Slumping Diamondbacks visit Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The slumping Arizona Diamondbacks head to New York in hopes of notching a rare road win when they open a three-game weekend series with the Mets at Citi Field.

The Diamondbacks, now 24 games off the pace in the National League's West Division, have lost seven straight games as they head to Queens, including three straight at Philadelphia in a series that concluded Thursday night.

Wilson Valdez helped the Phillies celebrate the acquisition of pitcher Roy Oswalt with an RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning for a 3-2 win.

Miguel Montero hit his third home run of the season and finished with two RBI for the Diamondbacks.

Joe Saunders made his first start with the D'Backs after he was traded to Arizona in the Dan Haren deal on Sunday. Saunders was charged with two runs on nine hits and four strikeouts over seven innings.

Cody Ransom drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the 11th off of Esmerling Vasquez (1-4) and moved to second base when Carlos Ruiz singled. Valdez then stepped to the plate and laced a base hit to center field. The throw from Chris Young partially hit the pitcher's mound, which helped Ransom slide safely into home plate as the Phillies celebrated the victory.

Arizona has won just 13 of 49 road games so far in 2010.

On the mound, right-hander Ian Kennedy makes his second start against the Mets in 11 days.

He earned a 13-2 victory in the initial matchup on July 19 in Phoenix, allowing four hits and a run in five innings to notch his fifth victory of the season.

One start since ended in loss No. 8 for Kennedy, who was touched for six hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings of a 10-4 defeat against San Francisco.

He is 2-5 in 10 road starts with a 4.70 earned run average.

For the Mets, 6-foot-7 right-hander Mike Pelfrey can erase the bad taste from the aforementioned July 19 game.

The 26-year-old was raked for seven hits and six runs while retiring only four batters and walking two against the Diamondbacks, who handed him his third straight loss since starting the year at 10-2.

Pelfrey, the ninth overall draft selection in 2005, hasn't won since a 5-2 interleague defeat of Minnesota on June 25.

He is winless in six career matchups with Arizona, going 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA. However, he is 6-2 in 11 home starts in 2010.

On Thursday, rookie Ike Davis hit a three-run homer and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey went 8 1/3 innings as the Mets earned a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the rubber match of a three-game home set.

Angel Pagan chipped in two hits including a triple and scored twice, while Carlos Beltran contributed a run-scoring single for the Mets, who won for only the third time in the last 10 games.

Dickey (7-4), who was working on three days rest after exiting his last start on Sunday with a left leg injury after 5 2/3 innings, was sensational. He yielded only four hits, finishing with two strikeouts and a pair of walks. Francisco Rodriguez retired the final two batters in the ninth to pick up his 22nd save of the season.

The Diamondbacks swept a three-game set at home over the Mets from July 19-21 and have won seven of the last eight in the series.

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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.

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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