Ramirez slams Marlins past Orioles
Baseball Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and five total runs batted in, as the Florida Marlins completed a three-game sweep of Baltimore with an 11-3 victory.
Rookie Sean West (3-2) tossed six shutout innings to get the win. He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out two, helping the Marlins win their fifth consecutive game.
Cody Ross and Dan Uggla each hit a two-run homer and had two hits for the Marlins, while Jorge Cantu finished 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Nick Markakis had four hits, an RBI and walked once for the Orioles, whose three-game losing streak comes on the heels of five straight victories.
Rich Hill (3-2) took the loss after giving up six runs in 4 1/3 frames, in which he surrendered eight hits, walked one and fanned six.
The Marlins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Ross' 13th homer of the season, then expanded their lead with a three-run third. Chris Coghlan led off with a double and went home two batters later on a Ramirez single. Uggla later hit a two-run shot to make it a 5-0 game. Back-to-back one-out doubles from Ramirez and Cantu in the fifth upped Florida's lead to six and chased Hill from the game.
Mark Hendrickson entered and got out of the jam, then pitched a scoreless sixth.
However, the Marlins struck for five more runs in the eighth off Baltimore reliever Chris Ray to turn the contest into a blowout. Three consecutive singles from Ronny Paulino, Ross and Brett Carroll loaded the bases to get the rally started. Pinch-hitter Ross Gload then struck out, and Coghlan's ground ball resulted in a force out at home. But Emilio Bonifacio singled home a run, then Ramirez provided the big blow by homering to left field for the grand slam.
This was the third grand slam in Ramirez's career, with all of them coming this season.
Ray was removed at that point for Brian Bass, who closed the inning without further damage.
Tim Wood had followed West on the mound for the Marlins and tossed two scoreless frames. The shutout was ruined in the top of the ninth, when Gregg Zaun hit a two-run double off Christopher Leroux with one out, and Markakis followed with an RBI ground-rule double. But with a sizeable lead, Leroux stayed in and recorded the final two outs to end the game.
Game Notes
Florida closed a six-game homestand with a 5-1 record, and next plays the Rays in a three-game road series, beginning Friday...Baltimore ended a six-game road trip with a 3-3 mark, and begins a three-game set with Washington on Friday...The Marlins went 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded six runners...Florida's longest win streak of the season came from April 12-19, when the Marlins won seven in a row.
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Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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