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07/24/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aubrey Huff hit two home runs and drove in three, as the San Francisco Giants spoiled Kelly Johnson's cycle and beat the Diamondbacks, 7-4, in the continuation of a four-game series.
Andres Torres added the tie-breaking two-run triple in the seventh inning for the Giants, who took advantage of several Arizona errors to improve to 4-1 on their road trip. San Francisco beat Arizona by a 3-0 score in Thursday's series opener.
Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez got out of several jams to allow only one run. However, the left-hander lasted just five innings, as he threw 109 pitches, gave up four hits, walked five and struck out 10.
Santiago Casilla allowed three runs in the sixth while recording two outs, and Chris Ray (1-0) got the final one to get the win. Brian Wilson recorded the final four outs to earn his 28th save.
Johnson finished 4-for-4 and became the fourth player in team history to hit for the cycle, but it was not enough to keep the Diamondbacks from losing their fifth consecutive game to the Giants.
Edwin Jackson (6-9) took the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks in six-plus innings.
Huff and Johnson traded solo home runs in the first inning, and after Edgar Renteria hit an RBI single in the fourth, Huff's second homer gave the Giants a 3-1 lead in the sixth.
San Francisco held that lead because Sanchez avoided big trouble. Arizona had runners on second and third with one out in the first after Johnson homered, but Sanchez fanned Mark Reynolds before Rusty Ryal grounded out.
In the fourth, Arizona had runners on first and second with one out, but Sanchez got Chris Snyder to pop out, then struck out Jackson. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one away in the fifth before Sanchez again escaped trouble by fanning Reynolds and Ryal.
Arizona broke through against Casilla in the sixth. With runners on second and third and two down, Johnson tripled to center field to plate two and even the game. After Casilla walked Justin Upton, he was replaced by Ray, who gave up an RBI single to Adam LaRoche before getting out of the inning.
But the Giants re-took the lead in the seventh. Nate Schierholtz led off with a single before Eli Whiteside attempted a sacrifice bunt. However, Jackson couldn't make the throw in time in a close play, leaving runners on first and second.
Pinch-hitter Eugenio Velez followed with another bunt, and this time Jackson's throw sailed past first base, allowing Schierholtz to score. Torres then tripled to center to plate the remaining runners, putting San Francisco in front, 6-4.
Johnson came to bat to begin the eighth needing just a single to complete the cycle, and got just that, as he flared a base hit to right. However, Upton followed by grounding into a double play.
Huff's RBI single in the ninth provided the Giants a three-run lead before Wilson worked around a leadoff single by Ryal in the bottom half to close the game.
Game Notes
Huff recorded his 12th career multi-homer game...Prior to Johnson, Stephen Drew (2008), Greg Colbrunn (2002) and Luis Gonzalez (2000) also hit for the cycle for the Diamondbacks.
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<< Diamondbacks' Kelly Johnson hits for cycle
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Johnson homered in the first inning and was hit by a pitc
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The Philli
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.
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