New-look Astros seek sweep of struggling Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite trading away two of their top players, the Houston Astros find themselves in position to do something they haven't done all season; win five games in a row.

The Astros will try to do just that this afternoon when they go for a three- game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers at Minute Maid Park.

Currently 13 1/2 games out of first place in the National League Central, the Astros dealt ace Roy Oswalt to the Phillies on Thursday, then completed a deal yesterday to ship first baseman Lance Berkman to the Yankees.

Despite the new look, Houston has outscored its opponents 25-2 over its season high-tying win streak and hasn't allowed a run to the Brewers yet in this series. The Brewers took Friday's opener, 5-0, then scored a 6-0 triumph last night thanks to eight scoreless innings by Wandy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez scattered five hits and a walk while striking out nine. He is 6-1 over his last seven starts, allowing one earned run or less in five of those games.

"That's special because you know you're going to get a chance when you get a pitching performance like that," Astros manager Brad Mills said. "You're going to have a chance to win a ball game, and then to see the guys come through at the plate like that was very nice."

Angel Sanchez drove in two runs, while Chris Johnson, Jeff Keppinger, Jason Michaels and Michael Bourn each had an RBI. Johnson extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest by an Astros rookie since Julio Lugo's 14-game run in 2000.

With Berkman now in New York, the Astros recalled first baseman prospect Brett Wallace, acquired from Toronto on Thursday, but he went 0-for-4 in his major league debut.

While the Astros are rolling, the Brewers have now been held scoreless in their last 23 innings and are 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position in this series.

Dave Bush got rocked in five frames, giving up six runs on 10 hits for the Brewers, who have dropped four straight games.

"We just didn't make good at-bats at times," Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks said. "That's what happens sometimes."

The Brewers and Astros split six games in Milwaukee earlier this year and Houston will try to sweep the Brewers for the first time since doing so at home in three games from May 2-4, 2008.

The Astros go for the sweep today behind Wesley Wright, with the 25-year-old set to make the third start of his career and first against a team other than the Cubs.

Wright began his career as a reliever with Houston in 2008 and even made his first six appearances this year out of the bullpen. He then earned that first start on July 20 in Chicago and gave up six runs, only one earned, over 4 2/3 innings of a no-decision.

The lefty faced the Cubs again on July 26 and took the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits over five innings of work, falling to 0-1 with a 5.12 earned run average this year.

Wright has faced the Brewers 14 times in relief, spanning 11 2/3 innings, and is 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA.

Coming off one of the worst outings of his career, Randy Wolf rebounded in a big way on Monday versus the Reds and he hopes to put forth another solid outing today.

The 33-year-old was blasted for a career-high 12 runs over 5 2/3 innings in a loss at Pittsburgh on July 21, but five days later he held the Reds to just a pair of runs on five hits over seven innings. Wolf did not get a decision in his team's 3-2 win however.

"It was a nightmare game," Wolf told Milwaukee's website, referring to his outing in Pittsburgh. "Those are the kind of games you try to put behind you. They're the kind of games where you could go out there and tell [the hitters] what was coming, and it would be better than it was. You can't lose sight of that."

Wolf is 7-9 with a 5.07 ERA this year and has faced the Astros once in 2010. The left-hander defeated them on May 25 with seven scoreless innings of four- hit ball, improving to 5-5 with a 3.63 ERA lifetime versus Houston.

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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

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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