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07/20/2007 - St. Petersberg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelvim Escobar tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings for his career-best fifth straight winning decision, as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with a 3-0 shutout in a matinee from Tropicana Field.
Escobar (11-3), who has allowed three runs or less in seven of his eight most recent starts, scattered nine hits while fanning five and walking three. Francisco Rodriguez tossed a perfect ninth for his 25th save this season.
Garret Anderson finished 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Angels, who snapped a three-game skid. Gary Matthews Jr. ended 2-for-4 and scored a run in the win.
Carl Crawford ended 3-for-4 for Tampa Bay, which entered this series having lost 16 of its last 18 games but rebounded to take the first two tests of this set.
Andy Sonnanstine (1-5), on a personal streak of five straight losses, gave up three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts over seven innings for Tampa.
LA scored a run in the first when Casey Kotchman lined a lead-off double, advanced to third on Maicer Izturis' groundout, and scored on a groundout by Robb Quinlan.
The Angels put up two more runs in the sixth. Vladimir Guerrero grounded a single, Matthews Jr. doubled him over to third, and both were able to score on a Anderson single for Guerrero's 1,000th career run.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases in the second, but Crawford grounded into a fielder's choice to leave them stranded.
Game Notes
Crawford stole two bases in the first for 18 consecutive successful attempts but his bid to tie the club record of 19, set in 2003, failed when he was thrown out trying to steal second in the seventh...Los Angeles has won 10 of its last 13 meetings with Tampa Bay, but is just 5-7 in its last 12 games at Tropicana Field. The Devil Rays swept a three-game set from the Angels in St. Petersburg from August 26-28, 2005.
<< Bonds hits 752nd homer
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds moved
within three home runs of Hank Aaron's record, belting No. 752 Thursday
afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Leading off the second inning, Bonds drove the first
<< Andreev highlights second-round winners at Dutch Open
Amersfoort, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unseeded Russian Igor Andreev
rallied to win his second-round match against No. 4 Filippo Volandri at the
Dutch Open Thursday.
Reaching his fourth claycourt quarterfinal this year, Andreev
<< Whatchoo talkin' bout, Willis?
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gary Coleman certainly couldn't do the job, nor could
Todd Bridges on whatever substance he used to abuse. But Florida Marlins
ace Dontrelle Willis isn't giving his teammates or the world of baseball
much to
<< Nadal moves on in Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal cruised
in second round action at the Mercedes Cup on Thursday.
Nadal recorded a straight set win over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3,
6-3, on the red clay. He h
Jays cool off Yankees >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin McGowan rebounded from a rough first
inning and held the Yankees to two runs through seven innings as the Toronto
Blue Jays held off New York, 3-2, to salvage one win from a four-game set.
McGowan
British Open First Round News & Notes >>
Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Who was the only player in the field
to go through Carnoustie on Thursday without a bogey?
Would you believe an 18-year-old Northern Ireland amateur named Rory McIlroy?
He shot a three-under 68 t
Inge lifts Tigers past Twins >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Inge doubled in the winning run in
the 10th inning, as the Detroit Tigers got their first sweep of the Minnesota
Twins at the Metrodome in nearly eight years with a 4-3 win.
With the score knotte
Bonds blasts two homers, sits at 753 >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds moved
within two home runs of Hank Aaron's record, belting a pair of homers on
Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Leading off the second inning, Bonds drove
BILLS (+10) at Steelers SPORTSBOOK LINES
It's impossible to gauge how a team will react after something like the Steve Everett situation, and it probably doesn't matter. That being said, the Bills are going to lose several games this year where they keep things close but fall short in the end to superior teams. Ben Roethlisberger and company could have a field day against Buffalo's decimated defense, but I like the Bills to cover.
BENGALS (-7) at Browns SPORTSBOOK LINES
All you can ask out of your NFL team is that it has a plan. You may not always agree with it as a fan, but as long as it appears the organization is going in some sort of direction, you have to go with it. Which brings us to the Cleveland Browns. You flip a coin to determine whether Chuck Frye or Derek Anderson should start the preseason opener. You start Frye in Week 1, but pull him in the first half. And then you deal him to the Seahawks for a sixth-round pick? Hmm... the Bengals could get six turnovers again this week.
COLTS (-7) at Titans SPORTSBOOK LINES
Tennessee signed ex-Colts cornerback Nick Harper in the offseason so that should help slow down Peyton Manning. Just ask Jason David and the Saints. Oh wait... One of these weeks, I'm going to learn to not pick against Tennessee, which has won seven of its last eight games. But it's not happening against Indy.
TEXANS (+6.5) at Panthers SPORTSBOOK LINES
Houston's Mario Williams, the first pick in the '06 draft, has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush after one week. Somehow I don't see that lasting. Meanwhile, Carolina bottled up what was expected to be a pretty high-octane offense in St. Louis in Week 1. Could this be the Panthers' defense everyone expected last year? Maybe. This feels like a 20-16 Carolina win.
RAMS (-3) vs. 49ers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Absolutely love this game. Everyone's favorite pick for this year's surprise team -- the 49ers -- laid an egg on Monday night (not that anyone was watching with the game ending in the middle of the night for those of us on the East Coast). St. Louis wasn't much better, delivering a lackluster effort against the Panthers that included two Steven Jackson fumbles and panic from his fantasy owners. Jackson rebounds this week, and the Rams get their first win.
PACKERS (+1.5) at Giants SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Do you really trust this guy to win an NFL game if Eli Manning can't go? I say no. I'd feel alot better about this Packers team if it had any semblance of a running game, but I still think Green Bay's defense is good enough to give it a 2-0 start.
JAGUARS (-10) vs. Falcons SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Does it scare me to pick Jacksonville to cover a double-digit spread after it scored just 10 points last week against the Titans? Absolutely. But can I bring myself to pick Atlanta under any circumstances? No. Check out this poll on ajc.com. It asks what Atlanta's most urgent deficiency is: offense, defense, specials teams or all of the above. "All of the above" has 57 percent of the votes. Ouch.
SAINTS (-3) at Buccaneers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
I'm picking way too many road teams this week. Oh well. New Orleans has had some time to reflect on its lackluster showing in the opener, and the Buccanneers just aren't a very good football team. Anyone else surprised Tampa Bay hasn't made a move to sign Byron Leftwich? I thought that's what they do.
VIKINGS (+3) at Lions SPORTS BETTING LINES
Run the ball and stop the run. Minnesota can do both, and that will keep them in a lot of games this season. Even though it was only one week, Adrian Peterson looks like he was a steal at No. 7 in last year's draft. Not only will he produce, but Peterson delivers excitement to what otherwise would be one of the league's most boring teams.
DOLPHINS (+3.5) vs. Cowboys SPORTS BETTING LINES
Lost in the Tony Romo lovefest is just how bad the Cowboys' defense was last week. I know they're banged up, but Dallas' 'D' allowed 438 yards to the Giants' offense, and backup running back Derrick Ward averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Cam Cameron's decision to split carries between Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman sounds about as can't-miss as Larry David's plan to show up to Marty Funkhouser's party a night late. Still, gotta go with Miami to cover at home.
SEAHAWKS (-2.5) at Cardinals SPORTS BETTING LINES
I'm probably missing something, but this game seems too easy. Arizona blew Monday night's game against the 49ers in typical Cardinals fashion, and the Seahawks beat Tampa Bay by two touchdowns. Love Seattle in this one.
BRONCOS (-9.5) vs. Raiders SPORTS BETTING LINES
Special teams was a major story line in Week 1. Take a look at the Broncos. They had to rush on to the field to get a Jason Elam field goal as time expired against the Bills. Denver drove into Buffalo territory on eight of 10 drives but came away with just a pair of field goals and a touchdown. Look for more scoring from the Broncos this week against an Oakland defense that gave up 36 points to Detroit in Week 1.
BEARS (-12) vs. Chiefs SPORTS BETTING LINES
Everyone talks about Rex Grossman when dissecting the Bears' offense, but Chicago's quarterback got no help in last week's loss to the Chargers. Meanwhile, Kansas City confirmed what we all thought while watching Hard Knocks: The Chiefs are going to stink this year. It could be a rough first month for Larry Johnson fantasy owners. Kansas City's RB was limited to 43 yards on 10 carries in Week 1, and the Chiefs face the Bears, Vikings and Chargers the next three weeks, all formidable run defenses.
RAVENS (-10) vs. Jets SPORTS BETTING LINES
A big dose of Willis McGahee and a usual sound defensive effort will give the Ravens their first win. According to Football Outsiders, no team in the NFL rushed only three defenders on pass plays last year more than the Jets. And according to my special Jets correspondent Ben Stauber, New York did the same in Week 1. Whoever starts at quarterback for the Ravens should have all day to throw.
PATRIOTS (-3) vs. Chargers
Friends and I were discussing how Bill Belichick goes about paying his $500,000 fine for cheating. Does he just write one check to the NFL? Do you need some sort of clearance to make such a monstrous financial transaction? I guess I shouldn't complain about the security deposit I have to put down on my new apartment. Anyway, two of the league's best teams square off in what should be a good one Sunday night. The Patriots always respond well just when you think they're in trouble. And their offensive attack was the story in Week 1.
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.
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