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04/21/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz each hit two-run homers as the Texas Rangers edged the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game set at Rogers Centre.
Marlon Byrd chipped in with a 2-for-4 effort, including a double and a run scored for the Rangers, who were coming off a 6-5 win against Kansas City on Sunday. Texas has won three of five overall.
Brandon McCarthy (2-0) earned the win following a strong six-inning start. The right-hander allowed three runs on six hits while striking out two and walking a pair. The Rangers bullpen gave up only one unearned run in three innings with Frank Francisco getting his second save of the season.
Aaron Hill had a double and solo homer for Toronto, which had won four of five coming into the contest. Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and Adam Lind each had an RBI apiece in defeat. Lyle Overbay went 2-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks for the Blue Jays.
Roy Halladay (3-1) was tagged with the loss after going eight innings. The former Cy Young Award winner was touched for five runs on eight hits. He fanned nine without issuing a walk.
Home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley was taken off the field on a stretcher after Hank Blalock's broken bat hit him in the head with one out in the sixth inning. After being attended to by stadium medical personnel and carted off the field while strapped to a backboard, second base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt took over behind the plate.
With the Blue Jays trailing 3-2 in the fifth, Hill's one-out solo homer to left deadlocked things.
Then after Josh Hamilton was retired on a ground out to start the top of the sixth, Danley took the brunt of a Blalock broken bat off the side of his head, resulting in a 10-minute delay.
Texas then reclaimed the lead in the seventh. Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined a double to right, and two batters later Kinsler belted an 0-1 cutter over the right-field wall, putting the Rangers up 5-3.
Lind's run-scoring single off C.J. Wilson in the eighth brought home Rios to make it a one-run game. Francisco was then summoned from the bullpen and served up a single to Scott Rolen and a walk to Overbay to load the bases, but the Rangers reliever settled down to retire the next two batters to avoid further damage.
Toronto got a one-out double from Hill in the ninth, but was unable to plate a run after Rios grounded out and Wells popped out to end the game.
The Rangers drew first blood in the second when Byrd doubled to lead off the inning, then came around to score when Cruz lined an 0-1 fastball over the left-field fence to give Texas a 2-0 lead.
Toronto came back to even things in the third. Travis Snider doubled to start the frame and Marco Scutaro walked. Hill then flied out with Snider taking third. Rios followed with an RBI double to center and Wells' sacrifice fly made it a 2-2 game.
A Chris Davis run-scoring single in the fourth allowed Blalock to cross the plate, putting the Rangers back in front.
Game Notes
Texas split its eight games with the Blue Jays last season and is 9-9 in its last 18 matchups against them...It was announced earlier Tuesday that Rangers right-handed pitcher Kris Benson will miss his scheduled start versus Toronto on Wednesday due to right elbow tendinitis and be replaced by lefty Matt Harrison. Benson will start on Saturday at Baltimore...Toronto finished 2- for-10 with runners in scoring position, while Texas was 3-for-6.
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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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