Owings homers, pitches Reds over Cardinals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2009 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Micah Owings tossed 6 2/3 strong innings and hit his third home run of the year, lifting Cincinnati to a 5-2 victory against St. Louis in the second of three games between these NL Central rivals.

Joey Votto also homered and tripled, knocking in two, while Willy Taveras collected three hits and scored a run for the Reds, who had won four of five before dropping the opener to this set.

Owings (6-8) won for the third time in four starts, allowing six hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Francisco Cordero picked up his 20th save of the season by hurling a perfect ninth.

Brad Thompson (2-5) took the loss after lasting five frames and yielding five runs -- four earned -- on nine hits and two walks. Colby Rasmus hit a solo home run for the Cardinals, who had a three-game win streak broken.

St. Louis gained a short-lived lead on Rasmus' solo shot in the first, but Cincy tied it up in the home half when Taveras singled, stole second and scored easily on Votto's triple to right.

Owings helped himself with a solo blast to center the very next inning and the Reds went on to back his effort on the mound with three runs in the next two frames for a 5-1 lead.

A pair of errors in the third allowed Brandon Phillips first to reach base and score, and Votto began the fifth with his 10th home run of the year. Jerry Hairston Jr. plated Phillips with a fielder's choice later in the frame for the four-run advantage.

The Cards got one back in the sixth when Albert Pujols singled, advanced on a Chris Duncan walk and then on a fielder's choice before scoring on an errant throw from right following a Yadier Molina fly ball.

Nick Masset got Pujols to ground out to end the seventh with two on, and Arthur Rhodes tossed a scoreless eighth prior to Cordero shutting the door in the ninth.

Game Notes

Cincinnati gained a 5-4 lead in the season series with the win...Skip Schumaker had two of the Cardinals' eight hits...Taveras swiped his 16th bag of the year...St. Louis was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position while Cincinnati was 1-for-11.

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SPORTS BETTING

NFL Football Betting Online

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 for online football betting .

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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