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07/23/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Patterson's two-run double in the 13th inning lifted the Red Sox to a wild 8-6 win over the Seattle Mariners to open a four-game series.
Boston's John Lackey came within four outs of a no-hitter, but the Mariners eventually rallied for five runs in the ninth to force extra innings.
Bill Hall and J.D. Drew each hit two-run homers, while Marco Scutaro added a solo shot as the Red Sox snapped a two-game skid.
Seattle loaded the bases with one out in the 12th inning, but came up empty as Jose Lopez fouled out to first and Milton Bradley popped out to former Mariner Adrian Beltre at third.
Kevin Youkilis led off the 13th with an infield single. Beltre nearly homered in the next at-bat, but yanked the ball barely foul down the left field line. He ended up popping out. Drew flied out to left, but Mike Cameron walked and Patterson doubled to the gap in left-center off Garrett Olson (0-3) to provide the Red Sox with the lead.
"Runner in scoring position, you're just trying to get a base hit, you're not trying to do too much," Patterson said. "(Olson) threw me a couple breaking balls. I was just able to stay on the last one and found some grass in the outfield."
Hideki Okajima (3-2) pitched a pair of innings for the win and Ramon Ramirez recorded his second save.
Franklin Gutierrez, the hero in a 2-1, 11-inning win over the White Sox on Wednesday, belted a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Manny Delcarmen, but the Mariners lost for the seventh time in nine contests.
Ryan Rowland-Smith permitted eight hits and five runs over six innings in the start for the Mariners.
Lackey gave up two hits, an unearned run, walked one and fanned six batters. He retired 16 batters in a row before Josh Bard looped a base hit to right- center field to break up the no-hit bid. Jack Wilson singled to right field, but Ichiro Suzuki lined out to end the inning, keeping Boston up 6-1.
"You think about (the no-hitter) a little bit, you obviously know it's going on, but it's not something that you're really focused on, you just want to win the game." Lackey said. "We won the game, that makes things a lot better for sure, but it's definitely one of the weirdest no-decisions that I've had."
Delcarmen had trouble closing out the game in the ninth, an inning in which the Red Sox committed a pair of errors. Chone Figgins singled to center and Gutierrez homered to left. Lopez walked, and Bradley then grounded a ball up the middle off of Scutaro's glove to put two runners on base.
Jonathan Papelbon entered, but couldn't stop the bleeding. He fanned Justin Smoak, but Casey Kotchman stroked an RBI double down the right field line. Bard walked to load the bases and Wilson grounded a ball up the middle that should have turned into a game-ending double-play. Scutaro flipped to Hall for the out at second, but the throw to first got by Youkilis, allowing two runs to score. Suzuki was intentionally walked, but Figgins was caught looking at a called third strike to send the game into extra innings.
"It comes down to that 12th inning, bases loaded, one out, meat of the order up, and we don't get it done," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "But, to be down facing Delcarmen, Papelbon and to score five runs, that shows a lot of character."
Suzuki crashed into the wall in right field to rob David Ortiz of a home run in the first inning.
Seattle produced a run in the bottom portion. Bradley walked, stole second and went to third on Smoak's groundout. With two down, Bradley scored on a passed ball by Kevin Cash.
Cameron doubled leading off the third and Hall followed with a homer to left field. Scutaro singled with one out, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on a Ortiz two-out base hit to right.
After hitting Wilson with a pitch to open the third, Lackey retired the ensuing 16 batters. Meanwhile, Boston added to its lead in the sixth as Drew homered to right field with Beltre on base.
Scutaro homered to left off Brian Sweeney with one out in the seventh for a 6-1 margin.
Game Notes
Earlier Thursday, the Mariners traded minor league infielder Jack Hannahan to the Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations...Prior to Thursday, the Mariners had never scored five or more runs in the ninth inning to tie or win a game...It was the fourth blown save of the year for Papelbon...Beltre, who signed with the Red Sox in the offseason after spending five years in Seattle, went 1-for-6...Youkilis had three hits.
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Edso
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The 29-year-old Idaho
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
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