Maine loses no-no, Mets still rout Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

04/19/2007 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Maine carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Carlos Beltran homered, driving in three runs, to lift the New York Mets over the Florida Marlins, 9-2, in the opener of a brief two-game set at Dolphin Stadium.

Maine (2-0) allowed two runs on two hits, striking out seven and walking four, in seven innings of work, coming nine outs away of being the first Met to throw a no-hitter in the 47-year history of the franchise.

His quest was broken up when Miguel Cabrera led off the seventh with a base hit. The right-hander then lost the shutout two outs later when Joe Borchard homered. Aaron Sele and Aaron Heilman completed the three-hitter for New York, which has won consecutive games and improved to 9-4 this season.

While Maine fell short of a franchise first, David Wright did accomplish something not other Met has ever done. The third baseman recorded a hit in his 25th straight game to set a team-record hitting streak that was previously shared by Hubie Brooks (1984) and Mike Piazza (1999).

Wright ended 2-for-5 with an RBI and Jose Reyes had four hits, scored twice and drove in a run for the Mets, who pounded out 17 hits.

Florida starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season. The left-hander, who had won his first three starts of the season, surrendered eight runs -- seven earned -- on 10 hits over five innings. He also struck out four and walked two as the Marlins dropped their fourth straight contest.

The Mets got going in the first inning. Reyes led off with a single, moved to second when Paul Lo Duca reached on a fielding error at third by Cabrera and scored on Beltran's base hit. Carlos Delgado followed with a run-scoring double and Beltran scored when Wright reached on a throwing error by Hanley Ramirez at short. Moises Alou followed with a single to plate Delgado and cap the inning's scoring.

Beltran added two more runs for the Mets in the fourth with his homer, making it a 6-0 contest. Then, another pair of runs in the fifth increased New York's advantage to eight runs. Reyes doubled home Jose Valentin, who just beat the tag from catcher Matt Treanor, and then scored on Willis' wild pitch.

Maine, meanwhile, was cruising. He set down the first seven batters he faced before waking Treanor with one out. Willis sacrificed Treanor to second, but he was left stranded there when Ramirez flied out. Mike Jacobs then walked with two outs in the fourth, but was left there and Borchard worked a leadoff walk in the fifth but was erased on a double play to end the inning.

Maine also walked pinch-hitter Eric Reed to start the sixth only to get erased on a double play to end that inning as well.

After Borchard's second homer of the year in the seventh, the Mets got a run back in the eighth when Valentin singled home David Newhan.

Game Notes

Lo Duca returned to the lineup after leaving Tuesday's night game when taking a foul ball off his hand while catching...Prior to the game, Florida placed reliever Jorge Julio (calf) and starting center fielder Alejandro De Aza (ankle) on the 15-day disabled list. The Marlins recalled pitcher Lee Gardner and outfielder Eric Reed from Triple-A Albuquerque to fill the vacated roster spots...Wright's streak dates back to the final 10 games of last season...This was the first of 18 games between these two division rivals this season...The last Met to carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning was Pedro Martinez, who had his bid broken up in the eighth inning on August 14, 2005 against the Dodgers. Tom Seaver came the closest to a no-hitter for the Mets when Chicago's Joe Walls singled with two outs in the ninth inning on September 24, 1975...Wright's 13-game hit streak to start the season increases a franchise best.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.