Cabrera's homer pushes Yanks past A's in 14th inning

Baseball Betting Lines

04/22/2009 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melky Cabrera blasted two homers, including the game-winning two run shot in the 14th inning, as the New York Yankees outlasted the Oakland Athletics, 9-7, in the first extra-inning game at the new Yankee Stadium.

Cabrera now has four homers on the season for the Yankees, who have won three straight and four of five. Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter, playing in his 2,000th career game, also homered, while seven of the nine New York starters had two hits in the game.

CC Sabathia was roughed up for seven runs -- six earned -- on six hits and four walks in 6 2/3 innings. He only fanned two, and his earned-run average rose to 4.81 in four starts thus far in 2009. Jose Veras (1-1) got the win for pitching 3 1/3 innings of relief, and the New York bullpen, as a whole, pitched 7 1/3 frames of scoreless baseball, allowing three hits and three walks.

Kurt Suzuki blasted a three-run homer, while Matt Holliday went 2-for-6 with an RBI for the Athletics, who have dropped four consecutive games. Brett Anderson yielded five runs on nine hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings, and former Yankee Dan Giese (0-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing Cabrera's homer in the 14th.

A two-out rally off Michael Wuertz put the Yankees in front in the home sixth. After Cabrera was thrown out trying to steal second, Cody Ransom roped a two- out double down the left-field line and scored on Jeter's double to left- center.

Johnny Damon put runners on the corners with a swinging bunt, and Mark Teixeira made it 7-5 with an RBI single to right field, scoring Jeter.

The A's knotted the game in the seventh. Bobby Crosby reached on an infield single and moved to second on a walk by Ryan Sweeney. Orlando Cabrera bunted the runners into scoring position, and Jason Giambi made it a one-run game with an RBI groundout.

Holliday followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 7-7 and knock Sabathia out of the game.

The Yankees had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh, but Russ Springer struck out Melky Cabrera and retired Brett Gardner and Jeter on pop ups to get out of the jam.

After two scoreless innings, the Athletics had runners on the corners with two outs in the 10th, but Crosby popped out to Jeter to end the inning.

Neither team threatened until the Yanks won in the 14th. With Giese pitching his third inning, Swisher drew a leadoff walk and scored on Melky Cabrera's two-run shot to right field two batters later.

Oakland took a 3-0 lead in the second on Suzuki's three-run homer to left field.

Matsui and Melky Cabrera hit back-to-back solo homers in the second to cut the Yankees' deficit to one.

Several defensive miscues led to an Oakland run in the third. With one out, Giambi popped up to shallow left, but Damon was unable to catch the ball, and Giambi ended up on second base. Holliday lined the next pitch off the tip of Ransom's glove at third to put runners on the corners.

Jack Cust came up next and grounded weakly to Sabathia. The pitcher threw to Jeter for the force out at second, and Jeter threw home as Giambi broke for the plate; however, Jorge Posada had run up the first base line, and nobody covered home. The ball sailed to the backstop, and Giambi scored easily for a 4-2 advantage.

The Yankees tied the game in the home third. Teixeira led off with a single and moved to third on a Posada double. Robinson Cano drove in a run with a groundout to second, and Posada scored the tying run on Swisher's single to center.

New York went ahead, 5-4, on Jeter's two-out solo shot to center in the fourth inning.

But Oakland tied it in the sixth, as Cust walked with one out, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a single up the middle from Mark Ellis.

Game Notes

The game on Monday between these two teams that was rained out has been rescheduled for July 23...Suzuki's home run was briefly reviewed by the umpires. Yankee Stadium has now been the site of two reviews so far in the 2009 season...Cano extended his hit streak to 10 games...The A's are 5-3 in night games and 0-6 in day games this season...The game lasted 4:57.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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