Wakefield sets age record as Sox outslug Rays
Baseball Betting Lines
09/08/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Wakefield became the oldest pitcher in Red Sox history to record a win and Boston belted five home runs to top Tampa Bay, 11-5, in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Marco Scutaro went 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and three RBI, while Victor Martinez, David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre also went deep for the Red Sox, who despite the win are 6 1/2 games behind the wild card-leading Rays.
Wakefield (4-10), who had lost his previous four decisions, won for the first time since July 2 against Baltimore. The knuckleball specialist, making his first start since August 25, moved to 21-6 all-time against the Rays. He allowed six hits and five runs -- four earned -- over five innings.
Wakefield, at 44 years and 37 days old, passed Dennis Eckersley as the oldest pitcher in club history to record a victory. Eckersley got his last Sox win on September 17, 1998 at Baltimore at 43 years, 349 days old.
B.J. Upton homered for a second straight night, this time a three-run blast in the second inning, but the Rays fell 2 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. New York rallied for a 3-2 win over Baltimore Wednesday afternoon.
Matt Garza (14-8), who had won his last three decisions, was tagged for nine hits and six runs in 4 1/3 frames.
Evan Longoria lofted a sacrifice fly in the opening inning and Upton's homer to left in the second moved the lead to 4-0.
In the bottom half, Ortiz walked ahead of Beltre's 27th homer of the year, his 1,001st career RBI.
Scutaro led off the third with a homer, and two outs later Ortiz went deep for the 29th time this season. The blast over the Green Monster tied the score at 4-4.
Brad Hawpe scored on Jason Bartlett's double in the fourth, but Boston went ahead for good with a three-spot in the fifth. Martinez started the frame with a homer to center. Chad Qualls came into the game with one out, but Ryan Kalish doubled home Ortiz, who walked earlier in the inning. Longoria's throwing error brought in Kalish for a 7-5 Red Sox edge.
Martinez singled in Scutaro in the sixth and the Sox tacked on three more runs in the seventh, two coming on Scutaro's 10th homer of the season. The hit came just after Lars Anderson's RBI single.
Game Notes
Wakefield went over the 130-inning mark this season, meaning he'll automatically receive a $500,000 raise to $2 million for 2011, the final season of his contract...Tampa Bay won the season series, 11-7, winning six of nine at Fenway.
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard finished 3-for-5 with a three- run homer and tied a season-high with six RBI as Philadelphia built a double- digit lead but held on to top Florida, 10-6, in the finale of a four-game set. Chas
<< Myers, Astros shut down Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Myers struck out eight in seven shutout
innings to continue his dominance of the Cubs and lead the Astros to a 4-0 win
over Chicago in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Myers (11-7) allowed just
<< RSL eyes top spot in league against Seattle
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake entered this season as defending
Major League Soccer champions, and according to midfielder Andy Williams, they
also had a few goals in mind.
"At the beginning of the year, we had our goals wher
<< Braves avoid sweep in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Prado, Derrek Lee, and Alex Gonzalez
each drove in two runs to back Derek Lowe's solid performance on the mound, as
the Atlanta Braves handled the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, to avoid a three-game
sweep a
<< Braun, Brewers down reeling Cards
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Braun homered and drove in a total of
four runs to back Chris Capuano's solid performance on the mound, as the
Milwaukee Brewers dominated the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-1, in the rubber match
of a th
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Tulowitzki hit two homers and drove in four runs, leading the surging Colorado Rockies in a 9-2 rout of the struggling Cincinnati Reds in the third of four games at Coors Field. Tulowitzki notched his s
Federer gains seventh straight U.S. Open semifinal >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer advanced to his seventh
straight U.S. Open semifinal by avenging a loss earlier this year to Swede
Robin Soderling with a three-set triumph Wednesday night.
The second-seeded Federe
Mathis' sacrifice fly lifts Angels over Indians in 16 >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Mathis' sacrifice fly in the 16th inning
won it, as the Los Angeles Angels outlasted the Cleveland Indians, 4-3, in one
of the longest games in the majors this season.
Torii Hunter went 2-for-5 with tw
Hudson, Drew help Diamondbacks avoid sweep >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Hudson pitched seven solid innings and
Stephen Drew fueled Arizona's offense, as the Diamondbacks took a 3-1 win over
the San Francisco Giants to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
Hudson (5-
Crisp leads A's past Mariners >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coco Crisp belted a two-run homer and singled
in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Oakland
Athletics overcame an early deficit to beat Seattle, 4-3, in the rubber match
of a th
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.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.