Penny struggles, still leads Dodgers past Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2007 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Kemp crushed a three-run home run in a five-run fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers recovered from a shaky outing by Brad Penny to beat the New York Mets, 8-6, at Dodger Stadium.

Penny (12-1) went 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs -- three earned -- on six hits, with a pair of walks and five strikeouts. With the win, he became the first starting pitcher to open a season 12-1 for the Dodgers since the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

The right-hander, who is now 7-0 over his last 11 starts, is trying to avoid the second-half letdown that ruined his season last year. He went 10-2 before the All- Star break in 2006, but went just 6-7 in the second half with a 6.25 ERA.

Kemp finished with a pair of hits, three RBI and two runs scored for the Dodgers, who had dropped the first two games of this four-game series. Juan Pierre also had two hits and knocked in a pair of runs, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.

Jorge Sosa (7-5) gave up six runs and eight hits over four innings for New York, which had won three of four coming in. Carlos Beltran and David Wright both contributed two-run home runs.

The Mets jumped on Penny for two runs in the second. Wright drew a leadoff walk, and Carlos Delgado singled before a throwing error by Andre Ethier put runners at second and third with no outs. Ramon Castro's sacrifice fly scored Wright, and after a Marlon Anderson groundout, a base hit by Lastings Milledge plated Delgado for a 2-0 edge.

Wright doubled the lead with a two-run homer in the third, but the Dodgers cut it to 4-1 in the home half when Penny doubled and came home on Pierre's two-out single.

Los Angeles then rallied to take the lead in the fourth. James Loney and Wilson Betemit ripped consecutive one-out singles, and Ethier's base hit cut it to 4-2. Kemp then deposited a hanging breaking ball into the left field stands for a three-run homer, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.

Rafael Furcal kept the inning alive with a two-out, ground-rule double, and Pierre followed with a two-bagger just inside the line at third to make it 6-4.

Russell Martin's fielder's choice grounder in the sixth resulted in a pair of unearned runs for an 8-4 margin. With the bases loaded and one out, Martin hit a grounder to third, and, without a play at the plate, Wright fired to second. The out was recorded, but Ruben Gotay was then charged with a throwing error trying to cut down Furcal at the plate.

Beltran's two-run homer in the eighth cut it to 8-6, but the Mets were shut down the rest of the way by Jonathan Broxton, who struck out Wright and Delgado to end the inning.

Broxton also pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

Game Notes

Penny is the first Dodgers starter to win seven consecutive decisions since Kevin Brown won nine straight from April 29 to June 17, 2003...The Mets placed second baseman Jose Valentin on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured right tibia and recalled infielder Anderson Hernandez from Triple-A New Orleans...Wright's home run was his first career long-ball against the Dodgers.

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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.

Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards