Santana shuts down Dodgers, Mets offense awakens

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Santana silenced the Dodgers for seven innings, and New York's offense awoke from a two-week slumber in a 6-1 victory at Chavez Ravine.

The Mets were held to four runs or less in each of their previous 13 games, but a balanced attack with the bats and Santana's arm helped the club to their second win in nine games since the All-Star break.

Santana (8-5) surrendered just one run on five hits and a walk to go with four strikeouts in the win. The left-hander has gone at least seven frames and given up one run or less in his last five outings.

Jason Bay went 2-for-4 with three RBI, Ike Davis hit a solo home run, and Jose Reyes doubled, walked, stole a base and scored two runs for the victors.

Vicente Padilla (4-3) took the look despite allowing a mere two runs -- one earned -- on six hits in seven innings for Los Angeles, which won the opener of this four-game series, 2-0, on Thursday.

"Padilla pitched sensational. We just couldn't get any offense going. Santana works fast and you don't get many opportunities against him," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We've been struggling offensively."

Reyes doubled leading off the game, moved to third on Luis Castillo's bunt single and scored when Blake DeWitt missed Russell Martin's throw to second on Castillo's steal attempt.

Davis crushed Padilla's 53-m.p.h. curve in the second to make it 2-0, though the Mets left a pair of runners in scoring position when Castillo grounded out to short. It was a close play at first, and New York manager Jerry Manuel was ejected by first base umpire Doug Eddings for arguing the call.

Santana used several terrific fielding plays behind him to maintain the lead early on, as Bay made a running catch while slamming into the left-field fence in the second, and Angel Pagan and Carlos Beltran each pulled off sliding grabs in the outfield a little later.

LA got its only run in the fifth, as Martin doubled leading off, advanced 90 feet on a groundout and scored on Jamey Carroll's sac fly.

The visitors pulled away in the eighth against the Dodgers' bullpen. James McDonald relieved Jeff Weaver after a pair of walks and yielded a sacrifice fly to David Wright for a 3-1 game. An intentional walk to Beltran was followed by Jack Taschner putting Davis on with another walk to load the bases.

Yet another pitching change saw Travis Schlichting come in to face Bay, who laced a liner to the right-field gap to clear the bags and send the Mets to a much-needed win.

"I felt I had good at-bats tonight, and it was nice to get good results in the eighth inning," recalled Bay. "That was big in a lot of ways."

Game Notes

Before the game, New York designated pitcher Fernando Nieve for assignment and recalled pitcher Manny Acosta from Triple-A Buffalo...Santana has been victorious in all four career starts against LA...Bobby Parnell and Francisco Rodriguez each threw a scoreless inning of relief for the Mets...Padilla was 3-0 with a 0.98 earned run average in his previous four starts coming in...Casey Blake had two of the Dodgers' five hits...The Mets had lost 10 of 14 games in Hollywood since the 2007 season.

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MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds

With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.

Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season.  Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money. 

This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy.  A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.

Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:

Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame)
Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma)
Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State)
Michael Bush (RB, Louisville)
Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia)
Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville)
Chris Leak (QB, Florida)
Mike Hart (RB, Michigan)
Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State)
Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame)
Drew Tate (QB, Iowa)
Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)
Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn)
Chad Henne (QB, Michigan)
Kyle Wright (QB, Miami)
Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State)
Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama)
JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU)
Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State)
Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina)
Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech)		 5-2
7-2
7-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
18-1
18-1
20-1
30-1
35-1
35-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1

For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.