Mets try to rebound against homestanding Giants

Baseball Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets are hoping something will give when they take on the San Francisco Giants Saturday night in the third installment of a four-game set at AT&T Park.

New York has lost the first two games of this set and has been shut out twice to start an 11-game road trip out west. After losing 2-0 in Thursday's series opener, the Mets suffered a 1-0 loss last night and wasted a strong effort from starter Jon Niese. Niese gave up only a run on six hits and three walks through six innings, and struck out four.

Ruben Tejada, David Wright and Carlos Beltran provided the three hits for the Mets, who have lost five of six and remain five games behind Atlanta for the National League East lead. Beltran has a hit in each of his first two games since returning from offseason knee surgery.

"We have to be a little bit more consistent offensively," said Mets manager Jerry Manuel. "We got a good pitching performance from Jon Niese and we played good defense."

The Mets are also 1 1/2 games off the lead in the NL Wild Card race and will also visit Arizona and Los Angeles on the current trek.

Mike Pelfrey was slated to pitch today for New York, but was pushed back until Monday because of stiffness in his neck. Hisanori Takahashi is slated to take the mound instead and is 7-3 with a 4.15 ERA in 25 games (9 starts) this season. The rookie left-hander is coming off a no-decision on July 10 in a 4-0 loss versus Atlanta, as he threw three shutout innings.

Takahashi was credited with a win over the Giants back on May 8 in a 5-4 verdict, when he delivered a scoreless inning and two strikeouts.

San Francisco has won four straight and eight of its last nine games, and received a great outing from Barry Zito last night. The lefty threw eight shutout innings and allowed two hits with a pair of walks and 10 K's. Brian Wilson struck out two and gave up a hit in the ninth for his 24th save.

"These are the type of games you have to win if you think you're a contender," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

The Giants are tied with the Dodgers at 3 1/2 games behind San Diego for NL West bragging rights and even with both LA and St. Louis at a half-game behind the pace in the wild card standings.

It's been a streaky season for Giants starter Matt Cain, who will try to put the brakes on another winless streak when he takes the mound Saturday night. Before winning four straight starts from May 28-June 13 Cain was riding a personal three-game losing streak.

Now Cain is back on a losing binge, going 0-4 with a 7.45 earned run average in his last five trips to the mound -- all San Francisco losses. The trend continued in an 8-1 loss at Washington on July 9, when Cain gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- and 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings. The loss dropped him to 6-8 in 18 starts and raised his ERA from 2.98 to 3.34.

The bulky right-hander will try to push his career mark against the Mets over the .500 mark tonight. In seven career meetings (all starts) with New York, Cain is 3-3 with a 4.26 ERA.

The Mets had won in nine of their last 12 stops at AT&T Park before losing the first two portions of this series by the Bay.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

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Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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