07/04/2009 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andruw Jones' three-run homer in the first inning set the tone, as Texas went on to dismantle the Rays, 12-4, in the middle installment of a three-game series.
Jones doubled in another run and Michael Young added a three-run double in the second inning for the Rangers, who have strung together four straight wins. Taylor Teagarden and Nelson Cruz each had two RBI, while David Murphy finished a home run shy of the cycle.
Derek Holland (2-5) gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
Dioner Navarro clubbed a three-run homer and Jason Bartlett also went deep for Tampa Bay, which has dropped three in a row on the heels of a season-high, seven-game win streak.
Hard-throwing David Price (2-3) couldn't make it out of the second inning, surrendering six runs on three hits and five walks while recording just four outs. The former No. 1 overall pick saw his earned run average balloon from 3.93 to 5.21.
Lance Cormier was charged with three runs in three innings of relief.
Texas jumped out to an early advantage against the erratic southpaw, pushing three runs across in both of the first two innings.
After striking out Ian Kinsler to open the bottom of the first, Price issued consecutive walks before Jones crushed a pitch to left-center for a three-run bomb.
Bartlett's solo blast put Tampa Bay on the board in the top of the second, but the Rangers struck back in the home half.
Once again, Price retired the leadoff batter on strikes, then incurred similar control problems, walking Elvis Andrus and Kinsler following a one-out double by Teagarden. Young stepped in and drove a pitch to the wall in center field, clearing the bases for a 6-1 Texas lead.
Tampa Bay had men on the corners with one away in the third. Holland, though, got Evan Longoria to ground into an inning-ending double play to foil the rally.
Teagarden's sacrifice fly widened the lead to six runs through three frames, and despite the large cushion, Holland allowed the Rays to creep back in the fifth.
Bartlett singled to start the inning and Gabe Kapler ripped a double down the left-field line to put two men in scoring position for Navarro, who lined a 1-2 fastball over the left-field wall, shrinking the deficit to 7-4.
The Rangers, however, got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth, one coming on Cruz's team-leading 20th homer of the season. Murphy tripled to deep center and scored when Teagarden stroked a base hit up the middle off Chad Bradford and past the drawn-in infield.
Texas reached double-digits in the sixth on Jones' RBI double, and tacked on two more runs in the eighth on run-scoring singles by Hank Blalock and Cruz.
Game Notes
Tampa Bay left fielder Carl Crawford has hit safely in 12 straight games...Texas is 5-3 on its nine-game homestand...Marlon Byrd scored three times for the Rangers.
<< Wang leaves game; likely to go on DL
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang left
Saturday's 6-5, 12-inning victory against the Toronto Blue Jays with a
shoulder injury, and an MRI after the game indicated he may be headed to the
disable
<< Blue Jays place P Richmond on DL
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays placed pitcher Scott
Richmond on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 1, with a sore
shoulder.
Richmond is 6-5 with a 3.69 earned-run average in 16 games, 13 starts,
<< Valbuena and Francisco help Indians past A's
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Valbuena and Ben Francisco each went 3-
for-3, with Valbuena knocking in a run and scoring twice and Francisco adding
a two-run homer in Cleveland's 5-2 win over Oakland.
Carl Pavano (7-7) evened his
<< Marlins get by Pirates
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emilio Bonifacio went 3-for-4 with two runs
scored to help the Florida Marlins take a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates
in the second game of a three-game set.
Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a two-run
Stewart wins in a firework finish at Daytona >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart won Saturday's Coke Zero 400
in a dramatic finish at Daytona International Speedway.
Stewart moved to the outside of leader Kyle Busch coming out of the final turn
of the last lap. Busch atte
Chicago moves to top of Eastern table with win at Colorado >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire moved into a tie with
D.C. United at the top of Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference table with
a 2-1 win at the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
First-half goals by Marco Pappa
Dynamo extend MLS lead with win at K.C. >>
Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo extended their lead atop
Major League Soccer's overall table with a 1-0 win at the Kansas City Wizards
on Saturday night.
Kei Kamara scored the game's only goal in the 18th minute to h
Cunningham's brace leads FCD past New York >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Cunningham scored a pair of first-half
goals to lead FC Dallas to a 2-1 victory against the New York Red Bulls at
Pizza Hut Park on Saturday.
Cunningham scored his second goal of the season in the
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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