Guerrero burns former team as Rangers top Angels
Baseball Betting Lines
07/01/2010 -
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vladimir Guerrero continued to torment his old
team, going 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBI, as the Texas Rangers evened
this three-game set with a 6-4 win over the rival Angels.
Guerrero, who spent the last six seasons with the Angels, has had a huge year
for the Rangers and now has three home runs and eight RBI in the first two
games of this series alone. He has already eclipsed last season's home run
total with his 17th and 18th of 2010 and has been one of the most productive
players in the American League.
It was the third multi-homer game of the season for Guerrero and the 42nd of
his career. The Rangers have now won 14 of 16 overall and will look for their
franchise-record ninth straight series win in the rubber match on Thursday.
Dustin Nippert (3-3) recorded the win after allowing one run in three innings,
and Neftali Feliz notched his 21st save of the season. Meanwhile, Josh
Hamilton's career-best hit streak increased to 23 with a 1-for-3 effort.
Erick Aybar homered and drove in two runs for the Angels, who still managed to
finish June with an excellent 18-9 mark. Scott Kazmir (7-7) struggled in
losing his second straight start, giving up five runs, six hits and a walk in
just 4 2/3 innings.
The Rangers trailed by three entering the fourth, but one swing of the bat
from Guerrero put Texas ahead for good.
Kazmir got in some trouble when he hit leadoff hitter Elvis Andrus, and
Michael Young followed with a double. After Ian Kinsler walked on a full
count, Guerrero came up and crushed a 2-0 pitch over the wall in center for a
grand slam and a 4-3 Rangers advantage.
In the fifth, Andrus laced a one-out single, moved to second on a groundout
and scored on Kinsler's base hit, which ended Kazmir's outing.
The Angels looked to get back into the game in the sixth, trimming their
deficit to one on Aybar's RBI groundout. LA nearly tied it, as Howie Kendrick
and Bobby Abrey followed with consecutive two-out singles and executed a
double steal, but Torii Hunter lined out to end the inning.
Guerrero, though, gave the Rangers some breathing room again with his second
home run of the game -- a solo shot -- to deep center leading off the eighth.
The Angels never brought the tying run to the plate in either of the final two
innings.
Omar Beltre, making his major league debut in a spot start for Texas, ran into
some trouble rather quickly, as he allowed a home run to the first batter he
faced in the majors -- Los Angeles' Aybar. The Angels tacked on two more runs
in the second on a two-run single from Reggie Willits for a 3-0 advantage.
Game Notes
The Rangers finished June 21-6, and the .778 winning percentage is the highest
for a single month in franchise history...Texas leads the season series,
3-1...Hamilton finished the month with a franchise record 49 hits, nine homers
and 31 RBI...Beltre finished the game allowing three runs, five hits and four
walks while fanning six in four innings...Angels third baseman Kevin Frandsen
went four plate appearances without striking out and has now struck out just
once over his last 89 PAs...Guerrero has 68 RBI this season, tied for the most
in the majors with Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, and he hit his seventh career
grand slam.
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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
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