White Sox take win streak to Kansas City
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox will be putting a season-high win streak on the line when the resurgent club heads to Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium tonight for the opener of a four-game series with the Royals.
Chicago comes in having won five straight games and 12 of its last 16 contests to creep back into the American League Central race, where the defending division champions now trail first-place Detroit by only three games. The White Sox have also been quite successful on the road as of late, with victories in 11 of their last 14 tilts as the visitor.
That tear began with a three-game sweep of the Royals from May 27-29 in Chicago's most recent visit to Kauffman Stadium.
The White Sox also posted a road sweep earlier this week, taking all three matchups with the wayward Cleveland Indians that culminated with Wednesday's 6-2 win at Progressive Field. Chicago scored four times in the sixth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer off the bat of Ramon Castro, to back eight strong frames out of starting pitcher Jose Contreras.
Contreras (3-7) allowed only two runs on five hits and one walk to continue his in-season turnaround. Since returning from a stint in the minors on June 8, the veteran hurler has gone 3-2 with a 2.17 earned run average in five starts.
"He was real good tonight," said Indians manager Eric Wedge of Contreras.
Alexei Ramirez finished 3-for-4 with an RBI single for Chicago, while Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Gordon Beckham each had a pair of hits on the night. Ramirez did leave the game in the eighth inning due to an injury to his right middle finger, however, and is expected to sit out this evening.
The White Sox will send out their top winner in an attempt to extend their impressive streak, with Mark Buehrle slated to pitch tonight's opener. The quick-working lefty is 7-2 with a very solid 3.26 ERA so far this season, although he's recorded only one victory over his past seven starts.
Buehrle has hit a bit of a rough patch as of late, however, as he's surrendered five or more runs in four of his last five outings. In his most recent start, the steady veteran gave up five runs (3 earned) and lasted just 5 2/3 innings during a no-decision against the crosstown-rival Cubs.
The three-time All-Star will try to get back on track when he faces a Kansas City squad he's had plenty of previous success against. Buehrle is 19-8 with a 3.48 ERA over 40 lifetime matchups (38 starts) with the Royals, including a 9-6 mark in 19 Kauffman Stadium starts.
Buehrle got a no-decision in Kansas City back on May 30, a game in which he permitted three runs over 7 1/3 innings.
Bruce Chen gets the call for the Royals this evening and will go in search for his first win in the majors in nearly four years. The journeyman left-hander was called up from Triple-A Omaha last week to replace the struggling Kyle Davies in the team's rotation.
Chen made his Kansas City debut this past Saturday in Pittsburgh and was reached for four runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings of a 6-2 Royals loss.
The 32-year-old Panamanian, who is pitching for his 10th team in a sporadic 11-year career, has lost eight consecutive decisions since his last big-league win, which came on October 2, 2005 while with Baltimore.
Chen has faced the White Sox six times previously, twice in a starting role, and is 0-1 with a 5.66 ERA against Chicago.
The slumping Royals lost for the 10th time in 14 games with Wednesday's 5-1 setback at home to fellow AL Central member Minnesota. Kansas City fell despite compiling 12 hits on the afternoon, the team's most while scoring under two runs since August 29, 1996.
Billy Butler finished 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles in a losing cause, while Jose Guillen knocked in the Royals' only run with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Kansas City starter Gil Meche (4-8) yielded three runs -- two earned -- and struck out five over a solid six innings, but still suffered his third consecutive losing start.
These AL Central foes have split eight meetings so far in 2009, with the White Sox having won three of the five matchups held in Kansas City.
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The second
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.
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.