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Reeling Mets hoping to end struggles in WashingtonBaseball Betting Lines05/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Early wildness led to a forgettable outing last time out for the New York Mets' John Maine. He'll have to get himself under control this evening if his teas hopes to snap its lengthy skid at Nationals Park. Despite getting an inside-the-park home run from Angel Pagan, who also initiated a triple play in Wednesday's opener, the Mets will still be trying to snap a six-game road skid at Nationals Park this evening in the finale of a two-game set against Washington. Maine is coming off his second losing start in a row Saturday versus the Florida Marlins, a game where he walked the first three batters he faced on 12 pitches. That led to a three-run inning for Florida and Maine ended up yielding six runs on seven hits and five walks over five innings in a 7-5 setback. "That was really shocking and surprising that he couldn't find it at that point," said Mets manager Jerry Manuel about Maine's early struggles. "I felt he threw the first couple pitches close and then all of a sudden, he was nowhere near the strike zone." The right-hander, who is 1-3 with a 6.13 earned run average this year, would probably prefer an outing like the one he turned in against Washington on May 10. Even though it resulted in defeat, the 29-year-old Maine gave up just two solo homers and seven hits over six innings in a 3-2 contest. Maine is 8-4 with a 4.11 ERA in 14 lifetime starts versus the Nationals. While the beginning of Maine's last start is something the Mets don't want to see again, they would like to see Pagan continue his heroics. The speedy center fielder became the first player since Philadelphia's Ted Kazanski in 1955 to have an inside-the-park homer and become part of a triple play in the same game, but New York couldn't overcome an offense that had just five hits in a 5-3 setback. "I was just trying to play the game hard," said Pagan. "It didn't matter because we lost. So like I said, I was just trying to do my job and play hard for the team. Unfortunately, we didn't get the win. [Thursday] is another day." New York fell to 1-6 on an eight-game road trip and is just 5-14 as the guest this season. The Mets have also lost nine of their last 11 overall and five of seven versus the Nationals in 2010. Their skid at Nationals Park dates back to last season, when they lost six of nine overall as the guest in the series. Fernando Tatis homered on Wednesday for New York and was starting in place of third baseman David Wright, who was given the night off to rest. Wright is hitting just .120 (3-for-25) with 12 strikeouts in his last seven games and leads the majors with 55 punchouts. Wright, who has struck out in 27 of his last 57 at-bats, should return to action tonight. Washington plated three runs in the seventh inning to go ahead on Wednesday, including a triple by Cristian Guzman that scored Nyjer Morgan. Guzman lined out to center in the fifth inning to start Pagan's triple play, while Morgan -- who was also part of the three-out play -- was unable to track down Pagan's hit to center in the fourth inning that led to the inside-the-park homer. Slugger Adam Dunn was in Washington's starting lineup for the first time in four games due to flu-like symptoms and went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks to help the Nats snap a season-high five-game losing streak. Luis Atilano was Maine's opponent back on May 10 and will be again for Washington tonight. The 25-year-old got a victory after throwing 5 1/3 shutout innings, working around five hits and two walks in his first appearance versus the Mets. Atilano's fifth career start didn't go as well. He allowed three runs on four hits, two of those homers, with four walks over five innings against Colorado last Saturday. It was the 25-year-old's shortest outing of the season and left him hoping to get better. "I was feeling better about my mechanics and my command on some pitches, but I fell behind too many batters," Atilano told Washington's website. "That's just not me. I'm going to work to get on track. I have to try not to think too much. I'm trying to be the best that I could be, so I could be successful." Still, Atilano is 3-0 with a 3.90 ERA on the season and continues to be a surprise for the Nationals' rotation.
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MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2. Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season. Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money.
For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 millionIn the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree. And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so. Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal. So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them. Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.) The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money. As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached. The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs. In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season. Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done. And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting. So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year. There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve. So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal. And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million. There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.) Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft. Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey. Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year. So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation. To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs. |
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