Dodgers hold on to beat Brewers
Baseball Betting Lines
08/25/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney drove in two runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the second of a three-game series.
Andre Ethier hit a solo home run while Matt Kemp drove in one for the Dodgers, who have won three of their last four. Hiroki Kuroda (9-11) went seven innings in the win as he was charged with four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.
"It was a good game, we played well and we were spirited," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We just need to keep playing well and get on a winning streak."
The big news for Los Angeles came before the game as the Los Angeles Times reported that the team placed outfielder Manny Ramirez on waivers. He is in the final season of a two-year contract with a salary of $20 million this season. He went 2-for-2 in the game with two doubles, two walks, an RBI and a run scored.
Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee each drove in a run for the Brewers, who have dropped three straight. Randy Wolf (10-10) went five innings in the start and was charged with four runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
"We went out there and lost a two-run lead," said Milwaukee manager Ken Macha. "Loney got a hold of a good pitch and they have a great bullpen there that just shut us down."
The Dodgers drew first blood when Ethier hit a one-out, solo homer to right- center in the third.
The Brewers, though, surged ahead in the fourth. Rickie Weeks led off with a single and came home when Hart followed with a double. Braun's two-bagger scored Hart and a sacrifice fly from McGehee later in the inning made it a 3-1 game.
Los Angeles answered with three of its own in the fifth to go back in front. With men on first and third and one out, Kemp scored Ryan Theriot with a sacrifice fly. Casey Blake followed with a double and Loney's single to left plated both baserunners for a 4-3 lead.
The Dodgers made it a 5-3 game in the sixth as Ramirez's double scored Theriot, who had reached base on a double earlier in the frame.
Milwaukee got the run back in the bottom of the inning, though, as Fielder's single to left scored Weeks, who led off with a single and stole second before heading to third on a groundout from Braun.
Kuroda put the Brewers down in order in the seventh while Jonathan Broxton did the same in the eighth.
Ronald Belisario, George Sherrill and Octavio Dotel each retired a batter in the ninth, with Dotel getting his 22nd save of the season.
Game Notes
Kuroda had been 0-3 in his previous five starts and improved to 2-0 in three games against Milwaukee...Los Angeles has taken three of five from Milwaukee this season...Wolf had won his previous three starts and fell to 3-3 in 10 encounters with Los Angeles.
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets are reportedly ready to name former team scout Masai Ujiri as the new general manager. According to The Denver Post, Ujiri, 39, was working with the team late Wednesday to finalize con
<< Phillips suffers bruised right hand
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Reds second baseman
Brandon Phillips left Wednesday's game against the Giants in the sixth
inning after getting hit by a pitch in the previous frame.
Santiago Casilla had j
<< Guerrero's homer lifts Rangers over Twins
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vladimir Guerrero's 430th career home run
leading off the sixth proved to be the difference, as the Texas Rangers beat
the Twins for the third straight day, 4-3, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Guerre
<< Morehead State men's hoops placed on probation
Morehead, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morehead State University announced on
Wednesday its men's basketball program has been placed on probation for two
years due to major violations in recruiting.
The violation, which is related to
<< Wieters, Matusz lead Orioles past White Sox
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Wieters collected two hits and drove in
two runs in support of seven strong innings from Brian Matusz, as Baltimore
slowed down Chicago, 4-2, in the middle session of a three-game set.
Brian Roberts
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion James Blake was a second-round loser, while top-seeded Marcos Baghdatis was a third-round winner Wednesday at the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tu
Padres dominate D'Backs at home again >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Gonzalez's three-run blast capped an
early offensive attack, and the San Diego Padres continued their home
dominance over the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 9-3 victory at PETCO Park.
Gonzalez
After not taking a snap in'09, Dallas' Kitna fresh >>
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) - Jon Kitna has looked pretty good this preseason, especially for a quarterback pushing 37.Then again, he's well rested.Tony Romo took every snap for the Dallas Cowboys last season, the only NFL quarterback to do so. That made Ki
Oakland Raiders 2010 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Oakland Raiders still have the gall to refer to
their organization as the "Team of the Decades," they had better clarify which
decades they mean exactly.
In the first three of the 10 years comprising the just-passed
Sabres ink F Stuart >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres have signed unrestricted
free agent forward Colin Stuart to a one-year contract.
Stuart skated in 67 games for Calgary's AHL affiliate in Abbotsford last
season and registered a car
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.
NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl
The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.
Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.
The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.