of The Barclays, the first FedEx Cup Playoff
event of the year.
Paul Casey shot a five-under 66 on Thursday for second plac
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 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.
Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship
(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.
One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.
MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts US credit cards needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting