Santana picks up win No. 10 in nation's capital
Baseball Betting Lines
08/12/2008 -
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Damion Easley was hit by a pitch in the
eighth frame, forcing in the eventual winning run, and New York's mix-match
bullpen navigated the final two frames in a 4-3 victory over Washington in the
first of three games between the two NL East rivals.
Johan Santana (10-7) again left his fate in a beleaguered Mets bullpen riddled
with injuries and poor pitching. Joe Smith got the hold and Pedro Feliciano
notched his first save after seven strong frames from Santana, who allowed
three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
The Mets bullpen responded following a meeting with manager Jerry Manuel, in
which the skipper threatened to use starters in relief if the back-end's
ineffectiveness continued.
"A meeting helps sometimes. We're supposed to be professionals and be
able to put a game like yesterday behind us. But sometimes it's good to pull
everyone together. I took what Jerry said (about bringing up starters) as
something to fire us up," said Smith. "It hurts when they talk about bringing
people in. This is our bullpen. We want to step up and do it."
Carlos Beltran doubled twice as part of a 3-for-4 night and David Wright
collected two hits and scored twice for the Mets, who snapped a brief two-game
skid in the first game of a seven-contest road trip.
Saul Rivera (3-5) was saddled with the loss in a hotly debated eighth inning.
Wright and Beltran each singled before Rivera struck out Carlos Delgado.
Fernando Tatis then appeared to swing at a high-and-inside 3-2 offering, but
first base umpire Mike Reilly ruled no swing to load the bases.
Easley then saw a high offering go off his helmet, although Washington manager
Manny Acta contended -- to no avail -- the ball hit Easley's bat. The hit-by-
pitch forced in Wright for a 4-3 lead.
Ryan Langerhans hit his first home run of the season for Washington, losers of
five games in a row.
The Mets began the road swing with a two-run first frame triggered by Nick
Evans' one-out single. After Wright skied a pitch to the right fielder Austin
Kearns, Beltran doubled to put runners at second and third. Delgado delivered
with a perfectly-placed single into left-center, scoring both runners.
Washington responded with two runs of its own in the home half of the inning.
Cristian Guzman doubled with one out and scored on Ryan Zimmerman's base hit
and then Kearns singled. With two outs, Jesus Flores' base hit to center
allowed Zimmerman to cross the plate with the tying run.
The Mets re-claimed the edge in the third on back-to-back doubles by Wright
and Beltran.
Washington squared the see-saw affair with Langerhans' solo shot just after
stretch time.
Game Notes
Washington outfielder Lastings Milledge bunted for a base hit in the sixth,
extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games...Jose Reyes stole his
40th base of the season...Nationals starter Odalis Perez pitched six solid
frames, yielding three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one
walk...Flores has 52 RBI on the season...Delgado notched his 74th and 75th
RBIs of the campaign...The attendance was 32,186...The Mets optioned Carlos
Muniz to New Orleans (PCL) to make room for John Maine, who will come off the
DL and start tomorrow.
<< Cabrera leads Tribe past Orioles
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Asdrubal Cabrera went 3-for-4, scored twice,
and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Cleveland Indians
came back to edge the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5, in the second of a four-game
set.
<< Islanders name Gordon head coach
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders have named reigning
AHL coach of the year Scott Gordon head coach, making him the 14th head coach
in franchise history. He has agreed to a multi-year contract with the team.
"Garth
<< Vazquez, White Sox blank Royals
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javier Vazquez threw eight shutout innings, and
Jermaine Dye hit a two-run homer and drove in three, as the Chicago White Sox
blanked Kansas City, 9-0, in the first of three games with the Royals.
Vazquez (9-
<< Astros' Matsui leaves game with sore back
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui
left Tuesday's game against the San Francisco Giants with a sore back.
He is listed as day-to-day.
Matsui went 0-for-1 before leaving following the second
<< Dickau leaves NBA for Europe
Avellino, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Clippers guard Dan Dickau has
signed with Euroleague team Avellino, the club announced Tuesday.
Dickau, 29, averaged 5.3 points and 2.6 assists in 67 games with the Clippers
last season, his
Phillips, Volquez help Reds topple Pirates >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Phillips belted a two-run homer to
lift the Cincinnati Reds over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-1, in the first
contest of a three-game set at PNC Park.
Javier Valentin added a solo shot for t
Blue Jays come back to down slumping Tigers >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Lind hit a solo home run and Vernon Wells
had a two-run double to cap a four-run seventh inning, as the Toronto Blue
Jays battled back to beat the struggling Detroit Tigers, 6-4, in the second of
a four-
Berkman's slam punctuates Astros' blowout of Giants >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lance Berkman hit a grand slam as part of an
eight-run seventh inning for Houston, which took a 12-4 win over San Francisco
in the second of four games with the Giants.
Darin Erstad had two hits, including
Ramirez, Volstad lead Marlins past Cardinals >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez blasted a three-run homer to lead
the Florida Marlins over the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3, in the second game of a
four-game set at Dolphin Stadium.
Cody Ross was 2-for-2 with a run scored for
Roddick, Del Potro move on in Washington >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Andy Roddick and No. 2 seed Juan
Martin Del Potro both advanced on Tuesday during first-round action at the
$508,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic -- a hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
The former wo
Big East Conference odds
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
 Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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