Mets, Cubs go right back at it after late night

Baseball Betting Lines

05/17/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of tired clubs will stagger out onto the field this afternoon when the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets conclude their four-game series at Shea Stadium.

The Mets have taken two of three so far in the set, including Wednesday's 8-1 victory that didn't end until just before 1 a.m. (et) due to a three-hour, seven-minute rain delay that pushed back the start of the game.

Jorge Sosa allowed one hit over seven-plus innings and Damion Easley belted a two-run homer to power New York. Sosa (3-0) departed after yielding one run with three walks and five strikeouts.

Joe Smith and Billy Wagner each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the two- hitter that improved the Mets to 4-2 on a 10-game homestand.

David Wright and Carlos Gomez each had two hits and a pair of RBI for the Mets, who won for the sixth time in eight games and rebounded from a 10-1 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday. The victory moved New York back into first place in the National League East, one-half game ahead of Atlanta.

Speedy shortstop Jose Reyes did leave the game late with tightness in his left hamstring for the Mets, who also placed outfielder Moises Alou on the 15-day disabled due to strained left quadriceps after the contest. Reyes is questionable for today.

Taking Alou's place on the roster will be today's starter, Jason Vargas. Vargas will make his season debut for the Mets after starting the year at Triple-A New Orleans, where he is 2-3 with a 5.30 ERA.

The left-hander, who was acquired by New York from Florida in a trade last November, spent his first two big-league seasons with the Marlins and went 1-2 with a 7.33 ERA in 12 games last year, five of them starts.

Vargas is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA over a pair of career starts versus the Cubs.

Chicago's Angel Guzman makes his third start of the year since being recalled from Triple-A Iowa in early May, and has a 3.57 ERA on the season without a decision.

Guzman, who began the year in the Cubs' bullpen, gave up four runs on nine hits and one walk in 5 1/3 frames last Saturday against the Phillies. He has never faced the Mets before.

He will try to fare better than Rich Hill (4-3), who was charged with seven hits and four runs through six innings in defeat yesterday. Hill walked four and struck out six.

Cliff Floyd drove in the lone run for Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in seven contests and played without both Derrek Lee (neck spasms) and Mark DeRosa (strained right ring finger). Lee may be ready to play on Friday's interleague opener with the White Sox.

The Cubs and Mets split six games last year, with Chicago winning two of three at Shea.

Following today's game, the Cubs return home to host the White Sox in interleague play, while the Mets continue their stand against the city-rival Yankees.

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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.

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