Thome powers White Sox to victory over Tigers
Baseball Betting Lines
08/07/2008 -
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome hit a three-run home run and John
Danks threw six-plus solid innings, as the Chicago White Sox topped Detroit,
5-1, in the second of three games with the Tigers.
Danks (9-4) gave up just one run on four hits and one walk in 6 2/3 frames,
while fanning six, to pick up the win. He has now won six straight decisions,
and has not lost since a May 24 start against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Alexei Ramirez singled and drove in a pair of runs for the White Sox, who have
won two in a row and maintained their one-game lead over Minnesota -- which
beat Seattle on Wednesday -- atop the AL Central.
Justin Verlander (8-12) took the loss after surrendering five runs on six hits
in 7 2/3 innings, with three walks and eight strikeouts. He has lost his last
three starts after winning four consecutive outings.
Gary Sheffield singled, walked and drove in the lone run for the Tigers, who
have lost six in a row and fell 8 1/2 games behind the White Sox.
Thome put Chicago on the scoreboard in the first inning. Nick Swisher walked
and Carlos Quentin singled with one out. Jermaine Dye grounded into a
fielder's choice, and Thome followed by ripping a pitch that tailed to the
outside of the plate over the left field wall for a 3-0 White Sox lead.
Verlander and Danks each settled in, though, and neither team advanced a
runner past second base from the second through sixth innings. In the top of
the seventh, though, Danks got into some trouble.
Magglio Ordonez hit a one-out double, and two batters later Sheffield singled
to center to plate the run. D.J. Carrasco entered in relief and got Marcus
Thames to ground out to get out of the inning.
In the home eighth, the White Sox added a pair of insurance runs. Dye hit a
ground-rule double with two outs, and Verlander intentionally walked Thome.
Paul Konerko worked a walk to load the bases, which prompted Aquilino Lopez to
come on in relief.
Ramirez then slapped a single into right field to bring in two runs, but was
caught in a rundown to end the threat. Bobby Jenks finished the game by
throwing a scoreless ninth.
Game Notes
Konerko finished with one hit -- a first-inning single, his 1500th career
hit...Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen was not in the dugout for Wednesday's
game, as he served the second game of a two-game suspension following a bench-
clearing incident in Sunday's game with Kansas City...Detroit's Zach Miner
(5-4) and Chicago's Javier Vazquez (8-9) are scheduled to start Thursday's
series finale.
<< Marcum, Barajas lead Blue Jays over struggling A's
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shaun Marcum had a no-hitter through five
innings and Rod Barajas hit a three-run home run, as the Toronto Blue Jays
topped the struggling Oakland Athletics, 5-1, in the third contest of a four-
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Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees catcher Ivan Rodriguez left
Wednesday's 5-3 victory over Texas after a collision at home plate with
the Rangers' David Murphy.
Rodriguez's injury is listed as a bruised right knee.
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Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder David Murphy
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his right knee after a collision at home plate with New York catcher Ivan
Rodrigu
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Ryan Ludwick
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outrighted infielder Ryan Roberts to Triple-A Oklahoma.
Benoit was placed on the d
Ponson pitches Yanks to win over Rangers >>
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Report: Favre traded to Jets >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers reportedly traded
quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets late Wednesday night.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette cited an NFL source as confirmation for the trade,
and it said
Rockies/Nationals game postponed >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wednesday's game between the Colorado Rockies
and Washington Nationals was postponed because of rain.
The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday, with the first game scheduled
for 3:05 p.m. (et). The se
Rockies reinstate Francis from DL >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis was
activated from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old lefty had been sidelined for over a month with inflammation in
his left shoulder. He w
Youkilis leaves game with injured hand >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin
Youkilis left in the first inning of Wednesday's game against the Kansas City
Royals with a right hand injury after being hit by a pitch.
The injury is listed a
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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