Bautista continues grand season, lifts Jays over Tribe

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista's grand slam and league-leading 31st home run highlighted a six-run fourth, as the Toronto Blue Jays won their fourth straight with an 8-1 rout of the struggling Cleveland Indians at Rogers Centre.

Bautista tied the club record with his 11th home run of July and finished with three hits, as the Blue Jays snapped a four-game losing streak to Cleveland. Fred Lewis also homered as part of the 14-hit attack, while Yunel Escobar and Lyle Overbay both had multi-hit efforts.

Shaun Marcum (10-4) was dominant in the start, allowing just one run and three hits while fanning a season-high 10 over seven frames.

Matt LaPorta's sacrifice fly was the only offense for the Indians, who have lost three straight and six of seven. Justin Masterson (3-10) was pounded for eight runs on a career-high 13 hits and two walks over only 5 1/3 innings to take the loss.

The Blue Jays got the scoring started with Lewis' leadoff shot in the third, then scored six times in the fourth to take control.

Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay both singled to begin the big inning, and Edwin Encarnacion's base hit with one away brought in Hill for a 2-0 edge. Lewis singled to load the bases, and Escobar pushed a Masterson offering through the infield's left side to plate another run and keep the bases loaded.

Bautista followed by launching a pitch into the seats in center for his third career grand slam and a commanding seven-run advantage for Toronto.

The Indians could manage only LaPorta's sacrifice fly in the fifth, but were answered when Escobar scampered home on a wild pitch in the sixth for an 8-1 margin, which held for the final score.

Game Notes

Bautista tied Shawn Green's Toronto record. Green hit 11 home runs in July, 1999...The Indians went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and are now 5-for-61 in such situations during the last nine games...Cleveland outfielder Austin Kearns hit a double for the Indians' only extra-base hit of the game. The club now has an extra-base hit in 52 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors...The season series is tied, 4-4...The Blue Jays have homered in 11 straight games...Bautista's last grand slam came on September 19, 2006 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pokerbatle Baseball Betting News

<< Joyce's homer lifts Rays over Yankees; A-Rod held homerless
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Joyce hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-2 win over the New York Yankees in the opener of a critical three-game series. The Rays entered the serie

<< Cavs sign G/F Graham
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard/forward Joey Graham. The 6-foot-7 Graham played in 63 games for Denver last season, starting 18, and averaged 4.2 points and two rebounds per game. He

<< Braves P Medlen leaves game
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Kris Medlen left Friday's start against Cincinnati with a right forearm contusion after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. Medlen was plunked by the Reds' Johnny Cueto i

<< Thompson joined by Chappell in Cox Classic lead
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Thompson carded a six-under 65 Friday to remain tied for the lead after 36 holes of the Cox Classic. Thompson, who shared the first-round lead with Steven Bowditch, finished two rounds at 14-under-pa

<< Habs sign last year's top pick Leblanc
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens have signed forward Louis Leblanc, their first round draft choice in 2009, to a three-year contract. Leblanc was the 18th overall choice in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The

Bradford inks record deal with Rams >>
Earth City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams quarterback and 2010 top overall draft choice Sam Bradford has reportedly agreed to a six-year deal that is worth a record $50 million in guarantees. According to the St. Louis Post-

Stammen strong, so are Nats' bats as Oswalt's Philly debut a dud >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Willingham and Roger Bernadina both stroked a two-run double to back a solid outing by Craig Stammen, as Washington cooled off the surging Phillies, 8-1, and, in doing so, spoiled Roy Oswalt'

Happ's Houston debut a gem as Astros down punchless Brewers >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.A. Happ pitched six scoreless innings in his Houston debut, as the Astros handled the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-0, in the opener of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park. Happ (2-0) and minor leaguers Jonatha

Eagles acquire RB Arrington from Broncos >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles acquired running back J.J. Arrington from the Denver Broncos in exchange for linebacker Joe Mays. The Eagles will receive a conditional draft pick in 2012 if Arrington does no

Diamondbacks power past Mets to snap seven-game slide >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Johnson hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth and Miguel Montero tacked on a three-run shot later in the frame to help the Diamondbacks snap a seven-game slide with a 9-6 win over the Mets. Montero

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.