Mets turn to rookie in hopes of besting Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jenrry Mejia makes his first major league start this afternoon, when the New York Mets continue their three-game series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The 20-year-old right-hander made the Mets with a terrific spring and was used in relief before being sent to Double-A in late June to stretch him out to become a starter. He was 0-2 with a 3.25 earned run average in 30 appearances with the big-league team.

"It helped me," Mejia said of his time in the bullpen with the Mets. "Now I know I can pitch here."

Mejia excelled at Double-A Binghamton after being sent down, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in six starts. In his first Triple-A start for Buffalo, Mejia gave up a run in eight innings on Monday.

He faced the Cubs twice earlier in the season, tossing two scoreless innings.

The Cubs drew first blood in this series on Friday, as Blake DeWitt's three- run homer in the sixth provided the difference in Chicago's 7-6 victory.

DeWitt hit his fourth home run in just 30 games with Chicago since a midseason trade with the Dodgers, and the Cubs improved to 7-3 under interim manager Mike Quade. Alfonso Soriano also hit a three-run shot in the victory, while Xavier Nady went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Chicago's Randy Wells allowed four runs, eight hits and four walks in the start, and James Russell (1-1) earned the win for retiring the only batter he faced. Carlos Marmol ended up with his 26th save of the season.

David Wright hit a solo homer among three hits and drove in three runs for the Mets, while Luis Hernandez hit his first home run with the team. That still wasn't enough to prevent New York from falling for the fourth time in five games.

Mets starter R.A. Dickey (9-6) squandered an opportunity to set a new career- high in wins after giving up a season-worst seven runs on eight hits and a walk in six frames.

Today Chicago will hand the ball to volatile righty Carlos Zambrano, who has won his last three decisions. Zambrano won his second straight start Monday against Pittsburgh, which managed just an unearned run and four hits in 5 1/3 frames off him.

The three-time All-Star is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in five starts since returning to the rotation following anger management classes.

Zambrano lost to the Mets earlier in the year and is 4-3 lifetime against them with a 3.63 ERA in 11 games, 10 of which have been starts

The Mets won three of four meetings with the Cubs in a series held in New York back in April.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.