D-Backs edge Mets in 14 to complete rare sweep

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Snyder's hit to the gap in left-center field scored Justin Upton with the winning run in the 14th inning, boosting Arizona to a 4-3 win over the New York Mets, as the Diamondbacks completed their first three-game sweep since last August.

Upton doubled to left field leading off the inning against Fernando Nieve (2-4). Miguel Montero was intentionally walked before Mark Reynolds struck out. Snyder, the last position player on the bench, pinch-hit for Blaine Boyer (2-2) and sent the second offering barely foul, albeit home run distance to left field. Later in the count, he drilled a ball off the wall in left for the game-winner.

Chris Young, Rusty Ryal and Reynolds homered for Arizona, which hadn't swept a series of at least three games since August 28-30 against Houston. Ryal had a career-high four hits and Upton added three hits.

Angel Pagan and Rod Barajas homered for the Mets, who fell to 1-6 on their 11-game road trip. The swing ends in Los Angeles this weekend.

The Mets have been held to four or fewer runs in 12 straight games (going 3-9 during that span), the longest such stretch since they were held to four or less runs in 13 consecutive games from September 19 - October 2, 2004.

Mets starter Jonathon Niese gave up six hits and three runs while fanning six over five innings. Dan Haren started for Arizona and had eight strikeouts over six frames.

"He threw well, but unfortunately we got into a deadlock there. He went as far as I would let him go," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said of Haren.

It was another tough game for Mets left fielder Jason Bay as he was 0-for-6. Bay is 4-for-36 over his last 10 games and has no RBI in that span.

"I am somewhat surprised," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "I thought getting here on the west coast he would exhale and take off. I'm somewhat baffled at the struggles he's having right now."

Pagan homered to right field with one out in the opening inning, but Young went deep on a 3-2 offering leading off the bottom of the first.

Ryal sent a 1-0 Niese pitch over the wall in left-center to start the bottom of the second, but the Mets evened the game again in the third. Pagan doubled, and with one out Carlos Beltran hit an RBI single to right.

Reynolds homered to left-center with one out in the fourth, but Arizona wasted a chance with runners at second and third in the fifth when Montero fanned to end the inning.

Barajas went deep with two outs in the sixth. Left fielder Cole Gillespie nearly made a leaping catch at the wall, but ran out of real estate.

The Diamondbacks had a pair of really good opportunities in the eighth. Bobby Parnell walked Upton and Montero singled, but Reynolds lined into a double play. Ryal singled to place runners at the corners, but Tony Abreu struck out swinging.

Young reached first on David Wright's throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Young stole second, but Augie Ojeda popped out to second.

Arizona wasted a chance with two men on in the 10th and they couldn't score despite loading the bases in the 12th. Pinch-hitter Stephen Drew popped out and Adam LaRoche flied out.

Game Notes

The game lasted 4 hours, 45 minutes...Arizona pitchers fanned a season-high 16 batters...Before Wednesday, Arizona hadn't swept a set against the Mets since taking a four-game set, August 3-5, 2002 at Shea Stadium...This was the second time the Mets were swept this year, joining a four-game series May 13-16 at Florida...New York batters drew five walks. Before Wednesday, the Mets hadn't drawn more than three walks in any of their last 12 games. It was the team's longest streak of games with no more than three walks since a 13-game stretch from July 1-16, 2005...The Mets went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and are 5-for-33 in those situations since the All-Star Game...Arizona left 16 men on base and went 1-for-10 with RISP.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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