Red Sox power past Blue Jays

Baseball Betting Lines

04/19/2007 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Wakefield worked seven strong innings and the Boston Red Sox homered three times en route to defeating the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-1, in the middle contest of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.

Wakefield (2-1) was masterful in the early going, as he breezed through the first three innings and allowed just one hit through the sixth. He departed after yielding just one run on four hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. All three walks came in the fourth inning.

The veteran knuckleballer lowered his ERA to a sparkling 1.35 in his third consecutive quality start for Boston. Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his third save.

David Ortiz, Doug Mirabelli and Mike Lowell all homered for the Red Sox, who have won four of their last five games. Mirabelli also had an RBI single in the seventh.

Tomo Ohka (0-2) allowed four runs on four hits, with a walk and three strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings for Toronto. The Japanese right-hander was facing the Red Sox for the first time in his career. He began his career with Boston and pitched there from 1999-2001.

John McDonald had the lone RBI for the Blue Jays, who had a two-game winning streak halted.

Boston finally broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth, when Lowell launched a two-out, solo homer over the left field wall to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

Mirabelli's leadoff shot easily cleared the left field wall in the sixth to make it 2-0.

The Red Sox tacked on two more in the seventh, as Ortiz put a 2-0 pitch from Ohka over the left field wall to start the frame. Manny Ramirez grounded out, before J.D. Drew followed with a single, ending Ohka's night, and Mike Lowell greeted relief pitcher Victor Zambrano with a single to right to put runners on first and second with one out.

Coco Crisp grounded into a fielder's choice, sending Drew to third, and Mirabelli followed with a single to plate Drew and make it 4-0. Dustin Pedroia went down swinging to end the rally.

Toronto got one back in the bottom of the frame when Royce Clayton doubled with two outs before scoring on McDonald's single one batter later to cut it to 4-1.

The Jays threatened again in the ninth by putting two on with one out, but Papelbon ended up striking out pinch-hitters Jason Smith and Adam Lind to end the game.

Game Notes

The Red Sox and Blue Jays play 17 more times this season, eight at Rogers Centre and nine at Fenway Park...Wakefield has faced Toronto 41 times in his career, 31 of which have been starts. Last year he was 0-1 against them and is 13-8 lifetime...The Blue Jays won 12 of their 19 matchups with the Red Sox last season and are 24-15 against them since the start of 2005...Boston has also won just seven times in its last 21 visits north of the border...They snapped a four-game losing streak against the Jays at Rogers Centre.

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MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines


Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow.  Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season.   Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints.  These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order.  As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS.  The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens.  The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.

MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:

Saints +6 @ Colts -6

Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)

Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)

Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5

Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1

Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3

Patriots -5 @ Jets +5

Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5

Steelers -4 @ Browns +4

Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6

Bears +6 @ Chargers -6

Lions +3 @ Raiders -3

Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5

Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4

Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3

Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3

 Super Bowl line (2008)

NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash 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.