Ramirez homer lifts Rangers over Astros; Chacon attacks GM
Baseball Betting Lines
06/26/2008 -
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Ramirez collected the first two hits of
his major league career -- including a go-ahead two-run home run -- as the
Texas Rangers edged the Houston Astros, 3-2, in the second of a three-game
series at Minute Maid Park.
Ian Kinsler went 2-for-4 with a triple and run scored for the Rangers,
winners in three of their last four. Frank Catalanotto also had a pair of
hits and scored a run, while Ramon Vazquez knocked in the other Texas run.
Luis Mendoza (1-2) tossed three scoreless innings to earn the win in relief of
Scott Feldman, who allowed two runs on six hits in four innings and was lifted
after 99 pitches. C.J. Wilson survived a rocky ninth for his 16th save.
The Rangers were without star slugger Josh Hamilton, who got the night off
with left knee inflammation.
Michael Bourn's two-run blast provided the scoring for the Astros, who had a
two-game win streak snapped and fell for the 10th time in 13 games. Roy Oswalt
(6-8) tossed seven strong innings -- allowing three runs on seven hits -- but
dropped the decision.
The loss capped a turbulent day for the Astros franchise. Earlier Wednesday,
the club suspended pitcher Shawn Chacon indefinitely after a physical
confrontation with general manager Ed Wade.
"We have suspended Shawn Chacon, pending final resolution of whatever ruling
we end up making," Wade said. However, Wade would not comment further on the
nature of the incident.
"I'm not getting into any details," he said.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Chacon, who was recently demoted to the
bullpen, exploded in the clubhouse before the game and had to be pulled away
from Wade by several teammates.
"I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, 'you need to
come with me to the office,'" Chacon said to the Chronicle. "I said 'for
what?' I said 'I dont want to go to the office with you and (Astros manager
Cecil) Cooper.' And I said 'You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right
here.' Hes like, 'oh, you want me to tell you right here?' And I said,
'yeah.' Im not yelling. Im calm."
According to Chacon, the confronatation turned physical soon afterward.
"He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said to the Chronicle. "I'm sitting
there and I said to him very calmly, 'Ed, you need to stop yelling at me.'
Then I stood up and said 'you better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He
continued and was basically yelling and stuff and was like, 'You need to
(expletive) look in the mirror.' So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed
him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him because at
that point I wanted to beat his (butt). Words were exchanged."
According the Chronicle, reserve outfielder Reggie Abercrombie stepped in to
pull Chacon away.
"Nobody in here is thrilled that it happened," said Astros first baseman Lance
Berkman. "But, you know, this is a sport of high emotion and sometimes things
happen that organizations wish wouldn't. And that's why there's vehicles like
suspending a player to deal with those situations."
The incident overshadowed a disappointing performance from the Astros, who had
rebounded from their eight-game losing streak with wins in three of their last
four games.
Down 2-1, Ramirez's two-out homer for turned the tide for the Rangers in the
fourth. Catalanotto singled, and Ramirez followed with a mammoth blast to
left-center for a 3-2 Texas lead.
Mendoza held the Astros in check until the eighth, when Carlos Lee slashed a
one-out double to left off Eddie Guardado. Hunter Pence hit a liner to first
that Catalanotto snagged with a diving stab, then tossed to second to double
off pinch-runner Abercrombie and end the inning.
Wigginton greeted Wilson with a double to right-center to open the bottom of
the ninth. Wilson retired the next two batters, but walked Bourn to put the
winning run on base, and the Astros loaded the bases when Vazquez couldn't
handle Mark Loretta's grounder to third. Unfortunately, the Astros couldn't
convert as Loretta was forced out on Miguel Tejada's grounder to short.
Texas picked up a quick run on Oswalt in the first, as Kinsler led off the
game with a triple, then trotted home on Vazquez's sacrifice fly.
But, the Astros countered with a two-out burst in the home second. Oswalt
singled, and Bourn followed with his fourth homer of the year, a blast to
right.
Game Notes
Ramirez preceded his homer with his first big league hit, a single in the
second inning...The Astros were a dismal 0-for-12 with runners in scoring
position and stranded 10 men on base...Houston sends Wandy Rodriguez (2-3)
to the hill in Thursday's rubber match against Kevin Millwood (5-3).
<< Zito finally posts interleague win as Giants top Tribe
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Zito put together his best and
longest outing of the season, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-1
victory over the Cleveland Indians in the middle contest of a three-game
interle
<< Cinderella in cleats: Fresno State wins College World Series
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Detwiler went 4-for-4, including a pair of
homers, and drove in all the runs for Fresno State, which won its first
College World Series championship with a 6-1 victory over Georgia.
Georgia used an
<< Rays batter Fish for 15 runs in romp
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Crawford homered twice and drove in five
runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays scored 10 runs in the fifth inning en route to a
15-3 decimation of the Florida Marlins in the middle contest of their three-
game se
<< Soto carries Cubs past O's
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geovany Soto was 2-for-3 with three runs batted
in, as the Chicago Cubs took advantage of a patchwork Baltimore pitching
performance with a 7-4 victory at Wrigley Field.
Jim Edmonds homered and drove in
<< Royals sweep Rockies to continue interleague success
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ross Gload had two doubles, two runs batted
in and scored as the streaking Kansas City Royals completed a three-game sweep
of the Colorado Rockies with a 4-2 victory.
David DeJesus and Alex Gordon each h
Confrontation with GM leads to suspension for Astros' Chacon >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have suspended pitcher
Shawn Chacon indefinitely for insubordination to the team, general manager Ed
Wade announced on Wednesday.
"We have suspended Shawn Chacon, pending final resol
Stults, Dodgers blank White Sox >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Stults tossed his first career
shutout, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox, 5-0, in
the middle installment of a three-game interleague set at Chavez Ravine.
Stults (2
Twins keep on rolling with drubbing of Pads >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brendan Harris and Craig Monroe clubbed two-
run homers, and the Minnesota Twins got to Greg Maddux to post their eighth
straight victory, 9-3, over the San Diego Padres.
Carlos Gomez had three hits, incl
Kendrick dazzles A's; Phils snap six-game losing streak >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Kendrick tossed eight shutout innings,
as Philadelphia snapped its longest losing streak of the season with a 4-0 win
over Oakland, in the middle installment of a three-game interleague series.
Kendric
Sheff cooks up a Detroit victory over St. Louis >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gary Sheffield had four hits, including the
winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning, boosting the Detroit Tigers
to an 8-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in a game delayed nearly 2 1/2
hours b
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship
(September 15, 2007)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship.
One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.
MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting odds on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs.
|
