Phillies build big lead, top Marlins to keep hold of first place

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard finished 3-for-5 with a three- run homer and tied a season-high with six RBI as Philadelphia built a double- digit lead but held on to top Florida, 10-6, in the finale of a four-game set.

Chase Utley added two hits, two runs scored and drove in two for the Phillies, who took three of four in the series and maintained a half-game edge in the NL East over Atlanta. The Braves routed Pittsburgh, 9-3.

Jimmy Rollins collected two hits and scored a run before leaving in the fourth inning with a tight right hamstring. He is listed as day-to-day.

Cole Hamels (10-10) turned in seven scoreless frames, scattering four hits while fanning five and walking one. The left-hander's consecutive scoreless innings streak was extended to 25 innings over his last four starts, dating back to August 24 against Houston.

Gaby Sanchez hit a three-run blast and Cameron Maybin contributed a two-run double for the Marlins, who have lost four of six.

Andrew Miller (1-1) was tagged in defeat for 11 hits and seven runs over just four innings, boosting his earned-run average to 6.16.

Howard contributed an RBI single in the seventh to get the Phils into double digits with a seemingly safe 10-0 advantage, before Florida hit the scoreboard in the eighth with six runs.

Nate Robertson gave up a single to Emilio Bonifacio and a walk to Logan Morrison before a three-run homer from Sanchez. Maybin later added a two-run double which halved the Marlins' deficit, then a pinch-hit two-out RBI double from Scott Cousins off David Herndon made it 10-6. Mike Rivera grounded out to end the rally.

Herndon walked Morrison with one out in the ninth, bringing on Ryan Madson, who prevented further damage by retiring Sanchez on a pop out and fanning Dan Uggla.

The Phils picked up two runs in the first. Shane Victorino doubled, Utley walked with one out and stole second, then Howard's single that bounced away from Marlins right-fielder Mike Stanton plated both and got Howard to second. Rollins singled with two down but Howard was thrown out at the plate.

In the second, Raul Ibanez stroked a leadoff double, Carlos Ruiz walked, and the bases were loaded when Wes Helms threw away Hamels' attempted sacrifice bunt. Victorino then plated a run with a groundout.

Rollins doubled with two down in the third and after a walk to Ibanez, scored on a Ruiz base hit for a 4-0 Phillies lead.

In the fourth, Placido Polanco and Utley singled with one out ahead of Howard's three-run blast, then Utley added a two-run single in the fifth which put the home team ahead 9-0.

Game Notes

Howard last drove in six during a 12-2 win over Pittsburgh on May 17...The contest ended a stretch of 24 games in 23 days since the Phils' last off day on August 17, during which the three-time NL East champs went 15-9...Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez did not play due to a sore back...Robertson was torched for four hits and six runs with two walks and two strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning.

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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.