Mets turn to rookie in hopes of besting Cubs
Baseball Betting Lines
09/04/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jenrry Mejia makes his first major league start this
afternoon, when the New York Mets continue their three-game series with the
Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The 20-year-old right-hander made the Mets with a terrific spring and was used
in relief before being sent to Double-A in late June to stretch him out to
become a starter. He was 0-2 with a 3.25 earned run average in 30 appearances
with the big-league team.
"It helped me," Mejia said of his time in the bullpen with the Mets. "Now I
know I can pitch here."
Mejia excelled at Double-A Binghamton after being sent down, going 2-0 with a
1.32 ERA in six starts. In his first Triple-A start for Buffalo, Mejia gave up
a run in eight innings on Monday.
He faced the Cubs twice earlier in the season, tossing two scoreless innings.
The Cubs drew first blood in this series on Friday, as Blake DeWitt's three-
run homer in the sixth provided the difference in Chicago's 7-6 victory.
DeWitt hit his fourth home run in just 30 games with Chicago since a midseason
trade with the Dodgers, and the Cubs improved to 7-3 under interim manager
Mike Quade. Alfonso Soriano also hit a three-run shot in the victory, while
Xavier Nady went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Chicago's Randy Wells allowed four runs, eight hits and four walks in the
start, and James Russell (1-1) earned the win for retiring the only batter he
faced. Carlos Marmol ended up with his 26th save of the season.
David Wright hit a solo homer among three hits and drove in three runs for the
Mets, while Luis Hernandez hit his first home run with the team. That still
wasn't enough to prevent New York from falling for the fourth time in five
games.
Mets starter R.A. Dickey (9-6) squandered an opportunity to set a new career-
high in wins after giving up a season-worst seven runs on eight hits and a
walk in six frames.
Today Chicago will hand the ball to volatile righty Carlos Zambrano, who has
won his last three decisions. Zambrano won his second straight start Monday
against Pittsburgh, which managed just an unearned run and four hits in 5 1/3
frames off him.
The three-time All-Star is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in five starts since returning
to the rotation following anger management classes.
Zambrano lost to the Mets earlier in the year and is 4-3 lifetime against them
with a 3.63 ERA in 11 games, 10 of which have been starts
The Mets won three of four meetings with the Cubs in a series held in New York
back in April.
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weekend set, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox will renew acquaintances
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problems during a seven-game winning streak that matches the team's longest of
the season. The defending world champions will now turn their attention
towards getting Jav
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Canonsburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoffrey Sisk remained atop the leaderboard
Saturday when the second round of the rain-delayed Mylan Classic was
completed.
Sisk played the final three holes of his round and finished off a four
<< Tuberville's Texas Tech to debut vs. improving SMU
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Serbia vs. Croatia, 11 a.m. (et)
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Twins, Rangers continue high-stakes series of division leaders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Target Field has been able to provide the Minnesota Twins
with a distinct advantage in its first year of existence, something the
current American League Central leaders would like to have during the first
round of the playo
Marquee mound matchup on tap in Angels-A's tilt >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- This afternoon's showdown between the Los Angeles Angels
of Anaheim and Oakland Athletics may have little effect on the American League
playoff race, but fans attending the Coliseum today should be treated to a
top-notch pit
Cards seek to gain further ground on first-place Reds >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Wainwright tries once again to become the National
League's first 18-game winner when the St. Louis Cardinals continue their
three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds today at Busch Stadium.
Like his team, Wainwri
Rockies try to pin ninth straight loss on reeling Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres try to avoid a ninth straight loss
this afternoon, when they play the middle test of their three-game series with
the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park.
San Diego's slide continued in the opener of this s
“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.
New York Giants betting lines
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.
Dallas Cowboys betting lines
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.
Oakland Raiders betting lines
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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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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