Padres seek to snap season-long skid in clash with D-Backs
Baseball Betting Lines
08/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres are mired in a season-high losing streak and look to get back on track tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series between division foes at Chase Field.
The National League West-leading Padres have lost four in a row and were swept in three games by Philadelphia over the weekend. The losing streak continued with Sunday's error-plagued 5-0 loss in which starter Clayton Richard was dealt the loss for allowing four runs -- two earned -- over 7 2/3 innings.
Richard was outdueled by Cole Hamels, who scattered four hits and struck out six over eight shutout innings.
"We're going to learn from the mistakes we made. We're more than excited to start our next series," Richard said.
Adrian Gonzalez ended with a game-high three hits, as San Diego's lead atop the division fell to five games ahead of San Francisco. The Giants beat Arizona yesterday afternoon.
Wade LeBlanc will try to pitch the Friars out of their funk when he takes the desert mound Monday night. LeBlanc has won three of his last four starts and beat Arizona the previous time out on Wednesday. He was reached for three runs in 6 2/3 innings of a 9-3 victory, improving to 1-0 in four career starts against the D'Backs and 8-11 overall in 24 outings this season.
LeBlanc, a lefty, owns a 4-6 mark in 11 road starts.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks had won three in a row and were aiming for a three-game sweep of San Francisco until losing a 9-7 decision on Sunday.
Stephen Drew had four hits, including a home run, three RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Justin Upton went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in for Arizona, which got a pair of RBI from Adam LaRoche. Drew has four homers and nine RBI over his last five games.
"I told these guys that they shouldn't hang their heads about this one," said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson. "They played hard and we had a good series. I'm very happy with the way they played."
Rodrigo Lopez started for the D'Backs and did not record a decision, yielding five runs and eight hits in four innings. Esmerling Vasquez suffered the loss and was reached for three runs -- two earned -- in the seventh inning.
Joe Saunders will handle pitching duties for the D'Backs tonight, but has lost four straight trips to the hill. His misery continued in last Wednesday's 9-3 loss at San Diego, as Saunders permitted nine runs, six of which were earned, and eight hits over four innings. He is 1-4 with a 5.21 ERA in six starts with Arizona since coming over via a trade with the Angels.
Saunders, a left-hander, is 1-2 in three career starts against the Padres.
San Diego has owned Arizona this season to the tune of a 10-5 record, but has lost four of the six matchups at Chase Field.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Count the Braves as fans of instant replay. After a reversed call helped Atlanta maintain a two-game edge for first place in the National League East, the Braves look to make it three victories in a row this evening in
<< Giants continue string of NL West games against Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing against division opponents hasn't helped much for
the San Francisco Giants and their quest for a playoff berth. Tonight they'll
continue their tour through the familiar National League West with the first
of three str
<< Cubs to honor Dawson; open series vs. Buccos
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the season is a lost one for the Cubs, they will
still try to make Monday's opener with the Pirates a special one. Standing in
the way is Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm, who aims for a fourth victory in as
many st
<< Yankees return home, open set with Athletics
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees are back in the Bronx and have some
favorable matchups ahead starting with tonight's opener of a four-game series
versus the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees will also host Toronto and
<< Skidding Cardinals aim to rebound against Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals will begin the last leg of what has
been a disappointing road trip tonight, when they take on the Houston Astros
in the first of three straight games from Minute Maid Park.
The Cardinals have lost 1
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies are hoping a recent sweep of the talented San Diego Padres will catapult them back into the postseason. Currently standing in the way of that goal are the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will welcome the tw
NL Central-leading Reds seek a win over Wolf, Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In winning 11 of their last 15 games the Reds now own
their largest division lead this season.
Perhaps that momentum can help them solve Brewers starter Randy Wolf.
Cincinnati will try to defeat Wolf for the f
Pettitte's health the key to the Yankees repeating >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the New York Yankees hope to win a second
straight world championship they'll need a healthy and productive Andy Pettitte
on the mound come October. Before the 38-year old lefty went down with a
strained groin
Nats hand ball to Marquis in Florida >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite pitching well over his last two starts, Nationals
hurler Jason Marquis is still searching for his first victory in nearly a
year. Unfortunately, tonight's opponent, the Marlins, have given him issues
over th
Rays host Jays in series opener at the Trop >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Youngster Wade Davis makes his second start since returning
from the disabled list tonight, when the Tampa Bay Rays host the Toronto Blue
Jays in the opener of a three-game home series at Tropicana Field.
A soon-to-be 25
Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In 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.
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