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04/21/2009 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Garland pitched into the seventh inning and Miguel Montero blasted a three-run homer in Arizona's 6-3 win over Colorado to begin a three-game series.
Mark Reynolds also homered and finished with two RBI for the Diamondbacks, who won for just the third time in their last nine games.
Garland (2-1) was charged with six hits and two runs -- one earned -- over 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and had five strikeouts.
"The arm felt good, the body felt real good," said Garland. "I was keeping the ball down and let them put it in play, let that defense work."
Chad Qualls threw the final inning for his third save.
Ian Stewart belted a solo homer for the Rockies, who fell to 1-5 on a current eight-game road trip.
Jason Marquis (2-1) was charged with nine hits and six runs for the Rockies. He fell to 0-4 all-time at Chase Field as the Rockies lost for the seventh time in eight games.
"I felt good physically, just didn't execute when I really needed to," said Marquis. "I wasn't sharp, but you know I put my team in a hole and couldn't get out of it."
In a rematch of a season-opening set when Colorado won two of three meetings at Chase Field from April 6-8, the Diamondbacks broke open a close game in the fifth inning by scoring four times. Augie Ojeda singled to begin the inning, and with one out Chad Tracy laced an RBI single up the middle.
Tracy went to second on when Brad Hawpe bobbled the ball, and Reynolds followed with a walk. Chris Young grounded into a force play, but Montero then blasted a first-pitch homer to right for a 6-1 cushion.
Stewart homered leading off the sixth and the Rockies threatened in the seventh, putting runners at second and third, but Scott Schoeneweis fanned Stewart to end the threat.
Pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs singled in Garrett Atkins in the eighth.
Reynolds homered on a line drive to left field leading off the second, but the Rockies tied it in the third when Dexter Fowler singled in Chris Iannetta.
Tracy and Reynolds hit back-to-back doubles to start the fourth, giving Arizona a 2-1 edge.
Game Notes
Colorado went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base...The Diamondbacks, who have not won a series this season, will have Yusmeiro Petit on the mound for Tuesday's game while Franklin Morales starts for Colorado...The Rockies' series win over the Diamondbacks earlier this season was a sharp contrast to their play against Arizona in 2008. Colorado lost 15-of-18 games versus the D-Backs last year, including eight of nine tests held in Phoenix.
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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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