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07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Canadian-born lefty Jeff Francis can get the Colorado Rockies started on a long-awaited win streak tonight, when the team hosts the Chicago Cubs to open a three-game weekend series at Coors Field.
The Rockies sit on the verge of playoff extinction after a recent eight-game losing streak, though they finally broke through for a victory on Thursday to salvage the finale of a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ubaldo Jimenez turned in seven strong innings and Clint Barmes drove in three runs as Colorado blitzed Pittsburgh, 9-3.
Dexter Fowler contributed three hits, including a two-run double, while Carlos Gonzalez and Brad Hawpe each hit a solo homer for the Rockies, who hadn't won since July 20 at Florida.
Jimenez (16-2) recovered from a horrible outing at Philadelphia on Saturday by scattering four hits and allowing one run, while fanning six with three walks.
The Rockies are fourth in the National League's West Division, nine games behind the first-place San Diego Padres. They trail the current NL Wild Card leaders, the San Francisco Giants, by 5 1/2 games.
Francis, a 29-year-old native of Vancouver, is unbeaten in four starts since a 13-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on June 30. He's won just one decision in those four outings, however, and the Rockies are 7-6 in the 13 games he's pitched this year.
His last victory came on July 20 at Florida, when he tossed seven innings of scoreless three-hit ball en route to a 10-0 victory over the Marlins.
Francis, who's not gotten a decision in five career starts against the Cubs, is 1-1 in seven outings at home this season with a 4.54 earned run average in 41 2/3 innings.
He's opposed by fellow Canadian Ryan Dempster, who also aims for a fifth straight start without a loss.
A native of Gibsons, British Columbia, Dempster was 6-7 after a 12-0 loss to Cincinnati on July 2, but has since gone 2-0 while allowing 31 hits and 15 runs in 23 2/3 innings. The Cubs are 3-1 in his last four starts.
Dempster, a former closer, is 5-3 with two saves and a hold in 16 career meetings with Colorado, allowing 39 earned runs and recording 44 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings.
He is 4-3 in 10 road starts this season.
The Cubs were last in action on Wednesday, when Houston's Carlos Lee slugged a pair of two-run home runs to back the solid pitching of Bud Norris in the Astros' 8-1 win over Chicago to close a three-game set.
Randy Wells (5-8) was charged with three runs on five hits and five walks over 5 2/3 frames for Chicago, which has dropped three out of four.
The Cubs are fourth in the NL Central, 10 1/2 games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds and 11 1/2 behind the Giants in the Wild Card race.
Chicago swept a two-game set from the Rockies at Wrigley Field from May 17-18, but lost three of four games between the teams held at Coors Field last season.
<< Cards hope for boost from Carpenter in battle with Bucs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis' bats have failed the Cardinals on more than one
occasion over the club's current funk. With Chris Carpenter set to take the
hill tonight versus Pittsburgh, those struggles might be forgiven tonight.
Carpenter wi
<< Astros to unveil Happ in opener with Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nobody expects new Houston Astros starter J.A. Happ to
replace the traded Roy Oswalt, yet that is what the young left-hander must do
tonight.
One day after getting dealt to the Astros in a deal that sent Oswalt to the
Phi
<< Oswalt to make debut as red-hot Phils head to Washington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second straight season, the Philadelphia Phillies
have acquired one of the top available pitchers prior to the non-waiver trade
deadline. The timing couldn't be better, as the club has used a season-high
winning strea
<< Flames ink White
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Ian White
to a one-year contract on Friday.
White was part of the blockbuster deal at last season's trade deadline that
saw blueliner Dion Phaneuf heading from Calgar
Bolstered Padres to begin home set with Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A walk-off victory and the acquisition of a six-time All-
Star made Thursday one exciting day for the San Diego Padres.
San Diego will hope Friday is just as good, as it is expected to have
infielder Miguel Tejada availabl
Texans agree to terms with first-round pick Jackson >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Texans have reportedly agreed to
terms with cornerback Kareem Jackson, the team's first-round pick in the 2010
draft.
The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the deal with Jackson, the 20
Hancock says Big 12 defections won't affect BCS >>
DETROIT (AP) -Bowl Championship Series executive director Bill Hancock says the defections of Nebraska and Colorado from the Big 12 will not influence the BCS.Hancock spoke Friday at the Mid-American Conference's media day at Ford Field in Detroit.N
Gaming: Mountain West mediocre outside of league play >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mountain West's non-conference
straight-up records point in a favorable direction at 41-28 over the last two
years, but don't be so quick in jumping to the windows to wager on the league
against outside c
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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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