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06/26/2010 -
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -Edwin Jackson had a chance to finish the ugliest of the no-hitters in this the Year of the Pitcher, and nothing was going to stop of him.
Not Arizona manager A.J. Hinch. Certainly not the Tampa Bay Rays.
Barreling ahead despite a soaring pitch count, Jackson tossed the fourth no-hitter of the season Friday night, beating his former team 1-0 despite walking eight, hitting a batter and watching another reach base on an error.
It took an astounding 149 pitches - most in the majors in five years - to complete the second no-hitter in Arizona history.
``We talked every inning after about the sixth because I was checking on him. It's such a complicated situation with the game in the balance and him chasing a no-hitter,'' Hinch said.
``He kept saying he was fine and, `I'm not coming out, I'm not coming out, I'm not coming out.' As the momentum built and the situation grew, it was pretty evident he had an extra gear. It's something to celebrate.''
All but one of Jackson's walks came in the first three innings, but the Rays still were no-hit for the third time in less than a year, including perfect games by Dallas Braden at Oakland on May 9 and Mark Buehrle at Chicago last July 23.
Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez no-hit Atlanta on April 17 and Philadelphia's Roy Halladay tossed a perfect game at Florida on May 29. Detroit's Armando Galarraga lost his perfect game with two outs in the ninth on a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce.
``It's one of those moments where I tell him I'm not coming out until I give up a hit or a home run. You want to skip my next start, that's fine. Give me an extra day, that's fine,'' Jackson said.
``It's one of those opportunities that doesn't come everyday. And for me to come out of that game without giving up a hit, it would have been what if. What if I would have stayed in. I'm glad it didn't have to be a what if situation.''
Jason Bartlett grounded to shortstop Stephen Drew for the final out and Jackson's teammates mobbed him after the improbable feat.
Jackson, who entered the game with a 5.05 ERA, is 43-45 in eight seasons. He was an All-Star last year for Detroit before being traded to Arizona in the offseason in a three-team trade with the Yankees that included Curtis Granderson.
Two years ago, the 26-year-old right-hander matched a Tampa Bay franchise record with 14 wins to help the Rays make an improbable run to the World Series.
``It's one of those bittersweet moments. You throw a no-hitter and it's against your old team. At least it's with a crowd that you've had accomplishment with,'' said Jackson who was hit with a pie in the face by a teammate during an on-field interview before receiving a beer shower heading into the clubhouse.
The crowd of 18,918 stood and applauded the first no-hitter at Tropicana Field in the relatively short history of the Rays, who like the Diamondbacks began play in 1998.
Randy Johnson has the only other no-hitter in Arizona history, a perfect game at Atlanta on May 18, 2004.
Adam LaRoche homered off Jeff Niemann (6-2) in the second inning, all the support Jackson would need.
``He's a great athlete and a great kid. He's one of the very few who can do that,'' Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said, noting Jackson's ability to continue to pitch well despite a high pitch count.
``We had so many guys on base,'' Rays center fielder B.J. Upton said, ``nobody knew it was a no-hitter until the seventh.''
Jackson (5-6) walked the bases loaded in the third but was bailed out by a stellar play by third baseman Mark Reynolds, who spun around to throw out Ben Zobrist at home plate. Hank Blalock then grounded out to end the inning.
Reynolds made another big play on a sharp line drive by Bartlett in the seventh. Earlier in the at-bat Bartlett hit a dribbler that hung close to the third base line before rolling foul in front of the bag.
In the eighth, Miguel Montero threw out pinch-runner Carl Crawford trying to steal second after Carlos Pena reached on an error by Drew.
Jackson was so wild and the pitch count unusually high that the Diamondbacks had relievers warming up from the sixth inning on.
``All's well that ends well.'' Hinch said. ``We stopped counting at about 115.''
No one had thrown that many pitches in a nine-inning game since June 3, 2005, when Washington's Livan Hernandez threw 150 against the Marlins.
Jackson pitched for the Rays from 2006-08. His only other shutout in 126 career starts came for Tampa Bay in 2007.
``He was a big part of our success and a great guy in the clubhouse,'' Upton said, adding Jackson seemed as strong as the end as he did in the beginning.
``For him to have thrown that many pitches and still have 95 (mph) in the tank at the end says a lot about him.''
Jackson's eight walks were a career high - he struck out six. In 2001, A.J. Burnett walked a record nine in a no-hitter for Florida against San Diego.
In the ninth, Jackson struck out B.J. Upton on three pitches. After Blalock flied to left, Jackson walked pinch hitter Willy Aybar before getting the final out for his 149th pitch.
NOTES: Jackson's performance overshadowed the first meeting between brothers B.J. and Justin Upton, who despite being relatively close in age had never competed with or against each other at any level before Friday. ... The no-hitter was the fourth in interleague play. David Cone (Yankees, 1999), six Astros pitchers (2003) and Justin Verlander (Tigers, 2007) had the others. ... Niemann allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked two in 7 1-3 innings for Tampa Bay.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Chris Ianne
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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