Cellar-dwellers face off again in Bucs-Nats clash

Baseball Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh lefty Paul Maholm can make it two straight wins for the Pirates and end his own four-decision skid tonight, when the Washington Nationals return to PNC Park for the middle test of a three-game weekend series.

The Pirates at least stalled a recent slide of five losses in six games in Friday's opener, when Garrett Jones hit two doubles and drove in three runs in an 8-5 win.

Ryan Doumit homered among three hits for the Pirates. Pedro Alvarez drove in two runs, while Jose Tabata and Ronny Cedeno each had two hits.

Bucs starter Zach Duke (7-12) lasted five-plus innings, giving up four runs, five hits and three walks while fanning five for the win.

Danny Espinosa hit his first career home run for the Nationals, who have lost three straight. Adam Dunn and Justin Maxwell each drove in a run in defeat.

Livan Hernandez (9-10) was pounded for eight runs on eight hits and two walks in just 4 1/3 innings to take the loss for Washington.

Maholm, the eighth overall pick in the 2003 draft, picked up his seventh win of the season on Aug. 3 after a six-inning effort in a 7-6 defeat of Cincinnati. He's 0-4 in five starts since, however, allowing 25 runs on 40 hits in 25 innings while his earned run average has climbed from 4.59 to 5.18.

He retired just 10 batters in his most recent outing, allowing nine hits and eight runs against the Chicago Cubs in a 14-2 embarrassment at Wrigley Field on Monday.

The Mississippi native has faced the Nationals six times in 154 big-league starts but has yet to record a win against them, losing three decisions while posting a 5.30 ERA in 37 1/3 innings. Maholm is 5-8 in 14 home starts in 2010.

Fellow lefty John Lannan seeks his first career defeat of the Pirates for Washington as well this evening.

The Long Beach, NY native is 0-3 in five previous outings against Pittsburgh, including a no-decision in Washington's 7-5 home win on June 9, when he was tagged for 10 hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Lannan has gone 4-3 in eight starts since, however, to even his season record at 6-6. He beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, Sunday at Nationals Park after allowing one run on eight hits over 7 2/3 innings.

He is 4-3 in 10 road starts this season.

Washington swept a three-game set from the Pirates back in June and had won five in a row in this overall series prior to Friday's setback.

Footballbettingshop Baseball Betting News

<< Halladay aims to pitch surging Phils past Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Halladay goes after win No. 17 this evening, when the playoff-hopeful Philadelphia Phillies continue their three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park. Halladay has lost his last two starts, t

<< Rays resume playoff push in second test with Orioles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays own the best road record of any team in the majors this season, in part due to their success at Baltimore's Camden Yards. The postseason contenders will have their sights set on another victory over the hom

<< Braves try to bounce back in key series with Marlins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson hopes for a better result than the last time he faced Atlanta when he and the Florida Marlins continue their three-game set with the Braves tonight at Sun Life Stadium. Johnson surrendered just three hits and

<< Rockies try to pin ninth straight loss on reeling Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres try to avoid a ninth straight loss this afternoon, when they play the middle test of their three-game series with the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. San Diego's slide continued in the opener of this s

<< Cards seek to gain further ground on first-place Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Wainwright tries once again to become the National League's first 18-game winner when the St. Louis Cardinals continue their three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds today at Busch Stadium. Like his team, Wainwri

Tigers vie to break even in matchup with Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers can pull back to .500 in the midst of a lengthy second-half slump tonight, when they visit Kauffman Stadium for the second of three weekend games with the host Kansas City Royals. The Tigers won Friday's

D-Backs host Astros, shoot for fifth straight win >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Recent trade acquisition Joe Saunders tries to make it two wins in a row for the first time since arriving in Arizona tonight, when the Diamondbacks meet the Houston Astros in the middle matchup of a three-game weekend series

Dodgers hoping to further cripple Giants' playoff hopes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Cain tries to make it two straight wins against the club that has given him more trouble than any other team in his young career when the San Francisco Giants continue their three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers

Mariners, Indians to go at it again in Emerald City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Seattle Mariners will attempt to build off an impressive pitching performance when the American League West cellar-dwellers take on the Cleveland Indians tonight in the continuation of a four-game series between last-pla

Jimenez keeps three-shot lead in Switzerland >>
Crans Montana, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Angel Jimenez protected his three-shot lead at the European Masters Saturday with a three-under 68 in the third round. Jimenez appeared to have shot a 67 after rolling in a long birdie

MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!

Every month MySportsbook.com's casino host, Jack Black, gives away $10,000.00 in free casino prize money. To Enter - All you have to do is play at least 10 hands (total) of Blackjack on one of the specified dates of the blackjack contest. The online casino host randomly hands out free bonuses ranging from $50 - $500, and one lucky player who will receive a free $2,500.00 bonus.

"We have been running this monthly free blackjack contest to our active mebers for 5 years now, and the players just love it," says Jack Black, online casino host at MySportsbook.com. "And why wouldn't they love a free chance to win some extra online blackjack cash."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.

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.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.