08/27/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Delgado hit a pair of home runs and drove in three, as the New York Mets rallied to beat Philadelphia, 6-3, and leapfrog the Phillies to retake the lead in the NL East.
In the first game of the series on Tuesday, Philadelphia came back from a seven-run deficit to win in 13 innings. On Wednesday, the Mets used a four-run eighth to earn a split in the two-game set and take a half-game lead in the division.
Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes each had three hits, while Brian Schneider had a key two-run single for the Mets, who have won two of three.
Johan Santana labored through six innings, and didn't factor into the decision after allowing three runs on five hits and three walks. He also struck out six. Brian Stokes (1-0) took the win after throwing a scoreless seventh, while Luis Ayala picked up his second save with a perfect ninth.
Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and Jayson Werth added a solo shot for the Phillies, who had a five-game win streak snapped.
Philadelphia starter Kyle Kendrick gave up two runs on eight hits in five-plus innings, and took a no-decision. Rudy Seanez (5-4) gave up two runs in two- thirds of the eighth inning to take the loss, and Brad Lidge allowed two more runs in relief of Seanez.
The Mets trailed by one heading into the eighth inning, and Seanez started the frame off well by getting Luis Castillo to ground out and striking out David Wright.
But Delgado homered to left field to suddenly make it a tie game, at 3-3. It was Delgado's third homer in seven career at-bats versus Seanez.
Beltran then reached on an infield single, prompting Lidge to enter the game. After Beltran stole second, Lidge intentionally walked Ryan Church. That brought up Daniel Murphy, who doubled to right field to plate Beltran for a 4-3 New York lead.
With runners in scoring position, Schneider provided some cushion for the visitors by blooping a single just inside the third base line in shallow left field. Both runners scored to give the Mets a three-run edge.
Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith combined to throw a scoreless bottom of the eighth, and Ayala got three consecutive groundouts in the ninth to seal the win.
The Mets had a lead in the first inning when Delgado singled home Reyes, who led off with a base hit and advanced to second on a groundout.
But Philadelphia took the lead in short order. In the home first, Jimmy Rollins hit a leadoff single, and later stole second with two outs. Howard crushed a Santana offering beyond the left field fence for a 2-1 Phillies advantage. Werth's leadoff shot in the second also went to left field for a two-run lead.
Kendrick threw 90 pitches through five complete innings, and returned to the mound for the sixth. But he dealt Delgado, who led off, a low pitch, which the Mets first baseman smacked deep into the right field stands to bring New York within one.
Game Notes
The Mets left eight runners on base, while the Phillies stranded six...New York next travels to Florida for a three-game set with the Marlins, starting Friday...Philadelphia wrapped up a nine-game homestand with a 7-2 mark, and next goes to Chicago for four games with the Cubs, starting Thursday...On Wednesday the Phillies purchased the contract of pitcher Andrew Carpenter from Double-A Reading, and designated infielder Andy Tracy for assignment...Carpenter threw a scoreless inning of relief in his MLB debut...The Phillies also on Wednesday transferred pitcher Mike Zagurski to the 60-day disabled list.
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Third-seeded D
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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