Cabrera, Infante hit back-to-back HRs as Braves top Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

07/09/2010 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melky Cabrera and Omar Infante clubbed back- to-back home runs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets, 4-2, in the opener of a critical three- game series at Citi Field.

With the score even at two, Cabrera hit the first pitch he saw from Mets starter R.A. Dickey (6-2) over the right-field wall. The right-hander's first pitch to Infante was in there for a called strike, but the next offering wound up bouncing off the top of the towering wall in left field.

Atlanta reliever Takashi Saito escaped a jam in the eighth and Billy Wagner pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save of the season.

Infante finished with four hits for the National League East-leading Braves, who are four games ahead of the second-place Mets.

The Braves picked up a run in the first when New York shortstop Jose Reyes failed to turn a routine force play that would have ended the inning. Cabrera and Infante hit consecutive one-out singles. After a Brian McCann fly out left men on the corners, Troy Glaus hit a grounder that Reyes mishandled, producing the game's first run.

New York tied the game in the third. Dickey led off with a single, then the speedy Angel Pagan reached on a bunt base hit. Dickey advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Reyes and came home on a David Wright sac fly to the warning track in right.

The clubs traded runs in the fifth inning. Infante stroked a two-out single and McCann drew a walk before Glaus singled to right-center, driving in Infante with the go-ahead run. McCann was thrown out by Jeff Francoeur trying to advance to third.

The knuckleballer started a rally with a one-out single in the bottom of the frame, taking second base on a wild pitch. Atlanta starter Tommy Hanson struck out Pagan, but Reyes hit a line drive over left fielder Eric Hinske's head for an RBI double, knotting the game at two.

An opportunity to seize the lead was squandered by the Mets in the sixth. Atlanta shortstop Yunel Escobar let an Ike Davis pop-up fall for a leadoff double. Jason Bay walked and Josh Thole dropped down a bunt, but Davis was erased on the play. After Francoeur grounded out, putting runners on second and third, Eric O'Flaherty (3-1) replaced Hanson and induced a 4-3 groundout from pinch-hitter Jesus Feliciano to end the threat.

Saito threw two wild pitches in the eighth inning, allowing Davis to take third with two outs. Thole walked, but Francoeur lined out to finish the inning.

Game Notes

Infante recorded his second four-hit game of the season...Dickey had allowed just two home runs all year...Hanson and Dickey both had six strikeouts...Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones was a late scratch because of back spasms...The Mets optioned right-handed reliever Ryota Igarashi to St. Lucie of the Florida State League and recalled infielder/outfielder Nick Evans from Double-A Binghamton.

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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

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