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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Betting Football

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Is 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.