Hamilton, Guerrero power Rangers to wild win over Royals
Baseball Betting Lines
05/07/2010 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero clubbed back-to-back home runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting Texas to a 13-12 win over Kansas City in the opener of a four-game series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Guerrero added a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly for the Rangers, who snapped a two-game skid and won for the seventh time in their last 10 outings. Justin Smoak hit a three-run shot for Texas, while Hamilton finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and four runs scored.
Scott Podsednik blasted a three-run homer and contributed an RBI single for Kansas City, which had erased an 8-0 deficit and taken a 12-11 lead in the top of the eighth off Frank Francisco (4-3) when recent call-up Kila Ka'aihue delivered with a pinch-hit single to score Yuniesky Betancourt.
Kansas City closer Joakim Soria (0-1) entered from the bullpen after Robinson Tejeda retired the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth. Hamilton worked the count full before tying the game with a blast to right field. Guerrero then crushed a Soria offering to right-center.
Neftali Feliz tossed a perfect ninth to earn his seventh save.
Texas starter Matt Harrison gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in five innings. It was a forgettable start for Kansas City's Kyle Davies, who allowed nine runs on nine hits in four-plus innings.
The Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Hamilton ripped an RBI double and crossed the plate on an Ian Kinsler single.
Smoak's homer punctuated a six-run third inning for Texas. Billy Butler's two-run blast put the visitors on the board in fourth. The Royals pulled to within 8-4 in the fifth via a Podsednik RBI single and a Butler sacrifice fly.
Texas got a run back in the home half on David Murphy's double, but the Royals tied the game with five runs in the sixth. Dustin Nippert took over on the mound for Texas and yielded an RBI double to Jason Kendall, who scored on Mitch Maier's base hit. After Betancourt drew a walk, Podsednik launched a pitch over the wall in right, tying the game at 9-9.
Guerrero restored the lead for Texas in the bottom of the frame, but Alberto Callaspo countered with a two-run homer off Chris Ray in the seventh.
Game Notes
Michael Young's single in the fourth inning vaulted him past Rafael Palmeiro (1,692) for sole possession of second place on the Rangers' all-time hit list...Kinsler and Murphy both had three hits...Texas improved to 8-2 in series openers.
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Bergesen pitched 6 2/3 scoreless frames, and Ty Wigginton's two-run homer accounted for all the scoring, as the Baltimore Orioles opened up a four-game set at Target Field with a 2-0 win over th
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Although the
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Sox, 2-0, in the opener of a four-game set at U.S. Cellular Field.
Eveland (3-1) ou
<< Abreu, Haren lead Arizona past struggling Astros
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Abreu finished with four hits and knocked
in a run, while Dan Haren worked nine innings, as Arizona downed Houston, 6-3,
in the finale of a four-game set from Minute Maid Park.
Kelly Johnson homered
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut is reportedly set to give men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a contract extension through the 2013-14 season. According to the Hartford Courant, UConn will hold
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fabulous first period, sparking the Detroit Red Wings to a resounding 7-1 win
over San Jose to stay alive after four games of their Western Conference
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Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Niemann hurled seven scoreless innings and
Carl Crawford clubbed a two-run homer, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated Seattle,
8-0, to complete a three-game sweep at Safeco Field.
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Mr. Clutch: Ethier's ninth-inning slam helps Dodgers avoid sweep >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Ethier belted a game-ending grand
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Milwaukee, 7-3, to avert a three-game sweep.
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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.