Gwynn's hit lifts Padres over Astros in ninth

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Gwynn singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift San Diego to a dramatic 3-2 win over Houston to finish off a four-game set.

Yorvit Torrealba led off the decisive frame with a single and moved to second base on an Aaron Cunningham sacrifice bunt before Everth Cabrera was given an intentional pass. Pinch-hitter Matt Stairs then walked to load the bases and Gwynn followed with a bouncing ball through the middle to deliver Torrealba to give the Padres their third straight win in the series in their final at-bat.

Heath Bell (4-0) worked a scoreless top of the ninth to earn the win after Houston had scored to tie the game in the eighth.

Brandon Lyon (5-3) suffered the loss after allowing the decisive run on two hits and three walks over 1 1/3 innings for Houston, which has dropped four out of six.

Mike Adams opened the eighth on the hill for San Diego and gave up a leadoff single to Jeff Keppinger that was followed by Lance Berkman's run-scoring triple that knotted the game at two. But the visitors offensive struggles continued, as Hunter Pence grounded out, Carlos Lee struck out and Jason Michaels flied out to leave Berkman stranded at third.

Houston got on the board first as Berkman hit a solo home run with two outs in the first to snap an 18-inning scoreless drought.

Cunningham's two-out, two-run single in the fourth gave San Diego the lead for the first time. Scott Hairston started the rally after Brett Myers had retired the first two hitters with a single and scored, along with Chase Headley, who had followed with a walk.

The Astros put runners at the corners with two outs in the seventh after a walk to pinch-hitter Jason Bourgeois that spelled the end for San Diego starter Wade LeBlanc. He was replaced by Ryan Webb, who induced pinch-hitter Chris Johnson to ground out to end the frame.

LeBlanc gave up a lone run on three hits and three walks while fanning a pair, while Myers went six innings during which he allowed two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Game Notes

The hit was Gwynn's first career walk-off winner...San Diego won the season series, 5-2, for the first time since 2004...Houston outfielder Michael Bourn was selected as a first time All-Star...Berkman's homer was his first as a right-hand hitter this season...Myers became the first Astros pitcher since Roy Oswalt did it between August 2, 2008-April 27, 2009 to work six innings or more in 17 consecutive starts and the first to do it in the same season since Oswalt did it in 20 straight turns during the 2005 campaign.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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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:

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