07/24/2008 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Delgado's two-run double in the eighth inning provided the winning margin, and the New York Mets moved into first place in the National League East with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the rubber match of a three-game set at Shea Stadium.
Oliver Perez allowed a run on six hits and struck out a season-high 12 in 7 2/3 innings but didn't factor in the decision for the Mets, who have won three of four and lead the Phils by one game in the East. Aaron Heilman (1-3) retired one batter to earn the win, while Billy Wagner notched his 26th save.
David Wright knocked in the other run for the Mets, who managed just four hits as a team.
J.C. Romero (4-3) pitched the eighth and took the loss for the Phillies, losers in four of their last five. The loss spoiled a brilliant performance by Jamie Moyer, who allowed a run on just two hits in seven frames, striking out six and walking three.
Jayson Werth's home run provided the scoring for the Phillies, while Eric Bruntlett went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles while starting in place of Jimmy Rollins, who was held out of the starting lineup with an undisclosed ailment. Rollins appeared as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning, grounding into a game- ending fielder's choice.
After Heilman escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth, the Mets forged ahead in their at-bat. Robinson Cancel led off with a pinch single, then moved to second on a Jose Reyes bunt. With two outs, Romero intentionally walked Wright, but Delgado made him pay by lacing a double down the line in left to plate both runners. Delgado was thrown out trying to reach third on the play, but the Mets held a 3-1 lead.
Wagner worked around Chris Coste's two-out single in the ninth for an eight- pitch save.
The Mets benefited from a pair of two-out walks from Moyer to take the lead in the third. Reyes and Nick Evans earned free passes, and Wright hooked a single to left to bring in Reyes.
Moyer settled down through seven innings, but the Phillies couldn't muster any offense against Perez until the top of the seventh, when Werth led off with a mammoth blast off the camera deck in straightaway center.
The Phillies threatened again in the eighth, as Bruntlett led of with a double and Perez loaded the bases with two outs after intentionally walking Pat Burrell and hitting Ryan Howard with a 3-2 slider. But, Heilman come on in relief and retired Werth on a fly ball to escape the jam.
Game Notes
Perez has allowed just one earned run and 17 hits in 26 innings over four starts against the Phillies this season. It was the 20th double-digit strikeout game of the lefty's career...The Phillies finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position...Phillies second baseman Chase Utley went 0-for-4 on Thursday and finished the series 0-for-12 with four strikeouts.
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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 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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