10/03/2008 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Martin's three-run double highlighted a five-run second inning when the Cubs committed a pair of errors, and Manny Ramirez homered for a second straight night, carrying the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-3 win and a commanding lead in their National League Division Series.
Ramirez drove in two runs and Rafael Furcal went 3-for-6 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored for the Dodgers, who won 7-2 Wednesday night and can sweep the best-of-five series with a victory Saturday in Los Angeles.
Chad Billingsley (1-0), making his first career playoff start, had seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 effective innings, as he was charged with five hits and a run.
It was another case of postseason futility for the Cubs, who committed four errors on the way to their eighth consecutive playoff loss since their infamous collapse during the 2003 NLCS against the Florida Marlins.
Possibly left without another home game in this postseason, the Wrigley Field faithful voiced their displeasure with the Cubs in the middle innings, and the team is now one loss away from being eliminated, 100 years since their last World Series championship.
Carlos Zambrano (0-1) was touched for six hits and seven runs, but just three of those were earned, in 6 1/3 innings. He also had seven strikeouts against two walks.
On the other side, the Dodgers are one victory away from their first postseason series triumph since 1988 when they beat Oakland. They came into this series with just one win in their previous 13 playoff games.
Andre Ethier and James Loney singled to start the second inning, putting runners at the corners. Matt Kemp struck out, but second baseman Mark DeRosa then made a critical error, botching a potential double-play grounder. Blake DeWitt was safe on the play, driving in Ethier. On the next play, first baseman Derrek Lee fumbled Casey Blake's chopper, leaving the bases loaded.
Billingsley fanned, but Furcal bunted for a base hit for an RBI. DeRosa charged to get the ball, but his throw was late to first base. Martin then smacked a line double to left-center, prompting groans from the home crowd.
Ramirez tattooed an 0-1 offering over the wall in center field to start the fifth inning, and Kemp's RBI double off Neal Cotts down the right field line in the seventh plated Ramirez for a 7-0 cushion.
Back-to-back doubles from DeRosa and Edmonds in the bottom of the inning got the Cubs on the scoreboard, but they wasted a first-and-third opportunity when Kosuke Fukudome grounded into a force play to end the frame.
The Dodgers padded their lead to 9-1 in the eighth. Furcal singled in Casey Blake, and later Edmonds failed to make a diving catch in center field on a ball hit by Ramirez. That knocked in Furcal.
Pinch-hitter Juan Pierre reached base on a throwing error by shortstop Ryan Theriot in the ninth, and then scored on a Blake base hit.
DeRosa, who had a two-run homer Wednesday, stroked a two-run double with nobody out in the ninth inning. Jonathan Broxton finished up, retiring three straight batters after walking pinch-hitter Felix Pie.
Game Notes
Rich Harden is the slated starting pitcher for Chicago on Saturday, while Hiroki Kuroda will toe the rubber for the Dodgers...Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano continued his postseason struggles, going 1-for-4. He's 37-for-169 (.219) lifetime in the playoffs...Billingsley has just one loss in his last 14 appearances...Ramirez has 26 postseason homers, extending a major league record, and 16 of those have come on the road...The four errors tied a division series record.
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Jeffries suffered the injury after landing awkwardly and breaking the
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Titans stay unbeaten with late score to beat Baltimore >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alge Crumpler caught the game-winning
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M&T
Pagis bags hat trick to help Rennes stun Lyon >>
Rennes, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mickael Pagis had a hat trick to lead Rennes
to a stunning 3-0 victory over Lyon on Sunday, handing the seven-time defending
Ligue 1 champions their first loss of the season.
Rennes was dumped out of the UE
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Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clinton Portis gained 145 yards on 29
carries with a touchdown, and the surprising Washington Redskins came back to
stun the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-17.
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Raul helps Real Madrid draw Espanyol >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul scored two goals to help Real Madrid earn
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Both of Raul's goals, his third and fourth of the young season, answered goals
by Espanyol. Real sits fif
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 won’t 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 doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s 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. Where’s 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, don’t 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 won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m 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.
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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