Tillman shines as Orioles top Lee in Rangers' debut

Baseball Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Tillman overshadowed the much- anticipated Rangers debut of Cliff Lee with 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and the Baltimore Orioles recorded their first road series win of 2010 with a 6-1 victory over Texas.

Tillman (1-3), who came into the game with an 8.40 earned run average and was recalled from the minors on Saturday, carried a no-hitter into the seventh and allowed just two hits and one walk while fanning three for Baltimore, which has won the first three games of this set to record its first road series win of the season (1-13-1).

Nick Markakis, Cesar Izturis and Adam Jones all homered in the victory.

Lee (8-4) had a less than spectacular debut with his new club, giving up six runs and nine hits in a complete game effort -- his sixth of the year and fifth in seven contests. The Orioles attacked him early in the count, as evidenced by his 95 pitches thrown, 73 for strikes.

The All-Star lefty was acquired on Friday in a deal with division rival Seattle, as the Rangers make a push for their first playoff appearance since 1999. It is Lee's fourth team in two seasons, and he will head for free agency in the offseason barring a long-term agreement with Texas.

David Murphy scored the Rangers' lone run on a wild pitch, as Texas lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Lee, who didn't arrive to the ballpark until a couple hours before game-time, showed signs of fatigue early on. The first pitch he threw as a Ranger went for a double by Corey Patterson, and the next pitch was lined to right for an RBI single from Miguel Tejada.

Lee was able to settle down until the fourth, when Markakis deposited an offering into the right-field seats for a 2-0 Baltimore lead. The Orioles kept taking Texas' new ace deep, as Izturis hammered his first homer of the year -- a solo shot -- with two outs in the fifth, and Jones' two-run shot with two down in the sixth provided a 5-0 cushion.

Meanwhile, Tillman flirted with history.

The Orioles' lanky righty retired the first nine hitters he faced before walking Elvis Andrus to begin the fourth. He was able to record outs during the next three at-bats and carried a no-hitter into the seventh.

Ian Kinsler, however, broke up the bid with one out in the seventh inning, poking a ground ball through the infield's left side. Tillman recovered to retire the next two hitters to keep his shutout intact.

The whitewash attempt quickly went by the wayside in the eighth, however, as Murphy singled to center and scampered to third when the ball eluded Jones and subsequently scored on a wild pitch.

Jones scored on a double play in the ninth to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

Lee is the first Rangers player to give up three homers in his debut with the team since Ryan Snare on August 6, 2004...Texas honored Michael Young prior to the game for capturing the team's all-time hits record earlier in the season. He went 1-for-4...Tillman's allowed run was unearned...Lee struck out two and walked none, raising his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 91-to-6...Lee has historically struggled in Texas, compiling a 7.33 earned run average in eight career starts there...Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton had his 29-game home hit streak come to an end after an 0-for-4 game. The team record is 30 games, accomplished by Al Oliver in 1981.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

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"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

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De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

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But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.