Braves try to stop bleeding and extend season against Philadelphia
Baseball Betting Lines
09/28/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This is not where the Atlanta Braves wanted to be.
Once proud owners of a 10 1/2-game lead in the National League wild card standings, the Braves are mired in a four-game losing streak, but can still clinch a playoff spot tonight in the finale of a three-game series versus the rival Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field.
The Braves are now tied with St. Louis for the final postseason berth in the National League and can wrap up the wild card with a win and a Cardinals loss. If both teams are tied at the end of the day, St. Louis will host Atlanta for a one-game playoff Thursday evening at Busch Stadium.
In Tuesday's 7-1 loss to the Phillies in the second portion of this set, Braves starter Derek Lowe was ripped for five runs and six hits in four innings to suffer the loss. Martin Prado homered in the bottom of the ninth and Brian McCann finished with two hits for Atlanta, which has lost seven of its last nine contests. Atlanta has a 9-17 mark in September.
"It's just been a long year, my worst year by far. But with that being said, this isn't about me, it's about our team. We still have a chance," Lowe said.
It will be up to Tim Hudson to pitch the Braves into the win column when he takes the mound Wednesday. Hudson has won two straight starts and survived a 7-4 win at Washington the last time out on Friday, when he was reached for three runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. He improved to 16-10 in 32 starts to go along with a 3.23 earned run average.
Hudson has pitched well at home this season, going 10-4 in 18 appearances, and is 7-8 in 21 career starts against the Phillies. The righty lost at Philadelphia on Sept. 6 and gave up four runs in six innings of a 6-3 defeat.
Philadelphia has picked up its act with three straight wins since a season- worst eight-game losing streak. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Hunter Pence all homered last night for the five-time NL East champions, while starter Roy Oswalt hurled six scoreless innings for the win.
"It's always nice to put some runs on the board, especially early. Lately our pitchers have been having to go eight innings just to see one run get on the board," Rollins said.
The Phillies matched a club record with 101 wins, set a franchise mark with 49 road victories and saw manager Charlie Manuel match Gene Mauch for first place on the club's all-time wins list. The Phils won 101 games in 1976 and '77 and had 48 road wins in 1976 and 2009, while Manuel and Mauch each have 645 wins.
Joe Blanton gets the nod for the Phillies and will make his second straight start and fifth appearance since missing almost four months with shoulder inflammation. Blanton threw two scoreless innings in a 6-3 loss against the New York Mets on Saturday and is 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in 10 games (7 starts).
Blanton lost to the Braves back on May 14 and is 1-4 with a 5.47 ERA in 10 career games, nine of which have been starts, against them.
Philadelphia leads the season series with Atlanta by an 11-6 count and has won the last six meetings between the two clubs.
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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.