Jimenez wins 18th as Rockies double-up Reds
Baseball Betting Lines
09/06/2010 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Tulowitzki hit the go-ahead home run and Ubaldo Jimenez finally picked up his long-awaited 18th win of the season as Colorado outlasted Cincinnati, 10-5, to begin a crucial four-game series at Coors Field.
Jimenez (18-6) became the Rockies' all-time single season wins leader after five prior aborted attempts. He struggled through six innings during which he yielded four runs on seven hits and six walks while striking out eight for the Rockies, who climbed to within four games of division-leading San Diego in the NL West and 4 1/2 games of NL Wild Card pace-setters Philadelphia.
Tulowitzki finished 2-for-5 with three RBI, while the red-hot Carlos Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with two RBI to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games for Colorado, which won its major league-leading 30th day game.
Bill Bray (0-2) took the loss after surrendering three runs on two hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings in relief for the Reds, who have dropped three of four and saw their lead in the NL Central trimmed to six games after St. Louis downed Milwaukee earlier in the day.
Cincinnati sent 10 men to the plate and manufactured the first four runs of the game in the third.
Drew Stubbs walked, advanced to third on a Paul Janish ground-rule double and scored on a Brandon Phillips groundout. Janish then scored on Chris Heisey's two-out bunt base hit to third.
Joey Votto followed with another ground-rule double in front of Jonny Gomes, who flared a single into right to chase home Heisey and Votto.
Colorado came right back in the bottom half to get the game tied with a four- spot of its own.
The rally started with a walk to Jimenez that was followed by Eric Young's double and a walk to Dexter Fowler that loaded the bases with one out.
Gonzalez followed with a double to right to deliver two runs and Tulowitzki then tripled to center to chase home two more runs to level the count. Todd Helton walked to spell the end of the day for Aaron Harang. Jordan Smith came in and got Melvin Mora to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Harang was charged with four runs on four hits and three walks over just 2 1/3 innings in his shortest start of the season.
The Reds wasted an opportunity to retake the lead in the fifth as they had runners at the corners with nobody out and did not score. Jimenez struck out Stubbs, got Janish to pop out and fanned pinch-hitter Yonder Alonso.
Bray opened the fifth on the hill for the visitors and served up a two-out solo shot to Tulowitzki that gave the Rockies their first lead at 5-4.
The visitors threatened again in the sixth as they loaded the bases with two outs before Jimenez got Ramon Hernandez to ground out with his 123rd and final pitch of the afternoon.
Colorado expanded its lead in the bottom of the inning with three runs.
Aroldis Chapman assumed the hill with runners at first and second and two outs and gave up an RBI single to Eric Young, Jr. Fowler legged out an infield hit that was fielded by a sprawling Janish at short, who threw from his back wildly past second base, allowing Chris Nelson to score to make it a 7-4 contest.
An infield hit by Gonzalez loaded the bases and a passed ball by catcher Ryan Hanigan, who had entered the game with Chapman as part of a double switch, scored Young to make it an 8-4 game.
The hosts tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh against Carlos Fisher on an RBI double by Miguel Olivo and a pinch-hit RBI single by Ryan Spilborghs.
The Reds got a run back in the eighth on a two-out, run-producing hit by Juan Francisco.
Game Notes
Gonzalez has 10 multi-hit games, including in five of his last six, during his hitting streak. He has an extra-base hit in 12 of those games and has driven in a run in 10 of them...Jimenez has a league-leading 11 wins during the day. He improved to 8-1 at home this season and to 3-0 in five career starts versus the Reds...Colorado has won seven straight home games over Cincinnati...Heisey has hit safely in seven of his last eight...Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez was scheduled to make his second start for low class-A Dayton Monday afternoon and is expected to rejoin the team later this week.
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
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