Gonzalez homers twice as Rockies take series from Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/29/2010 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBI, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-5, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Coors Field.

Dexter Fowler chipped in with two triples and three RBI, while Ryan Spilborghs added a solo homer for Colorado, which have won six of its last seven.

Jason Hammel (9-7), 1-4 with a 4.82 earned run average in his previous eight starts coming in, worked 5 1/3 innings and yielded two runs on seven hits, walked three and struck out seven in taking the victory. He also added an RBI single among two hits.

Ryan Theriot had two hits and a pair of RBI for the Dodgers, who had won four in a row before dropping the last two games of the series.

Ted Lilly (8-9), who had won his five previous starts with the Dodgers since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs, was roughed up for seven runs on nine hits in four frames. The veteran lefty struck out eight and walked one.

The Rockies plated a run in the second and third innings to grab the early advantage. Todd Helton led off the second with a double and crossed the plate two batters later on Chris Ianetta's two-bagger to center. Gonzalez then hit a two-out solo homer to right in the third.

In the fourth, Colorado broke it open by pushing across five two-out runs. Jonathan Herrera started things with a triple and scored on Hammel's base hit to center. After Eric Young Jr. drew a walk, Fowler brought in a pair with a three-bagger to right. Gonzalez capped the inning with a two-run homer to right field to put the hosts ahead 7-0.

Jay Gibbons' RBI single in the fifth got the Dodgers on the board, but Spilborghs' solo homer in the bottom portion got the run back. A run-scoring double by James Loney in the sixth made it 8-2. During the sixth inning, Dodgers' pinch-hitter Manny Ramirez took a called strike at the knees on the first pitch of the at-bat and was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom.

LA got to the Rockies bullpen for three in the top of the eighth on a pinch- hit RBI single from Ronnie Belliard and two-run single by Theriot. It could have been more, but Loney grounded out to shortstop with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Fowler's RBI triple and sac fly from Gonzalez in the home half put Colorado up 10-5.

Huston Street worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the win.

Game Notes

Despite the loss, Los Angeles has still won seven of 12 meetings with Colorado this season and 21 of the last 30 contests in this series...Lilly, who pitched to a 1.83 ERA in 34 1/3 innings with the Dodgers coming into the contest, fell to 4-2 in seven lifetime starts against Colorado.

Wwvirtualvegas Baseball Betting News

<< O's record first-ever season sweep of Angels
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Guthrie came within two outs of his first career shutout and Matt Wieters knocked in the lone run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, as Baltimore posted a 1-0 victory to complete its first-e

<< Said nips Papis for Montreal Nationwide win
Montreal, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boris Said finally became a first-time winner in one of NASCAR's national touring series after he edged Max Papis by inches at the finish line in Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 200 Nationwide Series race at

<< Uihlein wins U.S. Amateur Championship
University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Uihlein defeated David Chung, 4 & 2 on Sunday to win the 110th U.S. Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay. It will be a happy 21st birthday for the Oklahoma State University star. "I hope

<< Blue Jays to shut down Morrow after next start
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brandon Morrow will be shut down for the season following his next start on September 3 against the New York Yankees. The right-hander is 10-6 with a 4.27 earned run average

<< French helps Mariners get by Twins
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke French tossed seven strong innings to help the Seattle Mariners take a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game set. French (3-4) was charged with just one run on three hi

Hamels, Phillies complete sweep of Padres >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cole Hamels pitched eight shutout innings, and the Philadelphia Phillies swept the San Diego Padres in three games with a 5-0 victory at Petco Park. Hamels (8-10) recorded his first win since July 11 desp

Persistently defeats Rachel Alexandra in Personal Ensign Stakes >>
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Persistently, ridden by Alan Garcia, caught 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in late stretch to capture Sunday's $300,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Winning trainer

Raburn's homers and Porcello's pitching help Tigers pound Jays >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Porcello spun seven solid innings and Ryan Raburn belted two home runs, finishing with four RBI, as the Detroit Tigers pounded Toronto, 10-4, to salvage a split of a four-game series at Rogers Centre.

Sanchez, Giants rally past Diamondbacks >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddy Sanchez had three hits, knocked in two runs and scored a run to push San Francisco past Arizona, 9-7, in a back and forth affair in the last of a three-game set. Andres Torres added two h

Red Sox claim Napoli off waivers >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have claimed Angels catcher/ infielder Mike Napoli off waivers. Napoli, who has spent his entire five-year career with Los Angeles, was not in the Angels' starting lineup for Sunday's game ag

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

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.