D-Backs edge Mets in 14 to complete rare sweep
Baseball Betting Lines
07/22/2010 -
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Snyder's hit to the gap in left-center
field scored Justin Upton with the winning run in the 14th inning, boosting
Arizona to a 4-3 win over the New York Mets, as the Diamondbacks completed
their first three-game sweep since last August.
Upton doubled to left field leading off the inning against Fernando Nieve
(2-4). Miguel Montero was intentionally walked before Mark Reynolds struck
out. Snyder, the last position player on the bench, pinch-hit for Blaine Boyer
(2-2) and sent the second offering barely foul, albeit home run distance to
left field. Later in the count, he drilled a ball off the wall in left for the
game-winner.
Chris Young, Rusty Ryal and Reynolds homered for Arizona, which hadn't swept a
series of at least three games since August 28-30 against Houston. Ryal had a
career-high four hits and Upton added three hits.
Angel Pagan and Rod Barajas homered for the Mets, who fell to 1-6 on their
11-game road trip. The swing ends in Los Angeles this weekend.
The Mets have been held to four or fewer runs in 12 straight games (going 3-9
during that span), the longest such stretch since they were held to four or
less runs in 13 consecutive games from September 19 - October 2, 2004.
Mets starter Jonathon Niese gave up six hits and three runs while fanning six
over five innings. Dan Haren started for Arizona and had eight strikeouts over
six frames.
"He threw well, but unfortunately we got into a deadlock there. He went as far
as I would let him go," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said of Haren.
It was another tough game for Mets left fielder Jason Bay as he was 0-for-6.
Bay is 4-for-36 over his last 10 games and has no RBI in that span.
"I am somewhat surprised," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "I thought getting
here on the west coast he would exhale and take off. I'm somewhat baffled at
the struggles he's having right now."
Pagan homered to right field with one out in the opening inning, but Young
went deep on a 3-2 offering leading off the bottom of the first.
Ryal sent a 1-0 Niese pitch over the wall in left-center to start the bottom
of the second, but the Mets evened the game again in the third. Pagan doubled,
and with one out Carlos Beltran hit an RBI single to right.
Reynolds homered to left-center with one out in the fourth, but Arizona wasted
a chance with runners at second and third in the fifth when Montero fanned to
end the inning.
Barajas went deep with two outs in the sixth. Left fielder Cole Gillespie
nearly made a leaping catch at the wall, but ran out of real estate.
The Diamondbacks had a pair of really good opportunities in the eighth. Bobby
Parnell walked Upton and Montero singled, but Reynolds lined into a double
play. Ryal singled to place runners at the corners, but Tony Abreu struck out
swinging.
Young reached first on David Wright's throwing error with two outs in the
bottom of the ninth. Young stole second, but Augie Ojeda popped out to second.
Arizona wasted a chance with two men on in the 10th and they couldn't score
despite loading the bases in the 12th. Pinch-hitter Stephen Drew popped out
and Adam LaRoche flied out.
Game Notes
The game lasted 4 hours, 45 minutes...Arizona pitchers fanned a season-high 16
batters...Before Wednesday, Arizona hadn't swept a set against the Mets since
taking a four-game set, August 3-5, 2002 at Shea Stadium...This was the second
time the Mets were swept this year, joining a four-game series May 13-16 at
Florida...New York batters drew five walks. Before Wednesday, the Mets hadn't
drawn more than three walks in any of their last 12 games. It was the team's
longest streak of games with no more than three walks since a 13-game stretch
from July 1-16, 2005...The Mets went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position
and are 5-for-33 in those situations since the All-Star Game...Arizona left 16
men on base and went 1-for-10 with RISP.
<< Billingsley tosses shutout as Dodgers avoid sweep
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey Blake hit a solo homer and drove in
another run with a single to back Chad Billingsley's second career shutout, as
the Los Angeles Dodgers snuck past the San Francisco Giants, 2-0, in a
pitcher
<< Gutierrez gets clutch hit in 11th as M's top ChiSox
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Franklin Gutierrez stroked a two-run single in
the bottom of the 11th inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White
Sox, 2-1, to salvage the finale of a three-game series at Safeco Field.
The White S
<< Isner wins another long match
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded American John Isner needed a
little more than 2 1/2 hours to beat Luxembourg qualifier Gilles Muller, 4-6,
7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (9-7), in the second round Wednesday at the Atlanta Tennis
Champio
<< Padres rally past Braves in extras
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Hundley's pinch-hit, two-run double in the
top of the 12th inning lifted San Diego to a 6-4 win over Atlanta in the
middle game of a series at Turner Field between division leaders.
The National Lea
<< Holliday, Cardinals top Phillies for eighth straight win
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Holliday hit a tie-breaking home run in
the bottom of the seventh and Felipe Lopez supplied a two-run double the next
inning, as St. Louis defeated the scuffling Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1, in the
third i
Rockets feel ready to contend in West >>
HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Rockets think they are ready to contend in the Western Conference, even after striking out on the big names in this summer's free-agent bonanza.When their main target, Chris Bosh, opted to join LeBron James and Dwyane Wade
Struggling Tigers in need of deadline help >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the MLB non-waiver trade deadline fast
approaching and the post-all-star break blues in full effect, the Detroit
Tigers have some serious soul-searching to do before July 31st.
Heading into the Mid-Su
Henry not the solution as MLS seeks legitimacy >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer has long been hoping to
acquire a sense of legitimacy within the soccer world. The acquisition of
players with marketing appeal has long been a tenet the league has used in
order to gain su
Tigers hope to build a win streak versus Blue Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After finally putting an end to their worst skid of the
season, the Detroit Tigers will turn to their ace pitcher in hopes of starting
a winning streak in this afternoon's opener of a four-game series with the
Toronto Blue Ja
Reds' Volquez takes mound in finale with Nationals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nationals' rotation has gotten a jolt ever since
Stephen Strasburg joined the club in June. The Reds are hoping for a similar
result from Edinson Volquez.
Volquez will make his second start since returning
NFL Football Betting Online
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting
So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.
Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?
If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)
Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).
In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.
Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.
As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.
(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)
If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech
The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.
Work left to do:
Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.
Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).
Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.
For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com
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