Raburn, Tigers use three-run 16th to edge Twins
Baseball Betting Lines
07/04/2009 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Raburn's RBI single in the 16th proved to be the game-winner as the Detroit Tigers took an 11-9 win over the Minnesota Twins in a 16-inning contest to open a three-get set at the Metrodome.
Placido Polanco went 3-for-8 with three RBI and two runs scored and Marcus Thames had a two-run home run in the win for the Tigers, who had dropped four of six coming into the game.
Lucas French threw 4 2/3 innings in the start for Detroit and was charged with two runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Freddy Dolsi (1-0) got the win for throwing three innings and giving up two runs -- one earned -- on four hits.
"It was an exciting game, obviously," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "Two really good teams going at it bunched up at the top of the division. Give them a lot of credit (for) battling back, being down like they were. It wasn't the best of games, but we won it, and there was a lot of good things in the game and some bad things."
Denard Span went 5-for-8 with two RBI and a run scored while Joe Crede and Delmon Young each hit a solo home run in the loss for the Twins, who had won three of four coming into the game.
Kevin Slowey started on the mound for Minnesota, but was pulled after just three innings as he was tagged for six runs on five hits. R.A. Dickey (1-1) was tagged with the loss as he gave up four runs on nine hits over three innings of work.
"I think more than anything it's concerning because it's in my right wrist," Slowey, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list following the game with a strained right wrist, said. "It's in a pretty significant area, and we'll look at it Monday and go from that. It was something that affected how I held onto the ball. It was very uncomfortable."
In the top of the 16th with one out, Ramon Santiago singled and Curtis Granderson followed with a double. Polanco then put the Tigers ahead with an RBI and, after Miguel Cabrera fouled out, Raburn singled to right for a two- run lead. Magglio Ordonez then singled to center to score Polanco for an 11-8 lead.
The Twins got a run in the bottom of the frame on a RBI groundout off the bat of Michael Cuddyer, but that was the second out of the inning and Crede grounded out to end the game.
Detroit jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run triple by Josh Anderson followed by a sacrifice fly from Gerald Laird.
The Tigers tacked on three more runs in the third inning. Granderson led off with a single and came around home on a double by Polanco. Thames later smacked a pitch over the left field wall for a 6-0 lead.
Minnesota got a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single from Justin Morneau, but Detroit got it back in the fourth on a solo home run off the bat of Laird.
Young made it a 7-2 game in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a solo home run, his third of the year.
In the sixth, the Twins rallied in to tie the game. Crede started the inning by launching a pitch over the wall in left. With men on first and second, Span legged out a triple and then came home when Brendan Harris followed with a triple.
After Fu-Te Ni took the mound, a sacrifice fly off the bat of Joe Mauer made it a 7-7 game.
In the top of the 14th, Laird led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Santiago. After Granderson flied out, Polanco laced a single up the middle to give Detroit a one-run lead.
However, the Twins didn't go quitely in the bottom of the frame as back-to- back singles from Joe Mauer and Morneau to start the frame was followed by a single from Michael Cuddyer that went off the glove of third baseman Brandon Inge to tie the game. On the play, Morneau was thrown out at third and Dolsi retired the final two batters to keep the game going.
Game Notes
This was the longest game of the season for both teams...Despite the loss, Minnesota still leads the season-series, 4-2...There was a total of 35 hits in the game...Detroit left 10 men on base while Minnesota stranded 12...To replace Slowey in the rotation, the team recalled pitcher Anthony Swarzak from Triple-A Rochester.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
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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