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08/29/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cole Hamels pitched eight shutout innings, and the Philadelphia Phillies swept the San Diego Padres in three games with a 5-0 victory at Petco Park.
Hamels (8-10) recorded his first win since July 11 despite pitching very well in the interim. The lefty, who has a 2.46 ERA in his last nine starts, finally earned the win in one of them after allowing just four hits while fanning six without walking a batter.
Mike Sweeney hit a two-run homer -- his first with the club -- for the Phillies, who maintained their two-game deficit in the NL East after Atlanta rallied for a 7-6 win over Florida earlier Sunday. They maintained their 1 1/2-game lead in the wild card race over San Francisco, which beat Arizona.
Jayson Werth added a solo shot.
Adrian Gonzalez had three of San Diego's five hits, as the Padres suffered their fourth straight loss -- a season-worst. The Padres, who have the best record in the NL, were swept in a series for only the second time this season.
Clayton Richard (12-6) lost for the first time since July 22 -- a string of six starts and five wins -- after giving up four runs -- two earned -- on four hits and one walk while fanning five in 7 2/3 frames. San Diego was hampered by a season-high four errors.
The Padres' lead in the NL West still stands at a sizeable 5 1/2 games over the Giants.
The Phillies' first seven batters were retired, but the visitors managed a run in the third.
Carlos Ruiz reached on an infield single and moved to second when Richard's pickoff attempt bounced past first base. He went to third on Hamels' groundout and came around to score on Jimmy Rollins' base hit to right.
In the seventh, Werth worked a two-out walk, and Sweeney followed him with a bullet down the left-field line for a two-run homer and a 3-0 advantage.
Philadelphia padded its lead in the eighth when Ruiz singled leading off, moved to second when Hamels reached on an error and scored on Ryan Ludwick's throwing error after a spectacular diving catch in right.
Hamels, who labored through the first two innings -- needing 50 pitches, settled down to shut down the Padres' offense. After allowing a two-out single to Gonzalez in the third, the lefty retired the final 16 batters he faced, using only 65 pitches to finish the final six innings of his outing.
Werth's ninth-inning solo shot accounted for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Phillies have won seven straight in San Diego and won the season series, 5-2...The Padres had won on each of their last 10 Sunday games...Philadelphia has won 10 of its last 11 day games...The Phillies scored more than three runs for the first time since last Sunday against Washington. They had scored three or fewer in six straight contests...San Diego's Chris Denorfia (back) was scratched from the lineup...In this series, Phillies starters went 22 innings and allowed just two runs, an ERA of 0.82...The Padres suffered their first four-game losing streak since August 13-16, 2009.
<< O's record first-ever season sweep of Angels
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Guthrie came within two outs of his
first career shutout and Matt Wieters knocked in the lone run with a sacrifice
fly in the seventh inning, as Baltimore posted a 1-0 victory to complete its
first-e
<< Said nips Papis for Montreal Nationwide win
Montreal, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boris Said finally became a first-time
winner in one of NASCAR's national touring series after he edged Max Papis by
inches at the finish line in Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 200 Nationwide Series
race at
<< Uihlein wins U.S. Amateur Championship
University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Uihlein defeated David Chung, 4
& 2 on Sunday to win the 110th U.S. Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay.
It will be a happy 21st birthday for the Oklahoma State University star.
"I hope
<< Blue Jays to shut down Morrow after next start
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brandon Morrow will
be shut down for the season following his next start on September 3 against
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The right-hander is 10-6 with a 4.27 earned run average
Raburn's homers and Porcello's pitching help Tigers pound Jays >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Porcello spun seven solid innings and Ryan
Raburn belted two home runs, finishing with four RBI, as the Detroit Tigers
pounded Toronto, 10-4, to salvage a split of a four-game series at Rogers
Centre.
Sanchez, Giants rally past Diamondbacks >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddy Sanchez had three hits, knocked
in two runs and scored a run to push San Francisco past Arizona, 9-7, in a
back and forth affair in the last of a three-game set.
Andres Torres added two h
Red Sox claim Napoli off waivers >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have claimed Angels catcher/
infielder Mike Napoli off waivers.
Napoli, who has spent his entire five-year career with Los Angeles, was not in
the Angels' starting lineup for Sunday's game ag
Farrior leaves game with head laceration >>
DENVER (AP) - Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior has left the Steelers' game at Denver after suffering a head laceration.Farrior's helmet went flying when he helped stuff running back LenDale White for no gain on second-and-goal at the 2 early in t
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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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.
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