Mets hit the road for matchup with Cardinals

Baseball Betting Lines

04/21/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oliver Perez will try to string together back-to-back decent starts when he leads the New York Mets tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Perez was rocked in his 2009 debut on April 9 against Cincinnati, allowing eight runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings for the loss. He rebounded last Wednesday versus San Diego by hurling six innings of one-run ball for his first win of the season.

The lefty, who is 1-1 with a 7.84 ERA on the season, hasn't fared too well against St. Louis in his career, having gone 2-5 with a 4.65 earned run average.

The Mets went just 3-3 on a six-game homestand versus San Diego and Milwaukee, and had their chances for a sweep of the Brewers erased after Sunday's 4-2 loss at brand-new Citi Field. Mets starter Nelson Figueroa (0-1) got the nod for Mike Pelfrey, who has been diagnosed with right forearm tendinitis, and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks in six frames to absorb the loss.

Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy each had three hits in a losing effort.

St. Louis was slated to wrap up a four-game series with the rival Chicago Cubs Sunday at Wrigley Field, but the finale was postponed because of rain. The game will be made up as part of a July 12th day-night doubleheader.

The Cardinals won the opener with the Cubs before losing the next two games, including Saturday's 7-5 setback in 11 innings. Aramis Ramirez clubbed a two- run homer in the bottom of the 11th to lift the Cubs and made a loser of relief pitcher Dennys Reyes (0-1).

Ryan Ludwick had two RBI and Khalil Greene belted a solo home run for the Cardinals, who have dropped three of their last five games. Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker also knocked in a run in defeat. Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse did not factor in the decision, yielding four runs and five hits in five innings.

Taking the ball for the Cardinals Tuesday will be Todd Wellemeyer. Wellemeyer was roughed up in his first start on April 8 against Pittsburgh, as he gave up five runs and 12 hits in five innings. He then posted his first win of 2009 on April 14 against Arizona, tossing seven solid innings of one-run ball to improve to 1-1 with a 4.50 earned run average on the year.

In five career games (2 starts) against the Mets, the right-hander is just 0-1 with a 6.89 ERA.

New York won four of seven meetings with St. Louis a year ago and is 3-1 in the previous four matchups in the series.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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