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09/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs try to continue their resurgence under interim manager Mike Quade this afternoon when they go for a sweep in their three-game series with the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs improved to 8-3 under Quade on Saturday, as rookie Starlin Castro notched his sixth consecutive multi-hit game and Carlos Zambrano allowed two runs in seven strong innings, helping Chicago to a 5-3 victory.
"They deserve a lot of credit," Quade said of the Cubs' players. "They seem to have committed to getting after it this last month. I don't think they'll quit -- I know they won't quit. Whether it will result in a fine record, I don't know. But the kind of effort that people want to see and hopefully improvement, that I expect."
Zambrano (7-6) struck out eight and walked two while allowing four hits for the Cubs, who made Quade the first Chicago manager with eight wins in his first 11 games since Jim Essian in 1991.
"We know he's emotionally driven, but that can go too far and get him in trouble," Quade said of Big Z. "He has to pitch with passion and emotion. But in his last several starts, he's calmly gone about his business and made pitches.
In six starts since coming off the restricted list due to anger management issues, Zambrano is 4-0 with a 1.98 earned run average.
Castro, whose 76 hits since July 10 lead the majors, is 13-for-26 with three doubles, two RBI and eight runs during his impressive streak, which is the longest for a Cubs' rookie since Don Johnson did it from May 21-28, 1944.
Jenrry Mejia (0-3) made his first career start for the Mets and yielded four runs, eight hits and two walks while fanning two in five frames. The 20-year- old became the youngest starter in team history since Dwight Gooden debuted as a 19-year-old in 1984.
"I thought he did OK, but there are some things he needs to take command of to become what you'd consider to be a solid, solid player," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said.
Ike Davis hit his 16th homer for New York, which fell to a dreadful 1-15-4 in NL road series this season.
Hoping to deliver the Cubs their fourth straight win will be righty Ryan Dempster, who is coming off a dreadful outing his last time out. Dempster absorbed the loss on Tuesday against Pittsburgh, as he lasted just three innings and was hammered for seven runs and seven hits to fall to 12-9 on the year, while raising his earned run average to 3.71.
Dempster, who is one win shy of 100 for his career and 50 with the Cubs, is 9-4 lifetime against the Mets with a 5.57 ERA in 24 games, 13 of which have been starts.
New York, meanwhile, will counter with Jonathon Niese, who is 8-7 with a 3.70. Niese lost his second straight start on Tuesday in Atlanta, as he allowed eight runs - just three earned - and 10 hits in 4 3/4 innings.
Niese did not get a decision the last time he faced the Cubs, despite giving up just an unearned run in 5 1/3 innings, and is 0-1 in two starts against them with a 6.23 ERA.
With a win today the Cubs would claim their first series sweep over the Mets since turning the trick from April 23-25, 2004 at Wrigley.
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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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