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06/11/2007 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Byrnes went 3-for-5 with a double as Arizona avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-1 victory over Boston at Chase Field.
Veteran left-hander Randy Johnson started on the mound for Arizona and gave up just one run on four hits while striking out nine and walking three in six frames. Johnson (4-2) now has four victories in his last five starts.
"To get alot of strikeouts early in the game, your pitch total adds up really quick," Johnson said. "As the game got a little deeper, the fourth, fifth inning, I got a few more ground balls. The first couple of innings you set the tone, and kind of get in the groove of things."
Chris Young, Stephen Drew and Carlos Quentin each knocked in a run for the Diamondbacks, who ended a three-game slide.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-5) started for Boston and went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits. The rookie right-hander also fanned nine and walked four in the loss.
"He (Matsuzaka) pitched his heart out, they made him work," said Boston manager Terry Francona. "I thought we made Randy (Johnson) work."
Mike Lowell knocked in the lone run for the Red Sox, who were looking to win their four straight contest.
After three scoreless innings, the Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the fourth after Lowell doubled home Manny Ramirez, who walked to lead off the frame.
It was all Arizona the rest of the way as the D-Backs answered in the home half of the fourth and tied things at 1-1 after Drew's run-scoring single to center plated Orlando Hudson.
The score remained tied until the sixth, when Arizona went up 2-1 after Quentin doubled home Conor Jackson, who drew a walk to start the inning.
In the eighth, the Diamondbacks tacked on three more runs to take a four-run lead. Jackson singled to start things and Drew walked off Javier Lopez. Mike Timlin then entered the contest and Quentin laid down a bunt. On the play, Timlin's throw to first sailed over Kevin Youkilis' head allowing two runs to cross the plate. With two outs, Arizona made it 5-1 after Young's RBI single.
Game Notes
Drew has 26 RBI on the season while Quentin and Young each have 23...Arizona finished with seven hits while Boston ended with six...Matsuzaka has lost his last three starts...The Red Sox committed three errors...Both clubs left 10 runners on base.
<< Glaus leads Blue Jays over Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Glaus had three hits, including a pair
of solo homers, and scored three runs as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the
Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-5.
John McDonald went 3-for-4 with two RBI and scored a pai
<< Gordon reigns supreme at Pocono
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Letarte made the right calls and got
Jeff Gordon out front when the rains came to capture Sunday's rain-delayed
Pocono 500 at the Pocono Raceway. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
crossed
<< Mets' activate Green
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets activated outfielder Shawn
Green from the 15-day disabled list following Sunday's 15-7 setback to the
Detroit Tigers.
Green has been out since suffering a chip fracture on the base o
<< Dynamo win 3rd straight as Crew remain winless in six
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A little over a week ago, Major League
Soccer's defending cup holder, Houston, looked like it was heading for a rough
stretch. The Dynamo were preparing for a three-games-in-eight-days stretch
after
Braves top Cubs; Lilly ejected in first inning >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ted Lilly was tossed in the first inning for
plunking Edgar Renteria and, though the Chicago bullpen pitched well for the
first seven innings, everything fell apart for Ryan Dempster in the eighth, as
the At
Jenkins lifts Brewers past Rangers in extra innings >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoff Jenkins belted a three-run homer in the
12th, and the Milwaukee Brewers topped the Texas Rangers, 9-6, in the finale
of a three-game set.
Prince Fielder ripped his NL-leading 23rd home run, and Cra
San Lorenzo bags Clausura title >>
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Lorenzo captured its first
league title since 2001 with a 4-2 win against Arsenal at Pedro Bidegain on
Sunday.
Second-placed Boca Juniors earned a 1-0 victory over Belgrano earlier in
Phillies welcome White Sox in Thome's return to Philly >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome makes his return to Philadelphia this evening and
will lead the Chicago White Sox in the first of three interleague games
against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Thome signed a big free agent contract with th
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
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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