A-Rod reaches Reggie, Yankees outslug Braves
Baseball Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez moved into a tie for 11th place on the all-time home run list and finished with four runs batted in to lead the New York Yankees to an 11-7 win over the Atlanta Braves in the rubber match of a three-game interleague series at Turner Field.
Rodriguez belted the 563rd homer of his illustrious career and in the process moved into a tie with former Yankee great Reggie Jackson.
Johnny Damon also drove in four runs while Derek Jeter posted four hits and four runs scored for the Yankees, who have won two straight following a three- game skid and will return to New York for a weekend "Subway" series at Citi Field against the Mets. Cody Ransom added two RBI in the win.
Andy Pettitte started on the mound for the Yankees but did not factor in the decision. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing six runs -- three earned -- on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Derek Lowe (7-6) toed the rubber for the Braves and was charged in defeat with eight runs, six of which were earned, on 11 hits in three-plus innings of work.
Yunel Escobar knocked in three runs for the Braves, who have dropped four of their last six games overall. Casey Kotchman notched two RBI in the loss.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees held an 11-6 lead and David Robertson was on the hill. He was greeted by Brian McCann's leadoff homer over the wall in right field. With one out, Garret Anderson singled before Robertson fanned Jeff Francoeur. Pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco posted an infield single to put runners on the corners.
Mariano Rivera entered from the bullpen and induced a game-ending fly out off the bat of Diory Hernandez for his 17th save of the season and the 499th of his career.
The Yankees opened the scoring early with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Consecutive singles Jeter and Damon preceded a double-play grounder off the bat of Mark Teixeira. On the play, Jeter scored. The next batter was Rodriguez, whose milestone solo homer gave the visitors a two-run lead.
Escobar's RBI double in the home first cut the Braves' deficit in half.
An RBI single by Rodriguez in the second inning made it 3-1.
In the top of the third, the Yankees loaded the bases. One-out base hits by Brett Gardner and Ransom preceded a two-out walk to Jeter and Damon then cleared the bases with a triple for a 6-1 advantage.
Ransom's two-run double in the fourth, which brought home Rodriguez and Jorge Posada, increased the Bombers' lead to seven.
Pettitte found trouble in the bottom of the fourth, though not all of it was his fault. He surrendered a single to Anderson and a double to Francoeur that put runners on second and third. The next batter was Kotchman, who roped a double to right field and drew the Braves within 8-3.
Pettitte then plunked pinch-hitter Matt Diaz and with one out, Martin Prado's fly ball to shallow center was mishandled by Gardner and fell to the grass, allowing Kotchman to score. Chipper Jones drew a walk to load the bases but Pettitte worked hard to strike out McCann. Escobar, though, singled to right scoring both Diaz and Prado.
Alfredo Aceves (5-1) entered from the New York bullpen and struck out Anderson to avoid further damage. Aceves ended with 2 1/3 scoreless frames of relief.
A two-run single by Rodriguez in the seventh padded the New York lead to 10-6.
In between Phil Coke's scoreless relief innings in the seventh and eighth for the Yanks, Damon's RBI single capped the New York offensive output.
Game Notes
This marked the first trip to Atlanta by the Yankees since 2000...The Yankees outhit the Braves, 16-13...Jeter stole his 17th base of the season and raised his batting average to .308...The contest took 3 hours, 49 minutes to complete...The Yankees improved to 12-10 all-time against the Braves in interleague play.
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Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe 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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