09/13/2008 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Harrison threw his first career shutout, a five-hitter, to lead the Texas Rangers to a 7-0 win over Oakland in the second of four games with the Athletics.
The rookie left-hander Harrison (8-3) walked four and struck out five for the Rangers, who have won three of four. Harrison had previously thrown eight shutout innings on August 16 against Tampa Bay.
Taylor Teagarden and Hank Blalock each hit a solo homer for Texas, while Chris Davis finished with two hits and two runs batted in.
Greg Smith (7-15) took the loss after surrendering six runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, with two walks and two strikeouts.
Kurt Suzuki had two of the five hits for Oakland, which has dropped two straight contests.
Blalock put Texas on the scoreboard in the second inning with his seventh homer of the season, and third in as many games. Teagarden added his fifth of the year in the third inning for a 2-0 lead.
Smith's start began to unravel in the fourth, after he loaded the bases with a double to Josh Hamilton, a Marlon Byrd single and a walk to Nelson Cruz. Blalock followed with a deep fly to right field that served as a sacrifice fly, while Gerald Laird followed with another sac fly. Davis then doubled in Cruz for a 5-0 Rangers advantage.
Davis tripled in Laird in the sixth inning, after Laird had doubled, which prompted Smith to be removed from the game. Jeff Gray came on in relief, but ran into trouble in the seventh when the Rangers loaded the bases on three singles. Gray then plunked Cruz in the hand to force in a run for a seven-run cushion.
Harrison, meanwhile, worked out of a few potentially dangerous situations. He stranded runners on first and third in the second, and worked around a two-out double in the third. He got a key double play in the fourth with no outs and two runners on, then struck out Jack Hannahan to end the frame.
Harrison settled down from there, though in the ninth gave up a two-out single to Suzuki and walked Bobby Crosby. However, he was left in the game and Texas shortstop Michael Young snagged a liner from Hannahan to end the contest.
Game Notes
Harrison is the first rookie left-hander in Rangers history to win eight games in a single season...The Rangers stranded five runners, while Oakland left seven on base...Texas turned two double plays, giving the Rangers 180 this season. That leads the major leagues and set a new club record.
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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