Griffey hit game-ending HR as Reds top Pirates
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2008 -
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. blasted a game-winning two-
run shot in the ninth inning for his 603rd career homer, giving the Cincinnati Reds a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in
the opener of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park
Jerry Hairston Jr. homered and doubled in four at-bats while Brandon Phillips
had two singles and a run scored for Cincinnati, which has won three straight.
Francisco Cordero (3-1) was credited with the win after escaping a bases-
loaded jam in the ninth.
Adam LaRoche was 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and a sac fly, accounting for
all three Pittsburgh runs, as the Pirates dropped their second straight and
fourth in their last five games.
Matt Capps (1-3) came on in the ninth, allowing a leadoff double to David Ross
before Griffey connected on his 10th of the season, a line-shot to right-
center, sending the Cincinnati crowd into a frenzy.
Cincy's Aaron Harang held his own through seven frames, surrendering three
runs on seven hits and a walk while fanning eight in the no-decision.
The Bucs' Paul Maholm pitched well over seven innings, allowing two runs on
five hits and two walks while recording five strikeouts. The lefty remained
unbeaten in his last seven starts without a decision.
Pittsburgh notched the game's first run in the second. Ryan Doumit led off
with a double to right-center, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a
sacrifice fly from LaRoche.
Cincy tied it up in the third with a leadoff homer from Hairston, who turned
on a Maholm fastball, driving it into the seats in left.
LaRoche gave Pittsburgh the lead back in the sixth with a two-run homer over
the wall in right-center. Xavier Nady doubled before LaRoche's at-bat.
The Reds cut the lead to one in the bottom half of the sixth. Maholm loaded
the bases on a single, hit batsmen and a walk before Jay Bruce plated a run
with a fielder's choice groundout.
Pittsburgh loaded the bases in the ninth off Cordero with two walks and a hit
batsmen, but failed to get a run across as Doumit grounded out to end the
frame.
Game Notes
Pittsburgh has taken four of seven matchups between the two teams this
season...Tuesday's scheduled starters are Zach Duke (4-5) for Pittsburgh and
Edinson Volquez (10-3) for Cincinnati...The Reds snapped a five-game home
losing streak...Capps blew his fourth save of the season.
<< Rangers use strong bullpen to edge Yankees
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis each knocked in a
run to push the Texas Rangers past the New York Yankees, 2-1, in the opener of
a three-game set.
Michael Young went 3-for-4, including two doubles, for the Rang
<< Jamison staying with Wizards
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forward Antawn Jamison will be staying in
Washington as the two-time All-Star signed a contract extension on Monday.
Reports earlier on Monday had the deal at four years and $50 million.
"Signing Antaw
<< Cool heads prevail as Rays nip Red Sox
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gabe Gross smacked a two-run homer to
help the Tampa Bay Rays down the Boston Red Sox, 5-4, in the opener of a
three-game AL East battle at Tropicana Field.
B.J. Upton hit a solo home run, whil
<< Griffey's late blast leads Reds past Pirates
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. blasted a game-winning two-
run home run in the ninth for his 603rd career four-bagger, giving the
Cincinnati Reds a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh
Pirates
<< Lightning quick: Tampa Bay signs Malone, Prospal, Roberts
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning made a big splash in the
free agent market on Monday, signing forwards Ryan Malone, Vinny Prospal and
Gary Roberts.
Malone's deal is for seventh years and worth an estimated $31.5 mi
Baltimore's Cintron leaves game >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles shortstop Alex Cintron left
Monday's game against the Kansas City Royals in the seventh inning with an
apparent hamstring injury. Baltimore lost the game 6-5.
Cintron pulled up holding
Swisher slams Sox past Tribe >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Swisher hit a grand slam and a solo home
run as the Chicago White Sox clubbed the Cleveland Indians, 9-7, in the opener
of a three-game set.
Jim Thome added a three-run home run while Orlando Cabrera w
Baltimore's Cintron to be evaluated Tuesday >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles shortstop Alex Cintron left
Monday's game against the Kansas City Royals in the seventh inning with an
apparent hamstring injury. Baltimore lost the game 6-5.
Cintron pulled up holding
Royals rally to beat Orioles in 11 >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Olivo's pinch-hit homer off George
Sherrill with two outs in the ninth forced extra innings and Jose Guillen
singled in Mike Aviles in the 11th, as the Kansas City Royals came back from
four ru
Griffey hits game-ending HR as Reds top Pirates >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. blasted a game-winning two-
run shot in the ninth inning for his 603rd career homer, giving the Cincinnati
Reds a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in
the open
Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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