Blue Jays edge Rangers in 11 innings

Baseball Betting Lines

04/22/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Millar doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th after Toronto blew a three-run lead in the ninth, as the Blue Jays got past Texas, 8-7, in the middle contest of three-game set from the Rogers Centre.

Rod Barajas slugged a pair of two-run homers and Alex Rios had four hits with two RBI for Toronto, which has wins in three of its last four. Jose Bautista also collected four hits and scored twice while Millar scored twice and banged out three hits in the win.

B.J. Ryan was tasked with holding the lead in the ninth, but started by hitting Chris Davis with a pitch and walking Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Ian Kinsler plated the first run with a fielder's choice grounder to second, that looked to be a sure double-play ball, but Aaron Hill's throw from second was wide of the bag and Kinsler took second on the throw. Kinsler then stole third to set up pinch-hitter Josh Hamilton's RBI ground out.

Michael Young then took Ryan deep to left-center, tying the game at seven.

Young also doubled twice, knocked in two and scored twice for Texas, which handed Toronto ace Roy Halladay his first loss of the season on Tuesday in the series opener. Saltalamacchia also ended with two RBI in defeat.

After Millar ended the bottom of the ninth with a double-play ball, Jason Frasor (3-0) was called upon to hold off the Rangers, and he did with two perfect frames of work.

Vernon Wells worked a walk off C.J. Wilson (0-2) to start the home 11th and moved up on Travis Snider's sacrifice bunt. Scott Rolen was issued an intentional free pass and Darren O'Day, acquired off waivers from the Mets earlier in the day, was summoned from the pen. Millar worked the count to 2-2 before taking a slider into the gap in left-center to end the game.

David Purcey limited the Rangers to three runs on seven hits and two walks over 5 1/3 frames while striking out six, but was denied his first victory of the 2009 season thanks to Ryan's antics in the ninth.

Matt Harrison was touched for five runs on nine hits and two walks over four innings in his start for Texas.

The Blue Jays jumped on top 2-0 in the second inning. Millar lined a two-out single into center and Harrison left a 1-1 changeup up in the zone as Barajas took it out to left field for the early lead.

Texas tied it just as quickly, though, as Nelson Cruz led off the third with a single and advanced to third on Davis' double to the left-field gap. Saltalamacchia roped a two-run single to left to even the score.

Barajas' second two-run shot of the game highlighted a three-run fourth as the Jays took a 5-2 lead. Millar doubled to left with one down and Barajas launched a slider deep to left. Bautista followed with a base-hit, moved to third on Hill's two-out single and crossed home on an RBI single by Rios.

Omar Vizquel singled and scored on a Young double in the fifth, cutting the Rangers' deficit to 5-3, but the Jays tacked on two more in the sixth off Scott Feldman on RBI singles by Rios and Adam Lind.

Texas got a run off Scott Downs in the eighth as Young doubled to right leading off, advanced to third on an Andruw Jones single and scored on a fielder's choice grounder from Marlon Byrd.

Game Notes

Texas split its eight games with the Blue Jays last season, but won both matchups held at the Rogers Centre...Kevin Millwood (1-1) gets the start in Thursday's series finale for Texas opposite Toronto's Scott Richmond (1-0)... The Rangers placed right-handed pitcher Kris Benson on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, retroactive to April 16, with right elbow tendinitis. The club also acquired O'Day and transferred pitcher Dustin Nippert from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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