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07/19/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Boston Red Sox continue to lose ground in the American League playoff chase, the Oakland Athletics are doing their best to stay in the hunt.
The resurgent Athletics try to extend their season-best winning streak to six games when they return to the Oakland Coliseum tonight to begin a three-game series with a slumping Red Sox squad that continues to be beset by injuries.
After winning its final two contests prior to the All-Star break, Oakland opened up the second half with a three-game road sweep of the Kansas City Royals capped by Sunday's 9-6 triumph. The five straight victories have moved the Athletics back to .500 for the season and kept them within striking distance in the AL's West Division, where the club presently trails first- place Texas by seven games.
Oakland received both good hitting and pitching in Sunday's finale, as Adam Rosales, Jack Cust and Kevin Kouzmanoff all homered to help back a career-high 7 2/3 innings out of young starter Vin Mazzaro.
Rosales belted a two-run shot in the fourth inning to give the A's a 2-1 edge and Kouzmanoff had a solo blast as part of a two-RBI afternoon. Cust added a three-run homer in the ninth that later proved to be crucial, as the Royals scored five times in the bottom of the frame in a belated comeback attempt. Oakland, which has gone 12-6 since June 25, has now piled up 40 runs over the course of its win streak.
"As a team I think we all got good pitches to hit in this series and we were fortunate enough to hit them," Kouzmanoff said. "When guys were in scoring position, we took advantage. The opportunities were there to drive guys in."
Mazzaro (5-2) did his part as well, limiting the Royals to one run and striking out five with just one walk in winning his third consecutive decision. Relievers Brad Ziegler and Cedric Bowers weren't as effective, as the pair gave up five runs in the ninth before closer Andrew Bailey came on to get the final out and end Kansas City's threat.
Oakland's red-hot lineup will be taking its swings tonight against Daisuke Matsuzaka in the Boston hurler's first outing after the All-Star break. The Japanese star closed out his first half on a strong note, holding Toronto to two runs over six innings on July 11 to run his season record to 6-3. The win also improved Matsuzaka to 3-1 with a 4.57 earned run average in seven road starts this season.
Matsuzaka also owns a victory over the A's this year, having come out on top in a 6-4 decision at Fenway Park on June 2. The right-hander worked 6 2/3 innings in that game and allowed three runs while striking out seven batters without issuing a walk.
The Tokyo native has made six overall starts against Oakland since entering the majors in 2007 and has gone 3-1 with a 4.18 ERA versus tonight's foe.
The ailing Red Sox will be limping into a 10-game West Coast road trip and enters the trek having lost eight of their past 11 tilts. The swoon has dropped Terry Francona's club to 6 1/2 games behind the rival New York Yankees for first place in the AL East and 3 1/2 back of Tampa Bay for the lead in the league's Wild Card race.
The Red Sox began their post-All Star break schedule by losing three of four to the AL West-leading Rangers over the weekend, including a 4-2 setback on Sunday. Boston mustered just five hits and fanned 14 times against Texas pitching in the finale, with starter C.J. Wilson notching a career-high 10 strikeouts over the first 6 2/3 innings.
"C.J. threw the ball well," said Red Sox starter Jon Lester. "He threw a better game. They got some hits when they needed to."
Lester (11-4) had a six-start home winning streak halted after allowing four runs (three earned) over eight innings, while fellow All-Star Adrian Beltre had an RBI double in a losing cause. Mike Cameron accounted for Boston's only other run with a solo homer in the ninth.
The Red Sox did win two of three games from the A's in a series held at Fenway Park earlier this season, but have lost in five of their past six visits to the Coliseum. However, Boston did prevail in an early June matchup with Ben Sheets, who gets the call for Oakland tonight hoping to build off an excellent last start.
Sheets yielded just two hits and a walk over six shutout innings to best the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on July 10 in one of the oft-injured righty's best showings of the season. The four-time NL All-Star, who missed all of 2009 recovering from elbow surgery, hasn't been real consistent over the course of the year, however, as his 4-8 record and 4.63 ERA will attest.
The 32-year-old has usually pitched well at home, however, having compiled a 4-3 record with a solid 2.93 ERA in 10 starts at the Coliseum. He's pitched at least six innings in nine of those appearances as well.
Sheets surrendered four runs through six innings in a 6-4 loss to the Red Sox on June 2, his first-ever start against Boston.
<< Kennison retires as a Chief
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time Kansas City wide receiver Eddie
Kennison signed a contract Monday to announce his retirement as a member of
the Chiefs.
Kennison spent seven of his 13 NFL seasons with the Chiefs, catch
<< Surging Blue Jays to face sliding Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays try to make it four straight wins
when they open a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals this evening
at Kauffman Stadium.
The Jays battered the woeful Baltimore Orioles this past weekend,
<< Rays try to get back on track in Baltimore
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wade Davis could be pitching for his spot in the rotation
when the Tampa Bay Rays open a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles
this evening at Camden Yards.
Davis struggled in the first half, going 6-9 with a 4.6
<< Tigers welcome return home to take on Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are certainly happy to be heading home.
They may be even happier to see the Texas Rangers as they kick off a three-
game series with the American League West leaders this evening at Comerica
Park.
Texas
Nats try to get bats going against Reds' Cueto >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Struggles on offense cost the Washington Nationals the
chance to open the second half with a three-game sweep. Chances at the plate
could be hard to come by again tonight against the Cincinnati Reds' Johnny
Cueto.
Oosthuizen soars to 15th in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louis Oosthuizen parlayed his first major
championship victory into a huge jump in the world rankings.
Oosthuizen cruised to a seven-stroke win at the British Open this past weekend
and jumped 39 places f
Cubs hope to stay hot versus Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The confidence level in the Windy City has to be high after
how easily the Chicago Cubs handled the two-time defending National League
champion Philadelphia Phillies this weekend at Wrigley Field.
Chicago's chances of keep
Phillies aiming to get on track against first-place Cardinals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have handled the St. Louis
Cardinals pretty conveniently the past few years. That may change when the
struggling Phils pay a visit to Busch Stadium Monday for the first of four
consecutive matchups w
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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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