Cardinals edge Mets in 13 innings

Baseball Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the top of the 13th inning, as the St. Louis Cardinals snuck past the New York Mets, 8-7, in the second test of a three-game series from Citi Field.

Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer and drove in a total of three runs for the Cardinals, who bounced back from an 8-2 loss in the opener of this series.

Starter Jaime Garcia went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He also knocked in two runs and scored once. Mike MacDougal (1-0) tossed a perfect 12th to pick up the win. Ryan Franklin recorded his 19th save of the year.

Angel Pagan and Carlos Beltran homered for the Mets, who are 3-10 in their last 13 contests. Mike Hessman and Ike Davis each had two RBI.

Johan Santana got rocked in 5 2/3 frames, giving up seven runs on a career- high 13 hits. Pedro Feliciano (2-6) allowed one run on one hit in 1 2/3 innings of relief to take the loss.

In the top of the 13th, Feliciano recorded a quick out before hitting Skip Schumaker with a pitch. Felipe Lopez followed with a walk. Runners were on the corners after Jon Jay grounded into a fielder's choice. Pujols then laced the ball into left field to plate Schumaker for an 8-7 edge.

Franklin retired the Mets in order in the home half to secure the victory.

Trailing 7-2, New York got a homer from Beltran in the home sixth to cut the gap to four.

The Mets then tied the contest with a four-run eighth. Mitchell Boggs gave up a leadoff single to Luis Castillo, who scored on Pagan's homer to right- center field. David Wright singled and Hessman was hit by a pitch before Jason Motte was called in from the bullpen. He got Jeff Francoeur to fly out for the second out. Dennys Reyes took over and walked Josh Thole to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Davis tied things with a two-run single to right. Kyle McClellan was called upon to get out of the inning.

Each team stranded men on first and second in the ninth.

The Cardinals exploded for six runs off Santana in the top of the first. Lopez led off with a single and came around to score on Holliday's two-out homer to left. Yadier Molina singled, Colby Rasmus doubled and Brendan Ryan was intentionally walked to load the bases. Garcia then helped his own cause with a two-run single. Schumaker and Lopez followed with consecutive RBI base hits to make it 6-0. Pujols lined out to end Santana's 38-pitch inning.

The Mets responded with two runs in the bottom half. A bunt single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. Hessman drove in two runs with a double off the wall in left. Henry Blanco popped out to end the frame.

Both starting pitchers settled down after the first inning, as a runner didn't advance past second until the top of the sixth. With two outs, Jay and Pujols hit consecutive singles. Holliday followed with an RBI double down the right-field line, chasing Santana from the contest. Manny Acosta struck out Molina, but not before St. Louis took a 7-2 lead.

Game Notes

The Cardinals won two of three at home over the Mets from April 16-18, but lost four of six at Citi Field a season ago...St. Louis optioned pitcher Fernando Salas to Triple-A Memphis and recalled pitcher MacDougal from Memphis...Holliday extended his hitting streak to 13 games...The Mets were without outfielder Jason Bay (concussion)...The Cardinals had 16 hits, compared to 13 for the Mets.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

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.

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