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07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Slumping lefty Ted Lilly faces a team against which he's had career-long success tonight, when the Chicago Cubs meet the Houston Astros in the second test of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.
In Monday's opener, Ryan Theriot hit his first home run of the season and Carlos Silva worked five innings to push Chicago past Houston, 5-2.
Theriot finished with a pair of hits and Alfonso Soriano doubled twice, scored a run and drove in a run to lift the Cubs to their third win in four games.
Silva (10-4) yielded a lone run on five hits while walking one and fanning four for Chicago. Carlos Marmol worked a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the win and earn his 19th save of the season.
Wesley Wright (0-1) absorbed the loss in his second big-league start after giving up four runs on eight hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out four for the Astros, who have dropped three out of four.
Lilly, rumored to be a hot commodity on the trade market as the non-waiver transaction deadline approaches at the end of the month, has won seven of eight decisions in 11 career starts against Houston while maintaining a stingy 2.36 earned run average in 72 1/3 innings.
He pitched well enough for an eighth win when facing the Astros in his most recent start on July 21, scattering seven hits and allowing a single run in 7 1/3 innings of a game the Cubs eventually lost, 4-3, at Wrigley Field.
The tough-luck no-decision is part of a recent rough stretch for the 34-year- old Californian, who is winless in four starts since defeating Pittsburgh on June 29. He's 0-2 with two no-decisions in the subsequent efforts, while allowing 28 hits and 20 runs in 24 2/3 innings.
A 1996 draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lilly is 1-4 in seven road starts this season.
Houston counters with red-hot right-hander Brett Myers, who by contrast, has not lost since June 29.
The 29-year-old Jacksonville product, who'll turn 30 next month, has beaten St. Louis and Pittsburgh and racked up a pair of no-decisions in his last four starts, while giving up just 19 hits and six runs in 28 2/3 innings.
Myers also got a tough-luck no-decision after facing Lilly in the aforementioned July 21 game at Wrigley, allowing five hits and a run with eight strikeouts in seven innings in Houston's one-run win. He's pitched at least seven innings in three straight starts and has struck out 17 batters while walking just three.
Lifetime against the Cubs, Myers is 8-3 with a pair of complete games and a 2.52 ERA in 85 2/3 innings. He's unbeaten so far in 2010 at home, having gone 5-0 in nine starts.
Houston has won six of 10 matchups with the Cubs this season.
<< Mets return home to face Wainwright following disastrous trip
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a disastrous road trip, the New York Mets return home
in the hopes of finding their offense. Too bad they have St. Louis ace Adam
Wainwright waiting for them.
Wainwright will look to extend his scoreless innings stre
<< Dodgers hope to gain some ground in San Diego
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After stumbling out of the gate to begin the second half,
the Dodgers have finally started to turn things around. It's a good thing,
because the National League West-leading Padres have had no such troubles
since the All-Star
<< Blue Jays try to continue mastery of Orioles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Plenty of teams have given the Baltimore Orioles trouble
over the course of this season, but none has proven to be a tougher opponent
than the Toronto Blue Jays.
Having won all 10 meetings between the American League East
<< Shields and Verlander square off at the Trop
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After being on the receiving end of several no-hitters over
the past year, the Tampa Bay Rays finally got one of their own last night.
Fresh off Matt Garza's pitching gem, the Rays will attempt to pin an eighth
consecutive
White Sox put home streak on line against Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox shoot for their ninth straight home
win this evening, when they continue their four-game series against the
Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field,
After a 4-6 road trip, Chicago returned to the Wind
Johnson hopes for record-setting start in Marlins-Giants tilt >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson could put himself into the record books when
the Florida Marlins continue their four-game series with the San Francisco
Giants this evening at AT&T Park.
Johnson has gone 13 straight starts without allowin
Lackey returns to Anaheim as Red Sox take on Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey returns to Anaheim for the first time since
leaving for Boston as a free agent when the Red Sox continue their three-game
set against the Angels this evening.
Lackey, who was 49-32 with a 3.72 earned run averag
A-Rod continues quest for 600 vs. Indians >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees used the long ball to come through
with a win over the Cleveland Indians last night, but none came off the bat of
Alex Rodriguez.
With their star slugger still stuck on 599 career home runs, the Yankee
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.
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