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07/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the MLB commissioner looking on, Barry Bonds will again try to inch closer to Hank Aaron's all-time home run record this afternoon when the San Francisco Giants play the middle portion of their three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
One day removed from a two-homer performance against the Cubs on Thursday that gave Bonds 753 career long balls, just two shy of equaling Aaron's mark, the slugger went 0-for-4 in his team's series-opening 8-4 victory yesterday.
Also of note was the attendance of commissioner Bud Selig, who plans to attend the rest of the series in his hometown of Milwaukee. Whether or not Selig should or will be there when Bonds breaks Aaron's record has been a running subplot all season.
Not only is Milwaukee the home of Selig, but it is also where Aaron played from 1954-65 with the Milwaukee Braves and then in 1975-76 with the Brewers. Coincidentally, Aaron blasted the 755th homer of his career on July 20, 1976 in Milwaukee.
There is a chance that Bonds will not be in the starting lineup due to today's 3:55 p.m. (et) start time. The two teams squared off in a night contest yesterday and Bonds recently sat out the first three games of a four-game set with the Cubs to rest his legs.
Should he start though, Bonds will face a pitcher in Dave Bush who he is just 1-for-6 against lifetime with two strikeouts and no homers.
If Bonds doesn't play, the Giants will hope his teammates can pick up him like they did in the series opener on Friday. Guillermo Rodriguez knocked in three runs in yesterday's victory, while Dave Roberts had three hits and an RBI.
Noah Lowry (10-7) allowed four runs -- three earned -- in six innings of work to take the win, just the Giants second in nine games.
Jeff Suppan started for Milwaukee and yielded three runs over five innings for the Brewers, who have lost two of three. Carlos Villanueva (6-2) coughed up a Milwaukee lead late in the game to take the loss.
J.J. Hardy had two RBI as the Brewers fell to 5-3 on a 10-game homestand, but more importantly, have seen their lead in the National League Central dip to just 2 1/2 games over the second-place Cubs.
Bush toes the rubber for Milwaukee and is 5-1 over his last six starts. He is coming off consecutive victories, besting Washington behind seven innings of one-run ball on July 6 before downing Arizona on Monday. Against the Diamondbacks, Bush scattered three runs on three homers and five hits over six innings, improving to 8-7 on the year with a 4.84 earned run average.
The right-hander is 1-1 in three games (two starts) lifetime versus the Giants with a 3.71 ERA. All three of those outings came last year.
Tim Lincecum will try to extend his stretch of impressive outings when he starts for the Giants. The rookie hurler posted back-to-back wins on July 1 and 7, allowing just three runs over 13 total innings, and then received a no- decision in his first start after the All-Star break on July 16 versus Chicago.
Against the Cubs, Lincecum allowed only one run and two hits, but also walked five over 6 1/3 innings of his club's 3-2 setback. He struck out eight on the day, however, and is 4-2 with a 4.37 ERA this year.
The 23-year-old right-hander faced Milwaukee for the first time in his career on June 19 and was roughed up for six runs over four innings in the loss.
The Brewers had won seven straight -- all at home -- versus the Giants until yesterday's loss. That included a three-game sweep this year in Milwaukee from June 18-20.
<< Eaton beats former team as Phils top Padres
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Utley went 2-for-4 with a two-run home
run as the Philadelphia Phillies downed the San Diego Padres, 7-3, in the
second of a four-game series at Petco Park.
Ryan Howard went 2-for-4 with an RBI
<< Bedard, Orioles fan A's
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major league strikeout leader Erik Bedard
fanned 11 batters over seven one-hit innings, as the Baltimore Orioles routed
the Oakland Athletics, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game series at McAfee
Coliseu
<< Blake survives to reach Countrywide semifinals
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed James Blake edged fellow
published author and countryman Vincent Spadea 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 to advance to
the semifinals of the Countrywide Classic on Friday.
Blake, whose autobiography "
<< Oakland's Swisher exits early
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland center fielder Nick Swisher left
Friday's 6-1 loss against Baltimore in the seventh inning with a sprained
right shoulder.
Swisher, who is hitting .256 with 46 RBI this season, got hurt attempting a
Padres set to honor Gwynn, battle Phils >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle between 44-year-old left-handers is on tap for
tonight as Jamie Moyer and the Philadelphia Phillies play the third of four
straight games against David Wells and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
The matchup of
Pirates try to stop skid at seven games against Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southpaw Wandy Rodriguez will try to get back on a winning
track tonight when the Houston Astros visit PNC Park in game two of a three-
game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A 28-year-old Dominican, Rodriguez had won co
Rockies continue series with Nationals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mexican veteran Rodrigo Lopez goes for a third straight
strong start today when the Colorado Rockies visit RFK Stadium in the third of
a four-game series with the Washington Nationals.
Lopez, who'll be 32 in December, defe
Pujols, Cards resume set with Braves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols is getting hot and will try to lead the St.
Louis Cardinals to a victory tonight when the club plays the third game of its
four-game set with the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Pujols homered for the fifth t
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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