05/13/2008 - Flushing, NY (Baseball Betting) - Ryan Church homered, doubled and drove in four runs, as the New York Mets surged past the Washington Nationals, 6-3, in the second of a four-game series at Shea Stadium.
Brian Schneider went 3-for-4, knocked in a run and scored twice for the Mets, who have split the first two games of the set. Jose Reyes added an RBI single, while Moises Alou and David Wright each went 2-for-4 and scored a run.
John Maine (5-2) earned the win after holding the Nats to two runs -- one earned -- on two hits while striking out five in six innings. Billy Wagner struck out two in the ninth for his eighth save. The southpaw has yet to surrender an earned run in 15 2/3 frames this season.
Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer for Washington, which lost for the sixth time in eight games, while Elijah Dukes doubled and scored. John Lannan (3-4) took the loss after allowing four runs and a season-high 12 hits in six frames.
Lannan kept the Mets at bay until the sixth, when Schneider and pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis -- making his first major league at-bat since 2006 -- picked up consecutive singles. One out later, Church smashed a line drive to right that was misjudged by Austin Kearns and went over his head for a two-run double to give the Mets the lead, 4-2.
Dukes doubled off Matt Wise to start the road seventh, moved to third when Wil Nieves grounded out, then scored when pinch-hitter Rob Mackowiak grounded out to second.
Duaner Sanchez sandwiched walks to Cristian Guzman and Nick Johnson around a lineout to right by Zimmerman in the eighth, but struck out Lastings Milledge and got Kearns to ground to third for a force out to keep the Nats off the board.
The Mets tacked on a pair of insurance runs off Luis Ayala in the eighth on an RBI single from Reyes and a sacrifice fly by Church, and Wagner worked around a pinch-hit single by Aaron Boone in the ninth for the save.
The Mets loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the second, and while Alou scored on Schneider's fielder's choice, Lannan retired Maine and Reyes to avoid further damage.
Washington pulled in front in the top of the third, as Guzman reached on an error when Damion Easley's throw pulled Carlos Delgado off the bag at first, and Zimmerman made Maine pay by hammering a two-run shot deep into the stands in left.
Church tied the game in the bottom of the frame, leading off with a homer that carried just over the wall in center. Wright followed by grounding a double to right, but Lannan settled down to keep the game tied.
Game Notes
Church's four RBI give him 30 for the season...Before the game, the Mets shook up their roster with six moves. Outfielder Angel Pagan was placed on the 15- day disabled list, pitchers Nelson Figueroa and Jorge Sosa were designated for assignment, Wise was activated from the DL, while Tatis and pitcher Claudio Vargas were recalled from Triple-A New Orleans...Golfer Annika Sorenstam, who announced on Tuesday that she would be retiring from professional golf at the end of the year, threw out the ceremonial first pitch...Tim Redding (4-3) gets the call for the Nationals on Wednesday against Vargas...Attendance was 46,618.
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In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere.
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
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