Padres continue freefall, lose 10th in a row
Baseball Betting Lines
09/05/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melvin Mora hit a two-run single to snap a seventh-inning tie, lifting the Colorado Rockies to a 4-2 win and sending National League West-leading San Diego to a 10th straight loss.
Troy Tulowitzki clubbed a solo home run and added a run-scoring groundout for the Rockies, who have won six of their last nine games to climb within 4 1/2 games of the Padres in the division.
Jorge De La Rosa (6-4) limited San Diego to six hits and two walks over six frames. His lone mistake came in the sixth inning, when Miguel Tejada tied the game with a two-run homer.
Padres starter Clayton Richard did not figure in the decision after he worked six innings, allowing two runs -- one earned -- and nine hits with three walks.
San Diego is in the midst of its longest slump since a franchise-worst 13-game skid from May 8-21, 1994. The Padres also had their lead over second-place San Francisco trimmed to 1 1/2 games. The Giants play in Los Angeles later Sunday.
Tejada's blast erased a 2-0 deficit, but Colorado quickly responded in its next turn at the plate.
Tim Stauffer (3-3) replaced Richard on the mound and struck out Ryan Spilborghs to open the seventh. Stauffer was then lifted in favor of Mike Adams after Carlos Gonzalez singled and Tulowitzki walked.
Following a double steal, Mora stroked a base hit past the drawn-in infield to put the visitors on top.
Matt Belisle retired all six batters he faced in relief of De La Rosa. Huston Street gave up a bunt single to Tejada to begin the ninth, but the Colorado closer struck out three in a row to earn his 15th save.
The Rockies got on the board when Tulowitzki homered to open the fourth. Colorado picked up another run in the fifth. With runners on the corners, Spilborghs scored on Tulowitzki's grounder to third.
Game Notes
Colorado recorded its first series sweep on the road this season...Gonzalez went 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games...Tejada played in the 2,000th game of his career...Colorado has won 11 of its 15 meetings with the Padres in 2010.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.