Lincecum blows out candles, blows away Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum shut out the Mets, becoming the second-fastest Giants pitcher to win 50 games, as San Francisco posted a 2-0 victory in the opener of a four-game set at AT&T Park.

It took the hard-throwing right-hander 109 games to reach the 50-win plateau, second in club annuals to Juan Marichal, who accomplished the feat in 97 pitching appearances.

Lincecum (10-4) scattered six hits with five strikeouts and one walk on his 26th birthday. Buster Posey went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI and Pablo Sandoval drove in a run for the Giants, who have won three straight and seven of eight overall.

R.A. Dickey (6-3) was stellar in defeat, yielding just the one run on five hits with three strikeouts and one walk over seven frames.

Carlos Beltran returned to the lineup, batted in the cleanup spot and finished 1-for-4. He returned from the 60-day disabled list and played his first game of the 2010 season after undergoing knee surgery back in January. No Met had more than one hit as the club lost for the fourth time in five games.

The Giants pushed across a run in the second as Posey led off with a single to right, moved to second on a groundout, scampered to third on a wild pitch and walked home on Sandoval's two-out double.

New York threatened in the fifth as Jason Bay walked and Josh Thole singled to center. After a Ruben Tejada flyout, Dickey moved both runners on a sacrifice bunt, but Angel Pagan skied a shallow fly ball to right to end the threat.

The Giants tried to make something happen on the basepaths in the home sixth as Aubrey Huff singled and Posey followed with a base hit to left. Huff tried to take third on the play, but overslid the bag and David Wright applied the tag for the out to snuff out the threat.

San Francisco added an insurance run in the eighth as Lincecum helped himself with a single before Aaron Rowand's base hit. Freddy Sanchez's bunt was not soft enough, allowing the Mets to erase the pitcher running to third. Huff walked to load the bases and new pitcher Bobby Parnell induced a slow roller to first off the bat of Posey. It was so slow, however, that Ike Davis' throw home to nab Rowand was late for a 2-0 game.

Game Notes

Lincecum last pitched on July 7, when he struck out 10 batters and gave up one run in seven sharp innings during a victory over Milwaukee. The right-hander picked up his first victory against the Mets...New York won two-of-three meetings with the Giants may in early May...The Giants improved to 13-6 versus the National League East...Lincecum threw his seventh career complete game and fourth career shutout.

Wwwteamtalk Baseball Betting News

<< ChiSox win ninth straight, edge Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Beckham hit a solo home run and drove in two as the Chicago White Sox took an 8-7 win over the Minnesota Twins to begin the second half of the season. Juan Pierre went 3-for-4 with an RBI and tw

<< Ramirez, Cubs clobber Phils
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aramis Ramirez wiped the slate clean from a dreadful first half, driving in four to set the tone of Chicago's 12-6 victory over Philadelphia in the first of four games at Wrigley Field. The second half st

<< Carpenter masters Dodgers again
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Carpenter pitched eight strong innings and remained unbeaten against the Dodgers, and the St. Louis Cardinals started the post All-Star break with a 7-1 win in the opener of a four-game series. Carpent

<< Nuggets sign Harrington
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets have signed free agent forward Al Harrington. Terms of the deal weren't released, but it's believed to be a five-year, $34 million contract. Harrington averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1

<< Goldberg leads Canadian Tour's Players Cup
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Goldberg shot a six-under 65 to take the first-round lead Thursday at The Players Cup. Goldberg had six birdies in a flawless round on the Pine Ridge course to build a one-stroke lead over Brady Stockto

Pineiro beats former team, Angels down Mariners >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Pineiro threw seven solid innings to win his seventh straight decision and the Angels got three RBI apiece from Erick Aybar and Bobby Abreu in a 8-3 win over the Seattle Mariners to start the post All-Sta

Twins put Morneau on DL >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau was put on the 15-day disabled list following Thursday's 8-7 loss to the White Sox due to a concussion. The move is retroactive to July 8. Morneau suffered the i

Lincecum blanks Mets >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum shut out the Mets, becoming the second-fastest Giants pitcher to win 50 games, as San Francisco posted a 2-0 victory in the opener of a four-game set at AT&T Park. It took the hard-th

Oosthuizen moves in front at St. Andrews >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South African Louis Oosthuizen carded a five-under 67 Friday to move to the top of the leaderboard in the early stages of the second round at the British Open. His two-round total of 12-under-pa

Line of Scrimmage: NFL GameChangers '10: Running Backs >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In addition to being three people who have never been in my kitchen, former NFL running backs Troy Hambrick, Greg Hill, and Neal Anderson all share another important commonality - they all followed legends.

MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.