07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies are back home after a lengthy road trip and will open a three-game series tonight against the National League West-rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field.
Colorado went 5-4 on a nine-game road swing through Anaheim, Oakland and Los Angeles and dropped two of three matchups with the Dodgers, including Wednesday's 1-0 loss behind Rafael Furcal's pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning off Rockies starter Jason Hammel. Hammel pitched brilliantly, allowing only that one run on five hits with five strikeouts through eight innings.
"(Furcal) hit a good pitch," Hammel said. "You have to tip your hat to him -- their bullpen did a good job. It was a good game."
Brad Hawpe had two hits and Ian Stewart recorded the other one for Colorado, which is one game off the NL Wild Card lead and will kick off a 10-game homestand versus Arizona, Washington and Atlanta on Friday. The Rockies have won five straight and eight of their last nine games at Coors Field.
Jorge De La Rose will try to keep the home winning streak intact when he toes the rubber for Colorado tonight. De La Rosa has won two straight and four of his last five starts and is coming off an 11-9 victory at Oakland on Saturday. He held the Athletics to two runs and five hits in six innings, while striking out five batters and walking two.
De La Rosa improved to 4-7 in 15 2009 starts and lowered his earned run average from 5.85 to 5.64. The lefty, who is only 1-5 in seven home starts this season, will take on Arizona for the second time in 2009. De La Rosa was the hard-luck loser in an April 22 with the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, where he allowed just two runs over 6 2/3 frames of a 2-0 setback.
He is 1-2 with a 2.57 ERA through eight career appearances (4 starts) against the Diamondbacks.
Arizona has been playing poorly the past month and has lost two straight, seven of eight and 16 of the past 22 games. The D-Backs just lost the last two contests of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, including Thursday's 3-2 defeat in 12 innings.
Mark Reynolds homered and Chad Tracy knocked in the other run for Arizona, which got a decent start from Doug Davis. The left-hander threw seven innings of one-run ball and gave up seven hits with five strikeouts and four walks in the no-decision. Clay Zavada was saddled with the loss for giving up an RBI single to Joey Votto in the bottom of the 10th inning.
"We didn't find a way to get the last piece," D-Backs manager A.J. Hinch said after the tough loss. "It's a bad feeling to not be able to win close games and we're playing a lot of them."
Max Scherzer will try to reverse Arizona's fortunes tonight on the Colorado mound. Scherzer was 3-0 in four starts before losing his latest outing on Sunday versus the Angels at Chase Field, where he yielded eight runs -- three earned -- on four hits in just 4 1/3 innings.
The righty fell to 5-5 in 15 starts this season and watched his ERA rise from 3.53 to 3.67. Scherzer lost his only appearance against Colorado on September 19 of last season at Coors Field, as he gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings of a 3-2 loss. He struck out eight and walked one batter.
The 2009 season series between Arizona and Colorado is tied at three games apiece, with all six games played in Phoenix. The D-Backs went 15-3 against the Rockies last season, including a 7-2 mark in Denver.
<< Twins try to gain ground in Central in opener with Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have an opportunity to gain some
ground on the division-leading Detroit Tigers when the American League Central
rivals begin a key three-game series tonight at the Metrodome.
The Twins presently trail
<< Greinke hopes to slow down White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There haven't been many pitchers who have slowed down the
Chicago White Sox as of late, but Zack Greinke has shown in the past to be
quite capable of such a task.
The Kansas City Royals ace will take the mound in tonight
<< Santana returns to face Orioles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have been able to
rebound from a rough beginning to the season. The team is hoping one of its
most talented pitchers will be able to do the same in tonight's matchup with
the Baltimore Orio
<< Rays ride hot streak into Arlington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays take their hot streak into the Lone
Star State, where the defending American League champions will start up an
intriguing three-game series with the Texas Rangers this evening.
With wins in 15 of their
Manny set to return as Dodgers visit Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - He won't have the home crowd on his side until after the
All-Star break, but Los Angeles Dodgers star left fielder Manny Ramirez
probably doesn't mind, since he is finally done serving his 50-game suspension
for violating the
Rookie aims for repeat in Giants' tilt with Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sadowski will shoot for an encore performance tonight
for the NL Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants, who will open a 10-game
homestand with the first of three consecutive meetings versus the Houston
Astros at AT&
Serena and Venus will decide Wimbledon champ on Saturday >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Serena Williams and third-
seeded Venus Williams will square off in Saturday's ladies' final at
Wimbledon, where Venus topped her younger sister in last year's third all-
Williams f
Rangers sign Arnason >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers inked forward Tyler
Arnason to a two-way contract on Friday.
The 30-year-old posted five goals and 22 points in 71 games for the Avalanche
last season.
Over 487 career contests
Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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