Brewers aim to extend Mets' recent misery
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Milwaukee Brewers are improving their stance in the National League Central, they're making it very difficult for the New York Mets to climb the NL East standings.
The NL Central-leading Brewers will resume a three-game series versus the Mets tonight at Miller Park and are coming off Monday's 10-6 win in the series opener. J.J. Hardy went 4-for-4 with a solo home run and Casey McGehee added a grand slam to break open the game in the sixth inning for Milwaukee, which moved a game ahead of St. Louis in the Central after the Cardinals lost to San Francisco Monday night.
"When I can be a little more removed from the situation, that is going to be something I always remember as really special," McGehee said on the team's site. "If someone would have told me this time last year that I was going to have 40,000 people calling me out of the dugout for a curtain call, I would have said you were lying."
McGehee made up for missing an easy pop fly to end the sixth inning, with his miscue allowing the Mets to score a pair of unearned runs. His first career grand slam then made a winner out of Braden Looper, who gave up three runs -- one earned -- in 6 1/3 innings. Carlos Villanueva was roughed up for three runs and five hits in only one-third of an inning, but closer Trevor Hoffman came to the rescue by getting the next two outs for his 18th save.
Milwaukee improved to 4-3 on a nine-game homestand and has won three of its last four games.
Brewers pitcher Mike Burns made his first major league start his last time out and will take another shot tonight versus the Mets. Burns was roughed up for four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-4 setback to Minnesota on Thursday to absorb the loss. He fell to 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in two games (one start) this season.
The right-hander faced the Mets for the first and only time on June 22, 2006 at Shea Stadium, and did not factor in the outcome of a 6-2 setback. Burns was a member of Cincinnati at the time and yielded two hits in two shutout innings.
New York has been struggling and is caught in a funk, having lost four straight and nine of the last 13 games to fall below the .500 mark at 37-38. In Monday's four-run loss in the opener of this set and a seven-game road trip, starter Fernando Nieve suffered his first loss of the season after permitting three runs and 11 hits over 3 1/3 innings of work.
"I didn't have my stuff like I usually had before," Nieve stated on the team's Web site. "My fastball wasn't as good as it was before. I started getting behind on guys and they were pretty aggressive."
Gary Sheffield finished with three hits, including a home run, and three RBI, while Ryan Church added four hits and Brian Schneider knocked in a pair of runs for the Mets, whose rally in the ninth produced three runs before falling short after Hoffman took the hill.
New York is three games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East lead, but the Florida Marlins are second at 2 1/2 games off the pace. The Mets will visit Philadelphia for three games starting Friday.
Mets ace Johan Santana gets the nod for Jerry Manuel's ballclub tonight and he is coming off a strong performance versus St. Louis on Thursday. Santana was 1-3 with a 7.33 ERA in four starts before beating the Cardinals with seven strong innings on the mound. He allowed two runs -- one earned -- in a 3-2 victory at Citi Field to improve to 9-5 in 15 starts this season and lower his earned run average from 3.22 to 3.08.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner, who is 3-3 in six road starts this season, will square off with Milwaukee for the second time in 2009. Santana earned a 1-0 win over the Brewers on April 18, as he surrendered five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks through seven shutout frames. The lefty is 4-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 12 career games (8 starts) against the Brewers.
New York took two of three meetings versus Milwaukee from April 17-19 at Citi Field and has won eight of the past 12 matchups between the teams.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies will close out the last portion of their current road trip with the first of three straight games against the NL East-rival Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Philadelphia is 2 1/2 games ahead of the
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
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