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Garza gets Rays' first no-hitter by blanking TigersBaseball Betting Lines07/26/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history in a 5-0 win over Detroit in the opener of a four-game set at Tropicana Field. Garza (11-5) walked one, struck out six and faced the minimum 27 hitters for the Rays, who have won three in a row and four out of five. Brennan Boesch was the only baserunner for Detroit and was erased on an inning-ending double play grounder in the second inning. Tampa Bay was the victim of a no-hitter twice earlier this season at the hands of Oakland's Dallas Braden, who tossed a perfect game on May 9, and Arizona's Edwin Jackson, who needed 149 pitches to finish the job on June 25. In fact, the Rays have been no-hit three times since last season with the White Sox' Mark Buehrle turning the trick in another perfect game July 23, 2009. The New York Mets and San Diego Padres are now the only major league teams not have not thrown a no-hitter. Matt Joyce hit a two-out grand slam in the sixth inning to break up dueling no-hitters and Carl Crawford added a solo shot in the eighth. Max Scherzer (7-8) had kept the Rays hitless until Joyce's decisive blow and wound up taking the loss after allowing four runs -- three earned -- on two hits and four walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings for the Tigers, who have dropped three out of four. Garza threw 120 pitches to etch his name in the record books and throw the fifth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. It's the first time since 1991 that at least five no-hitters have been thrown in a single season. He set down Miguel Cabrera on a line drive to left to open the eighth and then retired Boesch on a called third strike and got Ryan Raburn on a swinging third strike to end the frame. The right-hander set down Don Kelly on a ground ball to second to open the ninth and then got Gerald Laird on a called third strike to reach the brink of history. He completed the no-hitter by retiring pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago on a fly ball to shallow right field. The Rays then mobbed their teammate, who had been 0-4 in six previous starts against the Tigers. Ben Zobrist started the winning rally in the sixth with a one-out walk and moved up when Crawford reached on catcher's interference. Evan Longoria walked to load the bases for Carlos Pena, who struck out. Joyce then broke up Scherzer's no-hit bid with a grand slam off the right field foul pole on a 3-2 pitch. He had hooked the prior pitch foul down the right field line. Jason Bartlett followed with a single to center field that chased the Tigers' young right-hander from the game. Brad Thomas came on and retired Reid Brignac to end the inning. Crawford's homered in the eighth off Enrique Gonzalez. Game Notes Garza has won his last four decisions...Tampa Bay is 17-8 against the AL Central this year...Joyce's grand slam was his second of the year and of his career. Detroit skipper Jim Leyland was thrown out of the game after B.J. Upton stole second base the third when he appeared to have been tagged out before arriving at the bag...Scherzer is 0-6 in his last eight road starts and has won only once away from home all season, April 18 in Seattle...Austin Jackson had a 10-game hit streak snapped, while Santiago and Cabrera lost seven-game hit strings.
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Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer and Aaron Hill added a two-run shot and knocked in three, as the Toronto Blue Jays earned a 9-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the first of a three-game set at Roge
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Horse Betting(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. Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence Work left to do: Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8. Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday. DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ... West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule. Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games. For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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