THE BEST, THE WORST AND THE HOOKS: CHAPTER 5, THE LAST SECOND COLLAPSES

Back again with some of the most terrible endings for sports bettors from the past week. Like usual, these are truly disgusting. The theme of the article is blown leads; the type you expect professional sports team to hang on to. Then, we conclude with an unfortunate outcome for under bettors that was simultaneously a “squeak of the week” for other blessed and lucky gamblers.

The NBA is notoriously unpredictable. Random double-digit point runs, underdogs taking massive leads and winning outright without key starters, and just plain, old dominance from goat teams like OKC. This first game is the definition of unpredictability. The Suns were at home to take on the Rockets, with both teams clawing for positioning in the playoff race. Phoenix jumped all over Houston to take a 21-point lead in what was priced, essentially, as a pick em’ game. Coming off a six-game win streak, it seemed like the perfect Houston fade spot, playing on the last leg of a west coast road trip. But Durant and company had other plans. In a furious 2^nd quarter rally, they trimmed the lead to three points. By the 4^th quarter, the Suns could not buy a shot and fell victim to KD’s three-point shooting, going 5/9 from downtown in what was clearly a revenge game for him.

In the end, the Rockets not only won, but cruised to 14-point victory, outscoring Phoenix by 17 points in the 4^th quarter. Even in the NBA, really tough envisioning a 35-point swing from one team’s biggest lead of 29-8 to a final of 105-119, losing outright at home.

For the next game, we go to the diamond and back to Arizona. The Dbacks were taking on the Tigers at Chase Field in a duel between Casey Mize and Brandon Pfaadt. In the top of the third inning, things went south for Pfaadt. In a barrage of singles and doubles by Rogers, McGonigle, Greene, and Carpenter, the Tigers took a 5-0 lead. With a serviceable bullpen, you would expect the Tigers to hang on comfortably… but then the 8^th inning came around. Anderson and Vest from Detroit gave up a combined five runs allowed. But the deathblow came when friend of the program, Kenley Jansen, came in to try and clean up the mess. In fairness, tough spot to be in, but no excuse for the meatball that was served to Jose Fernandez. The rookie hit his second home run of the night to bring in another three runs in electric fashion.

In the end, the Dbacks won the game and would go on to sweep Detroit. A much needed boost for a team that went 0-3 against the Dodgers in their opening series.

For this last game, we head to San Diego as they took on the red-hot Rockies. Side note, the moneyline bets and parlays on the Astros at Coors were horrific wagers. Colorado swept Houston while Yordan Alvarez got a singular hit the whole series. 

But back to the Padres game. The over / under stood at 8 runs with only two scored entering the 9^th inning. The problem? It was 1-1, and any MLB bettor knows that no matter the score, in the ghost runner era, extra innings is where any under might go to die. The Rockies fought hard, bringing in runs in the 10^th and 11^th innings. San Diego, of course, matched each one entering the 12^th. In the bottom of that inning, perhaps assuming Xander Bogaerts would ground into a double play, Colorado walked batters to get him to the plate. The scenario was bases loaded in a 3-3 game with one out. This is usually far from fatal for the under; a quick sac fly to bring a runner home and the under 8 runs is safe. That is not what happened…

So we go from 1-1, under cruising, to 3-7 and the over cashing. I also call this a squeak because anyone with a San Diego runline ticket was incredibly blessed. Runlines for home teams are usually ill-advised, no matter who the team is (and much less the horrid Padres). But in this case, it squeaked by to cash with a grand slam, leaving Colorado moneyline bettors in the dust.

That is it for this week. Good luck on your weekend bets!