Mets head to Pittsburgh for makeup with Bucs
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before the New York Mets begin a critical three-game set in Philadelphia this weekend, they must first play a makeup game in the Keystone State against the Pittsburgh Pirates today at PNC Park.
Today's contest was originally supposed to be the third of a four-game set in early June, but was postponed due to rain. The Pirates won the other three matchups in the series and should they win this afternoon, would complete their first four-game sweep of the Mets - albeit in the rare variety - since September 29-October 1, 1989
New York, though, enters on a bit of a high note after right-hander Mike Pelfrey gave the team exactly what it needed on Wednesday. He tossed nearly eight shutout innings against Milwaukee to help the Mets eke out a 1-0 win and snap a five-game losing streak in the process.
Pelfrey (6-3) helped the Mets grab the victory after keeping the Brewers off the scoreboard for 7 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits, walked two and struck out six.
"Mike Pelfrey was outstanding," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "Tremendous, tremendous effort by him. Good command of all his pitches. He got the ground ball when he needed it."
Ryan Church had one of New York's five hits, walked once and drove in the game's lone run.
With Philadelphia's loss in Atlanta, New York moved within two games of the defending world champions for first place in the NL East, with Florida a half- game back of Philadelphia. New York will visit the City of Brotherly Love for a three-game series starting Friday.
Getting the call this afternoon for the Mets will be righty Tim Redding, who is 1-3 with a 6.35 earned run average. Redding was charged with the loss on Saturday against the Yankees, as he gave up five runs and six hits - including two homers - in 5 1/3 innings. The Mets, though, mustered just one hit in that contest.
Redding has faced the Pirates 11 times and is 2-2 with a 3.79 ERA in those contests.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will pin its hopes on lefty Paul Maholm, who was roughed up by the Mets back on May 9. New York hit him for seven runs and 10 hits in five innings, dropping him to 3-2 with a 3.65 ERA in six lifetime starts against them .
Maholm, though, picked up the win on Saturday against Kansas City, as he limited the Royals to a pair of runs and five hits in seven innings to improve to 5-4 to go along with a 4.35 ERA for the season.
Pittsburgh enters tonight's tilt on the heels of dropping two of three to the Chicago Cubs, including a 4-1 setback in Wednesday's rubber match.
Pirates starter Virgil Vasquez (1-1) went six frames, allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts to take the loss. He allowed two runs and four hits in six innings and recorded seven strikeouts in that game.
Brandon Moss knocked in the lone run for the Pirates with a single. Andrew McCutchen and Jason Jaramillo each had two hits for Pittsburgh, which has won five of its last eight games despite the loss.
"Wells threw a great game against us. He didn't miss his spots at all," Pirates manager John Russell said about Cubs starter Randy Wells, who held the Pirates to one run over seven innings of work.
Pittsburgh is 3-3 this season against the Mets.
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Betting Football
NFL Football Betting OnlineIs there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.