07/02/2009 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrek Lee headlined a home run parade with two long-balls -- a three-run shot and a grand slam -- for a career-high seven RBI, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 9-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the beginning of a crucial four-game series between the NL Central foes.
It was Lee's 20th career multi-homer game, as the Cubs won for the third time in four games. Jake Fox and Geovany Soto each hit a solo shot in a game that featured six total homers -- all in the first six innings.
Ryan Dempster (5-5) was the beneficiary of the run support, moving to 10-3 lifetime against Milwaukee after allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
Mike Cameron and Prince Fielder each hit a home run for the Brewers, who have lost two in a row after winning four of their previous five. Seth McClung (3-2), in his second start of the year, was hammered for seven runs on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout in only 3 1/3 innings.
The Cubs got off to a quick start in the first. Sam Fuld drew a walk to lead off, Ryan Theriot followed with a single, and Lee scored everybody with a three-run homer to left for an early cushion.
Two batters later, Fox hit his fourth home run of the season for a 4-0 edge.
Cameron, though, answered for Milwaukee, blasting a two-run shot in the second to cut the Brewers' deficit in half.
To keep the home run parade going, Soto drilled his eighth of the year to lead off the fourth and give the Cubs a 5-2 lead.
Chicago blew the game wide open in the same frame thanks to more hot hitting from Lee. Following Soto's homer, Mike Fontenot and Fuld both singled, and Theriot walked, setting up Lee's grand slam to center for a commanding 9-2 advantage.
Fielder added to the home run tally with a leadoff shot in the sixth, pulling the Brewers to within 9-3. Ryan Braun produced the first non-homer run of the game with an RBI single in the seventh, although it still left Milwaukee down by five.
In the top of the eighth, with one out and Aaron Heilman pitching for Chicago, Cameron doubled, Corey Hart was hit by a pitch, and Jason Kendall grounded an RBI single through the left side of the infield for a 9-5 game.
Heilman limited the damage by retiring the next two hitters, and Carlos Marmol finished off the Brewers in the ninth.
Game Notes
Thursday marked the beginning of an 11-game homestand for the Cubs. They will also face Atlanta and St. Louis while at Wrigley Field...Chicago leads the season series, 4-3...Cameron finished 3-for-4, while Fielder was 2-for-4 for Milwaukee...Fuld and Theriot both had a pair of hits for Chicago...Since May 30, a span of 29 games, Lee is hitting .339 with nine homers and 29 RBI. He has 14 home runs total this season. It was his 10th career grand slam...Dempster earned his first win since May 30.
<< Mayfield a no-show at Daytona
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sprint Cup Series driver and team owner
Jeremy Mayfield was not present at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday,
one day after a federal judge granted him a temporary injunction to race
again,
<< Diaz helps Braves slip past slumping Phils
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Diaz belted a go-ahead RBI double in a
three-run eighth, as the Atlanta Braves recorded their first home sweep of the
Phillies since 2005 with a 5-2 victory at Turner Field.
Garret Anderson added a t
<< Wellemeyer pitches Cardinals over Giants
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Wellemeyer threw 7 1/3 innings to help
the St. Louis Cardinals take a 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants and split
a four-game series.
Wellemeyer (7-7) scattered seven hits and two runs with a
<< Cubs reliever Cotts has Tommy John surgery
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Neal Cotts
underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday and will be sidelined indefinitely.
Cotts was 0-2 this season with a 7.36 earned run average before being demoted
to Tri
Artest joining Lakers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free agent forward Ron Artest is
leaving the Houston Rockets to join the Los Angeles Lakers and will provide
the team with more offensive firepower next season, as he'll join Kobe Bryant
and Pau
Rockets lose out on Artest but nab Ariza >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just moments after losing out to the Lakers for
the services of forward Ron Artest, the Rockets have reportedly come to an
agreement with Trevor Ariza, who was a key part of Los Angeles' championship
run thi
Kings reach agreement on four-year deal with Scuderi >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings have reached an
agreement on a four-year contract with former Penguins blueliner Rob Scuderi.
Scuderi was a key cog in helping Pittsburgh claim its third Stanley Cup title
in t
NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees announced >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Thursday revealed the 25 nominees
for the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class. Nominees included
pioneers, former champions and driver-turned-team owners of the sport.
A 21-member committe
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.
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting