Kendrick guides Phils into wild card tie with win over Mets
Baseball Betting Lines
08/15/2010 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Kendrick pitched 6 2/3 strong innings, allowing just one run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets, 3-1, in a rain-soaked rubber match of a three-game set at Citi Field.
Kendrick (8-5) gave up six hits and walked just one batter while fanning four for the Phillies, who have won 18 of their last 23 games to climb into a tie atop the wild card standings with the San Francisco Giants, who lost earlier Sunday. Philadelphia will start a three-game set with San Francisco on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.
Shane Victorino went 3-for-5 with a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored for the Phillies, while Jayson Werth ended with two hits and scored once. Brad Lidge earned his 16th save.
Jose Reyes homered for the Mets' only run, and New York has now dropped 10 of its last 13 series (2-10-1). The Mets fell to 10-19 since the All-Star break.
Mike Pelfrey (11-7), coming off an outing in which he shut out the Rockies for seven innings, gave up three runs on seven hits in seven frames to take the loss.
Jimmy Rollins used his legs to help the Phillies produce the game's first run in the third.
Rollins, who came into the game with 25 consecutive successful stolen base attempts -- the longest active streak in the majors, got on base with a two- out bloop single to left. With Victorino at the plate, Rollins swiped both second and third, and Victorino grounded an RBI double just inside the right field line for a 1-0 lead.
The Mets answered quickly on Reyes' blast that hit the right field foul pole leading off the home third, tying the score.
Philadelphia placed a runner at third with two outs in the fourth, but Luis Castillo made a diving grab on Wilson Valdez's ground ball, preventing the go- ahead run.
The Mets couldn't prevent the go-ahead run in the fifth, however, as the Phillies used some more two-out hitting.
With two outs and nobody on, Victorino singled softly to center. He stole his 22nd base of the season with Placido Polanco at the plate, and Polanco promptly sent a grounder up the middle to plate Victorino without a throw for a 2-1 advantage.
The visitors struck for another run in the sixth. Werth led off with a triple, he grounded a ball down the right field line that right fielder Angel Pagan had a difficult time handling. Two batters later, Carlos Ruiz singled past the drawn-in third baseman David Wright to easily plate Werth for a two-run edge.
Meanwhile, Kendrick settled down to dominate. Following Reyes' home run, he allowed just two baserunners -- a fifth-inning bunt single by Castillo. He exited after walking Castillo with two outs in the seventh with pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur coming up.
With Francoeur's career 9-for-22 mark against Kendrick, the Phillies opted for Chad Durbin, who induced a deep fly out from Francoeur to preserve the 3-1 lead. Francoeur is now 0-for-15 against Durbin in his career.
Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless eighth, working around a two-out walk to David Wright. He struck out Carlos Beltran to end the frame and bridge the gap to Lidge, who set down the Mets in order in the ninth to lock up the win.
Game Notes
During the Phillies' strong 23-game run, their starting pitchers have an ERA of 2.78...Philadelphia moved to 10-3 in August...The season series is tied, 6-6...Mets starters have a 1.44 ERA in their last eight games, but have gone just 4-4 in that stretch...The Phillies have won six of their last seven road games...Philadelphia is 44-11 when scoring first...Lidge is 16-for-16 in career save opportunities against the Mets...New York is 0-46 when trailing after eight innings, one of two major league teams without a win in that category. The Cubs are the other.
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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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