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07/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In danger of falling out of the race for the American League West crown, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made a big and bold move in acquiring ace pitcher Dan Haren on Sunday.
While it is unknown when Haren can contribute on the field, Los Angeles will hope his acquisition will provide a different kind of lift when the club begins a three-game series versus the Boston Red Sox tonight at Angel Stadium.
Shortly before Sunday's finale of a four-game finale with division-rival Texas, Los Angeles acquired Haren from Arizona for pitcher Joe Saunders and three prospects, one to be named later. Haren gives the Angels a solid 1-2 punch in the rotation along with Jered Weaver, and the move can be viewed as Los Angeles' counter of the Rangers getting former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee.
The Angels, though, dropped a 6-4 decision on the field and lost three of four to the first-place Rangers to fall seven games back of first place. Los Angeles has also lost five of its last seven overall.
"They did what they had to do," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said of Texas. "We came to their house and they held it down."
Hunter and Hideki Matsui each homered in the loss, while Trevor Bell gave up four runs over just 3 1/3 innings in his first start of the season.
Haren, who grew up in California, was scheduled to start on Tuesday for Arizona, but it is unknown when he will make his Angels debut. What is known is that Joel Pineiro will take the hill tonight for Los Angeles and will be looking to rebound after having a string of seven straight winning decisions end last time out.
The 31-year-old righty was beaten by the Yankees on Wednesday, giving up six runs on 11 hits over six innings. Pineiro fell to 10-7 with a 4.18 earned run average on the season, but is an excellent 7-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 11 home starts.
Pineiro lost to the Red Sox, 3-1, on May 5 even though he allowed just two runs over six innings. He fell to 3-6 lifetime versus them with a 5.94 ERA in 11 starts.
Boston will send out a 10-game winner of its own in Clay Buchholz, who makes his second start since returning from a strained left hamstring suffered on June 26.
The right-hander won seven of eight starts before his injury, but was dealt a loss in his return on Wednesday after getting hammered for five runs on six hits and three walks over just four innings of work versus Oakland. Buchholz fell to 10-5 with a 2.81 ERA on the season.
Buchholz, who is 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA in eight road starts this year, recorded a win over the Angels on May 3 despite yielding four runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He got plenty of support in a 17-8 win and is 2-2 with a 6.35 ERA in his career versus Los Angeles.
While the Angels were able to acquire Haren prior to this Saturday's non- waiver trade deadline, the Red Sox are set to get back their prize pickup before last year's deadline, catcher Victor Martinez.
Martinez has been out since suffering a fractured left thumb on June 27 and is hitting .289 with nine homers and 38 RBI in 66 games.
"I actually think he's probably going to be ready," Red Sox manager Terry Francona told his team's website before Sunday's game versus Seattle. "It seems kind of silly to make the decision [Sunday]. He's going to catch some more guys and if he comes in and says, 'Hey, I'm hurting,' we're not going to do it. I think all things point to him being ready to go."
The Red Sox could use Martinez, given that they have scored just five runs in their last three games. They dropped a 4-2 decision to Seattle on Sunday, their fourth loss in six games.
Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Beltre each knocked in a run for the Red Sox, who won the first two tests of the four-game set before dropping the last two. Boston is now 3-4 on a 10-game road trip and eight games back of first-place New York in the AL East. It also trails Tampa Bay by five games for the Wild Card spot.
The Red Sox swept a four-game home set over the Angels from May 3-6, but have lost seven of their last nine at Anaheim.
<< ChiSox seeking to get back on track at Mariners' expense
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A subpar road trip has tightened things atop the American
League Central for the first-place Chicago White Sox. A return home against a
favorable opponent could help the club get back on track.
Chicago seeks a fifth consec
<< Twins, Liriano aim to keep rolling in Kansas City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins had everything working on Sunday as
they pulled even closer to the top spot in the American League Central.
They'll try to continue that tonight behind Francisco Liriano, who seeks a
third straight winn
<< Reds head to Milwaukee to battle surging Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds try to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers for
the seventh straight time when the National League Central rivals open a
three-game set this evening at Miller Park.
The Reds, who swept a two-game set from the B
<< Wounded Tigers kick off road trip versus Rays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers begin what could be a make-or-break
week-long road trip for the American League Central contenders tonight at
Tropicana Field, where the struggling and injury-plagued club takes on the
Tampa Bay Rays in a c
De Rosario setting bar high for young MLS talent >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a penchant for highlight-reel goals and
one of the most unique goal celebrations in the game, it's quite easy to see
why Dwayne De Rosario has become such a household name in Major League Soccer.
The Cana
Shin replaces Miyazato as women's No. 1 >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jiyai Shin replaced Ai Miyazato atop the
world rankings for women's golf following her win Sunday at the lucrative
Evian Masters.
Shin birdied the 18th hole for a one-shot victory over three players
Pettersson climbs 98 spots in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Pettersson climbed 98 places in the
world rankings following his victory Sunday at the Canadian Open.
Pettersson, who was one putt from shooting a 59 on Saturday, rallied to beat
54-hole leader D
Altintop to give it "one more year" at Bayern >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop has
admitted this could be his final season with the Bundesliga champions.
The Turkey international has found first-team opportunities hard to come by in
recent time
(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.
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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