Santana cooks Fish to keep Mets in playoff picture

Baseball Betting Lines

09/27/2008 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the biggest game of the season Johan Santana proved his worth as one of the best pitchers in the game, tossing a three-hit shutout on three days' rest in a 2-0 Mets win over the Florida Marlins, keeping New York's playoff hopes alive.

The Mets entered the day trailing the Brewers by one game for the NL wild card. The win ensured that Sunday's Shea Stadium finale will be meaningful, while the Brewers need to beat the Cubs in Milwaukee on Saturday to stay in front.

New York entered play Saturday trailing Philadelphia by two games for the NL East lead. The Phillies can clinch the division title with a win on Saturday over the Washington Nationals.

Coming off a career-high 125 pitches in a win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Santana (16-7) showed no ill effects on Saturday, fanning nine and walking three on 117 pitches in his sixth career shutout. Jose Reyes singled, stole second, and scored in the first inning, and that was all the offense the Mets needed with Santana on the mound.

Ricky Nolasco (15-8) was the hard-luck loser, as he struck out 10 over seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits with one walk.

Santana pitched on three days' rest for the first time in the regular season in his career. He pitched on three days' rest for the Minnesota Twins in Game 4 of the 2004 AL Division Series against the New York Yankees, allowing one run in five innings in a no-decision, an eventual season-ending 6-5, 11-inning loss for the Twins.

It was a playoff elimination game that brought Santana to the mound on three days' rest in 2004, while on Saturday he toed the rubber for the Mets in must- win regular season game. This time his performance was even better.

Reyes got the Mets started in the first. He singled to center and stole second, and moved to third on Carlos Beltran's line single to right. Carlos Delgado followed with a fly ball to deep center, scoring Reyes for a 1-0 lead.

The Mets plated another run off Nolasco in the fourth. The Marlins pitcher beaned Daniel Murphy with one out and Ramon Martinez came through with a double to right-center, scoring Murphy for a two-run lead.

Santana, meanwhile, was dominant. Florida loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but John Baker lined out to right to end the threat. After that Santana retired 11 straight batters, stretching into the ninth. Josh Willingham doubled off the wall in left with one out, but Dan Uggla struck out, and Cody Ross' fly ball to the warning track in left was snared by Endy Chavez to end the game.

Game Notes

Rain delayed the first pitch 35 minutes...The Mets are 63-20 this season when Reyes scores...Santana has 206 strikeouts on the season, topping 200 for the fifth straight year...Nolasco has walked only seven batters in his last 11 starts.

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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