D-Backs, Haren hope to sweep Mets out of Arizona

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have lost all of Dan Haren's last six starts and hope that trend ends tonight in the finale of a three-game series versus the New York Mets at Chase Field.

Haren is 0-4 with a 4.58 earned run average in his last six starts and hasn't tasted victory since consecutive wins on June 7 and 12. He previously toed the rubber in last Thursday's 12-1 debacle at San Diego in which he allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings.

The right-hander fell to 7-8 in 20 starts this season to go along with a 4.60 earned run average. Haren will shoot for his second career win over the Mets, as he is 1-0 with a 3.77 ERA in five career matchups (4 starts) with New York.

Arizona has won the first two installments of this series and is coming off last night's 3-2 victory behind rookie starter Barry Enright, who fired eight innings of one-run ball and struck out eight batters. Enright also drove in a run at the plate, while Juan Gutierrez managed to pick up his third save despite giving up a run in the ninth inning.

"I was attacking hitters from the beginning," Enright said. "The first two guys got on, but I never lost that aggressiveness."

Justin Upton hit a solo home run and Gerardo Parra stroked an RBI triple for the Diamondbacks, who posted a 13-2 win Monday to snap a four-game losing streak. The D'Backs are aiming for their first sweep of the Mets since taking all four meetings from Aug. 3-5, 2002. The two teams played a doubleheader in that series.

The Diamondbacks haven't recorded a sweep since winning all three matchups with Houston from Aug. 28-30 of last season.

New York will try to salvage the finale of this series and fell to 1-5 on its 11-game, three-city tour out west. In last night's defeat in the desert, Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey suffered the loss for permitting three runs and seven hits in seven innings.

"When you go out against a team that you feel is inferior to your own and you don't get it done, it's hard," Dickey said on the team's site. "It's sad, because you don't get that many chances to do something special."

Angel Pagan and Josh Thole both homered for the Mets, who have lost eight of 10 games overall and are 4-11 in the last 15 road games. New York has been held to four runs or less in 11 straight games, going 3-8 in that span, and will also visit Los Angeles for four games on the road swing. It is 5-11 in July after going 18-8 in June.

The Mets fell 6 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the National League East lead and will pin pitching duties on Jonathan Niese tonight. Niese will try to stop a two-start losing streak and was 5-0 with a 2.43 earned run average in six appearances before losing back-to-back trips to the hill.

The slide began on July 7 in a 3-1 loss to Cincinnati, as he pitched seven innings of three-run ball with eight K's. Niese then dropped another hard-luck loss in last Thursday's 1-0 defeat at San Francisco, where he permitted the only run of the game through seven frames.

Niese, a left-hander, is 6-4 in 16 starts this season to go along with a 3.44 earned run average. He has never faced the Diamondbacks.

New York and Arizona are meeting for the first time since the Diamondbacks won five of seven meetings a year ago.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

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