Reds, Leake hope to pad lead in NL Central in finale with Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Mike Leake can finish off a series sweep and keep the Cincinnati Reds in first place this afternoon when they close out a three- game set with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

The Reds lead the National League's Central Division by a half-game over St. Louis after a 7-0 defeat of Houston on Saturday. The Cardinals dropped their second straight, 6-5, to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

Johnny Cueto dealt eight scoreless innings and Joey Votto slugged his league- leading 25th home run in Cincinnati's win.

Cueto (10-2) allowed four hits while walking one and striking out six for the Reds, which has won all five of its games this season in Houston. Jordan Smith finished the shutout by retiring the Astros without incident in the ninth.

Votto slugged a two-run home run in the first inning and finished 2-for-4, while Orlando Cabrera had three hits and scored twice and Laynce Nix added three hits and a pair of runs driven in.

Roy Oswalt (6-12) suffered a rare defeat to the Reds after yielding six runs on nine hits over five frames during which he walked one and struck out three for the Astros, who have dropped three of their last four.

Leake, who skipped from Arizona State to the big leagues this spring, has faced the Astros twice this season while recording an April 28 win in Houston and a no-decision on May 30 in Cincinnati. In those two starts, he's combined to allow 12 hits and a run in 13 innings while walking five and striking out eight.

He was 5-0 on the season before a 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 16, and has recovered to go 2-0 in five starts since - including an 8-7 win over Washington on July 20.

The 22-year-old from San Diego is 3-0 in seven road starts.

Houston's Wandy Rodriguez faced the Reds in a May 28 start in Cincinnati and was a 15-6 loser after being raked for eight hits and eight runs in 3 1/3 innings. He's 6-7 in 17 starts against Cincinnati with a 4.52 earned run average.

Rodriguez was a wobbly 3-10 after a 9-3 loss to Texas in a June 18 interleague matchup in Houston, but has won four times in five starts since - including an 11-5 defeat of the Cubs in Chicago on Monday.

The 31-year-old is 4-5 at Minute Maid Park this season.

Wwwplayrio Baseball Betting News

<< Detwiler makes season debut in finale with Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Ross Detwiler makes his season debut today when the Washington Nationals try to avoid a sweep in the finale of a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. On Saturday, Ryan Braun drove in Rickie We

<< Giants, Lincecum go for sweep in Arizona
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum tries to bounce back from a shaky effort his last time out when the San Francisco Giants close out a four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Lincecum escaped without getting a decision o

<< Mets wrap up disastrous road trip at Chavez Ravine
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - R.A. Dickey targets his first win in six starts this afternoon when the New York Mets wrap up what has been a disastrous road trip with the finale of their four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

<< Shin denies Pressel, Thompson at Evian Masters
Evian-les-Bains, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin birdied the 18th hole Sunday to earn a one-shot victory at the Evian Masters, her seventh win on the LPGA Tour. Shin made five birdies for a five-under 67, fi

<< Hunter tries to stay perfect, as Rangers finish set with Halos
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hunter will try to remain flawless on the season when he takes the hill for the Texas Rangers this evening in the finale of a four- game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Orioles activate C Wieters >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles activated catcher Matt Wieters from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. The 24-year-old backstop was put on the DL on July 10 with a right hamstring strain. Over 77 games this season,

Gaunt rallies for Challenge Tour victory >>
Essex, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Gaunt closed with a four-under 68 Sunday to come from behind and win the English Challenge. Gaunt finished at 17-under-par 271 for his first European Challenge Tour victory. It was amat

Montanes survives first-round match in Gstaad >>
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Albert Montanes rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win over fellow Spaniard Pere Riba in the first round of the Gstaad Open. Russian Igor Andreev was also a first-round winner o

Johnson gets dramatic home win in Sweden >>
Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden's Richard S. Johnson made a long birdie putt at the 18th hole Sunday to win the Scandinavian Masters by one shot. Johnson closed with a one-under 71 and finished at 11-under 277, beating th

Giants' Velez put on DL >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco Giants outfielder Eugenio Velez was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a head contusion and concussion suffered as a result of being hit by a foul ball during Saturday's game ag

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.