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07/31/2010 - Thunder Bay, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With upsets aplenty and coming off a scare of their own, Team Canada wasn't taking any chances against an overmatched Italian squad in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Baseball Championships.
A day after nearly losing to a winless Czech Republic team, coach Greg Hamilton made sure his team treated their matchup as if it was the last game they would play.
"We tried to take a business-like approach," said Hamilton, after his team eliminated Italy with an 11-1 thrashing on Friday night. "I think everybody realizes what's at stake.
"That game [versus the Czechs] served as an eye opener, it served as a lesson and I think we took the lesson well."
One player taking notes was outfielder Rowan Wick, who entered the game just 5- for-17 for the tournament with no home runs and two runs batted in.
The left-handed hitting slugger changed that in a hurry, evident by the rocket shot he lined over the right field fence in a five-run first inning that buried the Italians in a flash.
"You want to get out early," said Hamilton. "You want to take away any life that they might have or any enthusiasm that they might have out of the equation.
"It makes it a whole lot easier when you get some runs on the board early."
Wick added another homer in the fifth, finishing the game 3-for-4 with four RBI and more importantly, a hot bat heading into championship weekend.
"He's a guy that we really counted on coming through the process, a guy we felt would be a key contributor," said Hamilton of the North Vancouver, B.C. native.
"He was struggling a little bit as we went through our tour [pre-Worlds] but he's really starting to dial it in, he's locked in and he's swinging the bat really well.
"He's a guy that can turn a game around with one swing."
Wick got some help along the way from a team that appears to be clicking at just the right time.
Backed by an impressive outing from Jonathan Pacquet (1-0), who breezed through six innings of one-run ball, Team Canada is now one step closer to its second world junior title.
Pacquet was dominant against an Italian squad that didn't stand much of a chance against the towering 6'4", 193-pound righthander from Ancienne Lorette, Que.
"I had good control of my pitches," said Paquet. "I went straight at these guys."
After surrendering a pair of singles in the first, Pacquet cruised through Italy's lineup en route to nine strikeouts while scattering four hits and walking just one.
"It was great to pitch an important game like that in the Worlds," he said. "You can't compare that to any other outing I've ever pitched."
Andrea Zambelloni (0-1) took the loss for Italy, who now move on to the consolation round after winning a pair of games in round robin play and proving to be a formidable opponent. The 6'2" righthander allowed six runs -- two earned -- on six hits over four innings.
Ajax's Philip Diedrick continued his impressive showing during the tournament, driving in another three runs to bring his team-leading total to 10.
Brandon Dailey of Brantford, Ont. hit a solo home run in the seventh to mercy Italy per International Baseball Federation rules.
Following Australia's ousting of defending champion South Korea earlier in the day and Cuba's thrilling win over the United States, Hamilton is well aware of the path that's been created for his squad in Thunder Bay, Ont.
But with over 20 years experience in international baseball, Hamilton knows better than to look beyond the day at hand.
"You got to be ready to play, it's international baseball, it's a one-game shot and on any given night if you're not ready someone will get you."
<< Stosur, Sharapova reach semis in Stanford
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur and
fifth-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova won their respective quarterfinal matches
Friday at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event.
Stosur outlasted se
<< Rain-soaked Cardinals sneak past Pirates in 10
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brendan Ryan's infield single scored the
winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, as the St. Louis Cardinals snuck
past the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0, in the opener of a three-game series at
Busch S
<< Giants hold on in ninth to edge Dodgers
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aubrey Huff went 3-for-4 with a home run,
a double and three RBI, and Tim Lincecum lasted seven innings after a slow
start to pace San Francisco to a tight 6-5 triumph over the Dodgers in the
opener
<< Angels erase early five-run deficit, top Rangers
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Rivera had two hits, including a three-run
homer, and the Los Angeles Angels overcame an early five-run deficit to beat
the rival Texas Rangers, 9-7, in the start of a crucial intradivisional
weekend
Tigers continue road series with Red Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers finally halted a nine-game road losing
streak last night and will aim for a second straight win over the Boston Red
Sox today at Fenway Park.
In Friday's opener, Jhonny Peralta hit a pair of homers and d
Reds hope to reclaim first place in test with Braves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds try to once again reverse their
standing in the National League's Central Division today when they host the
Atlanta Braves in game two of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds entere
Dodgers send out Billingsley on short rest to face Giants >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In danger of losing a fourth straight game, the Los Angeles
Dodgers are in need of a spark. That could come from work-horse Chad
Billingsley, who will pitch on three days' rest for the first time in his
career this afternoon
Nats try to extend win streak against Phillies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Usually sellers around the non-waiver trade deadline, the
Nationals didn't seem to impressed on Friday with the Phillies' big midseason
pickup.
One day after spoiling the Philadelphia debut of Roy Oswalt, Washington will
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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