Padres rally past Dodgers; Ramirez homers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2009 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everth Cabrera went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in, as the San Diego Padres used late rallies to down Los Angeles, 7-4, in the middle installment of a three-game series.

Cabrera, David Eckstein and Adrian Gonzalez -- the Padres' top three hitters -- combined to go 6-for-14 with six runs batted in, helping San Diego snap a three-game losing streak.

Padres starter Josh Geer allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings, while Greg Burke (1-0) took the win after getting the final two outs of the seventh. San Diego scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to take the victory.

Manny Ramirez hit his first home run since returning from his 50-game suspension Friday, when he went 0-for-3 with a walk. The solo shot was the 534th of his career, tying him with Jimmie Foxx for 16th on the career list, but it wasn't enough to help the Dodgers win for the third consecutive game.

After LA starter Randy Wolf gave up one run in six innings, in which he struck out eight, Ronald Belisario (1-3) gave up three runs in the seventh while recording one out. Ramon Troncoso allowed three more runs -- all unearned -- after replacing Belisario.

In a 1-1 game, the Dodgers took the lead in the top of the seventh when Casey Blake scored on Burke's wild pitch.

But the Padres went in front in the home half, which Eliezer Alfonzo began with a walk. Tony Gwynn, Jr. singled to put runners at the corners before Belisario hit Kyle Blanks. Cabrera then smacked a two-run single to right, and Eckstein bunted into a fielder's choice. Gonzalez singled home Cabrera to make it a 4-2 game and chase Belisario. Troncoso came in and got out of the jam.

The Dodgers got a run back in the eighth on Andre Ethier's run-scoring groundout, but San Diego again scored three in the home half. After Alfonzo singled with one away, Gwynn reached on an error by second baseman Juan Castro.

Heath Bell bunted the runners over for Cabrera, whose infield single plated Alfonzo. Gwynn scored on Blake's throwing error, and Cabrera went to third, then scored on Eckstein's single to make it 7-3.

Matt Kemp's RBI single off Bell in the ninth got the Dodgers within three, but the Padres closer kept LA off the scoreboard from there to notch his 23rd save. Bell tossed the final 1 2/3 innings for San Diego.

Ramirez's homer to left in the first inning made it a 1-0 game until Eckstein's RBI single in the third tied the contest.

Game Notes

Alfonzo replaced starting Padres catcher Henry Blanco, who left the game after two innings with a leg injury...The Padres were 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position, while LA was 1-for-7.

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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.

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