Santana, Garcia duel again in Mets-Cards clash

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jamie Garcia faced New York Mets ace Johan Santana, the rookie was able to match the two- time Cy Young Award winner pitch-for-pitch.

He may find that to be more difficult tonight.

Garcia and Santana face off for the first time since St. Louis and New York engaged in a 20-inning marathon back in April when the two teams continue a three-game set tonight at Citi Field.

Santana threw seven scoreless innings of four-hit ball versus the Cardinals on April 17, walking just one batter while striking out nine. Garcia, in just his third career start and first against the Mets, was even better. The 24-year- old yielded just one hit and two walks over seven shutout innings.

Neither starter got a decision, though, as the Mets eventually won a 2-1 contest in 20 innings.

Garcia hasn't slowed down since that outing, going 9-4 with a 2.21 earned run average this season. The southpaw is 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA over his last four starts, giving up just a run on four hits and two walks while striking out six over seven innings of a victory over the Phillies last Wednesday.

Santana's outing versus the Cardinals, whom he is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA against lifetime, was part of a first half that saw him carry a 5-5 record and 3.55 ERA into July. However, the 31-year-old lefty is 3-0 with a 0.71 ERA in five starts this month, lowering his season ERA to 2.79.

His latest win came on Friday versus the Dodgers, with Santana giving up just a run on five hits over seven innings of work.

The Mets will turn to their ace tonight in the hopes of notching a second straight victory. New York returned home on Tuesday after a disastrous 2-9 road trip, but was able to hammer the Cardinals and Adam Wainwright for an 8-2 triumph.

Jeff Francoeur and Jose Reyes both homered as New York matched its run total from its previous four games combined. Carlos Beltran added two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Jon Niese allowed a run over six-plus innings to get the victory.

The Mets won despite being without Jason Bay, who is sidelined due to concussion-like symptoms after crashing into the outfield wall in Friday's game with the Dodgers. Manager Jerry Manuel was also absent from Tuesday's opener as he served a one-game suspension for his actions on Friday in Los Angeles.

Entering the game with a 25-inning scoreless streak, Wainwright was tagged for a season-high six runs on six hits and three walks over five innings.

"Tonight was fun against a guy like Wainwright," Francoeur said afterward. "Facing him is not exactly the best way to get started after our road trip, but for us it was nice."

Ryan Ludwick drove in a run in the first inning and later scored for the Cardinals, who have lost four of five following an eight-game winning streak and fell into a virtual tie with Cincinnati for first place in the National League Central.

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.

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Why Sports Betting is so much fun?

Betting Sports

The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)

Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.

Future Bets

Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.

Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)

Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.

Round Robin Betting

Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

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