Johnson's 10th-inning homer gets Rays past Red Sox

Baseball Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Johnson's leadoff homer to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted Tampa Bay over Boston, 3-2, in the second of three between the clubs at Tropicana Field.

The hit made a winner of Randy Choate (4-3), who recorded the final out in the top of the 10th.

B.J. Upton also homered and Matt Joyce knocked in a run for the Rays, who snapped a two-game slide. Tampa Bay remained tied for first in the AL East after the Yankees topped the White Sox later Saturday.

Victor Martinez homered and David Ortiz finished with three hits for the Red Sox, who have dropped two of three. Boston fell to 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees and Rays.

Scott Atchison (2-2) took the loss after allowing the game-deciding blast.

The Sox picked up a run in the fourth as Martinez singled, Ortiz doubled and Adrian Beltre lifted a sacrifice fly to left.

Evan Longoria's infield single to short was the first Rays hit, coming with one down in the home fourth, then Joyce singled to start the fifth but Tampa was unable to capitalize.

Tampa tied the game in the seventh. Longoria started with a single, then after a Carlos Pena fielder's choice, an errant pick-off move from Sox starter Clay Buchholz saw Pena go to third. Joyce's foul out to right was then far enough away to plate the run.

Buchholz wound up yielding four hits and two runs -- one earned -- with five strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings, while his counterpart Matt Garza scattered six hits and one run over seven frames.

Martinez reached the seats in right with two out in the eighth against Joaquin Benoit to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Though the Sox had two runners in scoring position afterwards, no runs came in.

Upton tied the game in the home half with a leadoff homer.

Game Notes

It was Johnson's first career walk-off home run...Tampa leads the season series 9-5 and have evened their record at 4-4 over the Sox in Florida...Prior to the game, the Red Sox activated pitcher Hideki Okajima from the 15- day disabled list and optioned pitcher Michael Bowden to Triple-A Pawtucket.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The 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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