Yankees rough up Royals
Baseball Betting Lines
07/23/2010 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with a three-run double in the first inning, as the New York Yankees roughed up the Kansas City Royals, 7-1, in the second installment of a four-game series.
Alex Rodriguez, who hit his 599th career home run in Thursday's series opener, finished 2-for-4 with a walk Friday. While Rodriguez did not homer, Jorge Posada recorded the 1,000th RBI of his career.
Brett Gardner added two hits and two RBI for the Yankees, who have won three in a row.
A.J. Burnett (8-8) pitched five shutout innings before a lengthy rain delay forced both teams to change pitchers. Chad Gaudin allowed a run in three relief innings after the game resumed.
Royals starter Brian Bannister (7-9) gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings and took the loss, Kansas City's ninth in its last 11 games.
Bannister entered the game with a 15.07 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees, and continued to struggle in the first inning.
Gardner doubled and moved to third on an error by right fielder Alex Gordon, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Friday and made his first major league start in the outfield. Gordon began the season in the majors as a third baseman, but was sent down to the minors to convert to an outfielder.
With Gardner on third, Derek Jeter grounded out before Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch. Rodriguez came up next for his first chance at No. 600, but walked to load the bases for Cano, who stroked a double to left-center to make it 3-0.
Posada, who entered the game with 999 career runs batted in, doubled to plate Cano and reach the milestone.
Bannister settled down from there, but in the bottom of the fifth the game was interrupted by rain. Nearly an hour and a half later, the teams resumed play, and Victor Marte took over for Bannister.
Marte got the final out of the fifth, but gave up two runs in the sixth. With runners on second and third with two away, Gardner singled to left to make it a 6-0 game.
Posada's RBI single in the seventh extended the Yankees' lead, but in the eighth, consecutive doubles by Rick Ankiel and Yuniesky Betancourt provided Kansas City's only run.
Rodriguez had five plate appearances Friday. Following his first-inning walk, the third baseman singled in the third, struck out in the fifth, singled in the seventh and grounded out in the eighth.
Game Notes
Despite his start being curtailed by rain, Burnett rebounded from his last outing. The right-hander had given up four runs in two innings against Tampa Bay...Bannister has lost four consecutive decisions, and has given up at least four runs in each of his last five starts.
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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.