Cedeno powers Cubs past Mets
Baseball Betting Lines
04/22/2008 -
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ronny Cedeno belted a grand slam, and Ted
Lilly hurled six solid innings as Chicago downed New York, 8-1 , in the
finale of a brief two-game set at Wrigley Field.
Cedeno finished 2-for-5 and drove in five runs for the Cubs, who banged out 14
hits and won their fifth straight game. Kosuke Fukudome was 3-for-3 with two
runs scored, while Reed Johnson added a two-run single in the game.
Lilly (1-3) allowed just one run on four hits to pick up his first win of the
season for Chicago.
Brady Clark was 1-for-3 and had the only RBI for the Mets, who have dropped
three straight after winning the previous five.
Nelson Figueroa (1-1) surrendered three runs on seven hits and five walks in
five-plus innings en route to the loss.
The Cubs jumped on top with three runs in the fourth. Fukudome got on with a
one-out single to right and came around to score on a Cedeno RBI double. After
Henry Blanco was intentionally walked, a mental error by Carlos Delgado
extended the inning.
Lilly hit a routine grounder to second but Delgado, inexplicably, did not
cover first base and the Cubs pitcher was awarded an infield hit. Johnson then
came through with a two-run single to cap the inning.
The Mets finally broke through against Lilly with a run in the sixth. Carlos
Beltran drew a one-out walk and Delgado and Damion Easley followed with
consecutive singles to load the bases for New York. A soft ground ball to
second by Clark enabled Beltran to cross the plate but Lilly averted any
further damage by getting Raul Casanova to ground out.
Chicago added an insurance run in the seventh. Aramis Ramirez singled to left
off Joe Smith, advanced to third when Fukudome doubled off the wall in left-
center and crossed the plate after Mark DeRosa lined an RBI single to right
over a drawn-in infield.
Felix Pie and Derrek Lee opened the eighth with consecutive singles off Jorge
Sosa. After Ramirez flied out, Fukudome walked to load the bases. Sosa flirted
with getting out of trouble by getting DeRosa to ground out to short. Jose
Reyes came home to get the force but DeRosa just beat the ensuing throw to
first, setting the stage for Cedeno.
The shortstop responded by crushing a Sosa pitch just inside the foul pole
down the left field line for his first homer of the season and his first
career grand slam.
Game Notes
The Mets were outscored 15-2 in the series...Lilly is now 2-1 lifetime against
the Mets in five games...Figueroa is 0-4 versus the Cubs...New York won five
of seven from the Cubs last season, including two of three in the Windy City.
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What Is the Point Spread?
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
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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