Big Hurt's grand slam lifts Toronto over Tampa Bay

Baseball Betting Lines

04/08/2007 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frank Thomas belted his ninth grand slam, moving him into a tie with Al Kaline (1,583) for 32nd on the all-time RBI list, as the Toronto Blue Jays downed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 8-5, to continue a three-game series at Tropicana Field.

Reed Johnson went 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored a run for the Blue Jays, who have split their last four games. Royce Clayton finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Thomas finished 2-for-3.

Carl Crawford and Brendan Harris both homered for Tampa Bay, which trailed the Blue Jays by two runs heading into their last at-bat on Friday, but scored three times off Toronto closer B.J. Ryan in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull out a 6-5 win. Delmon Young finished 2-for-4 and scored a run.

Tomo Ohka, signed by Toronto during the offseason to add needed depth to the team's starting rotation, allowed five runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout in 4 1/3 innings in his regular-season debut. Shaun Marcum (1-0) struck out five batters in 2 1/3 perfect innings for the win. Ryan got the final three outs this time for his second save.

Casey Fossum (0-1), who is looking to rebound from a lackluster 2006 season, the final month of which he missed for shoulder surgery, gave up seven runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 3 2/3 innings.

The Jays got two runs in the first. Johnson got hit by a pitch, moved to third on Lyle Overbay's single, and scored on a Vernon Wells sacrifice fly to center field. Thomas then singled Overbay to third and the first baseman scored as Troy Glaus reached on a force attempt courtesy of an error by B.J. Upton.

Tampa Bay responded with a run in the home half of the first when Crawford belted a solo shot to right field on a full count.

Toronto put up four more runs in the second. Jason Phillips lined a lead-off single, moved to second on a Johnson base hit, and to third as Overbay grounded into a force out. Wells then got hit by a pitch to load the bases for Thomas, who smacked a grand slam over the wall in left field on a 3-1 pitch.

Toronto added another run in the fourth, as Clayton doubled and scored on a double by Johnson.

The Rays rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Young singled, Akinori Iwamura walked, and Dioner Navarro grounded out to move both baserunners into scoring position. Harris then homered to right field, and Upton followed with a walk. Crawford's ground-rule double moved him to third, and Upton scored on a wild pitch by Ohka.

The Jays padded their lead with a run in the ninth when Alex Rios tripled and later scored on a Clayton single for the final margin.

Game Notes

Crawford set a club record with the sixth leadoff homer of his career...Glaus left in the fifth with soreness in his left heel...Tampa Bay stopped a four- game losing streak to the Blue Jays with Friday's triumph...Toronto took 12 of the 18 meetings between the AL East rivals in 2006 and is 13-7 over their last 20 games at Tropicana Field.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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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