Jays complete sweep of O's in grand fashion

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yunel Escobar, in his third game with Toronto, hit his first-career grand slam, as the Blue Jays dominated the Baltimore Orioles, 10-1, to complete a three-game sweep at Camden Yards.

Escobar, who was acquired from the Braves on Wednesday as part of a five- player deal, went 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored for the Blue Jays, who have taken all nine matchups with Baltimore this year. Toronto has won three consecutive series against the O's for the first time since winning four straight series from April 16, 1999 - May 30, 2000.

John Buck had three hits, drove in two runs, and scored once for the Blue Jays, who have homered in a season-high 11 straight games. They lead the majors with 140 home runs.

Shaun Marcum (8-4), who was activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game, gave up one run on nine hits in a five-inning start. The right- hander also fanned four batters and walked zero in the victory.

Adam Jones knocked in the lone run for the Orioles, who came into this series coming off a four-game sweep of the Rangers before the All-Star break.

Brian Matusz (3-10) lasted a career-worst 1 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on five hits to take the loss. Mark Hendrickson gave up three runs on six hits in 4 1/3 frames of relief.

Jones' RBI single in the first inning proved to be Baltimore's only run of the contest.

Toronto exploded for six runs off Matusz in the second. Adam Lind singled and Aaron Hill walked to get things started. After Lyle Overbay struck out, Buck hit an RBI double. Fred Lewis was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Escobar, who blasted a 1-0 offering over the wall in left. Jose Bautista followed with a walk and came around to score on a Vernon Wells double for a 6-1 lead. That signaled the end of Matusz's day, as Hendrickson got Lind to fly out.

Buck's RBI base hit in the third made it a 7-1 game. The Blue Jays added another run during their next at-bat. Singles by Escobar and Wells put runners on the corners with one out. Escobar crossed the plate when Lind grounded into a fielder's choice.

Escobar's run-scoring single in the fifth gave Toronto a 9-1 lead. Edwin Encarnacion added an RBI single in the ninth to account for the final score.

Game Notes

The O's were without outfielder Corey Patterson (left heel)...Marcum improved to 3-2 lifetime against Baltimore...The Orioles went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11...Nick Markakis and Cesar Izturis each had three hits for the O's...Toronto heads to Kansas City for a three-game set starting Monday...The Orioles welcome the Rays to town for three games beginning Monday.

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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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