Smoltz struggles in Red Sox debut as Nationals cruise to win
Baseball Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Willie Harris and Josh Bard each finished with three hits and drove in a pair of runs as Washington spoiled the Red Sox debut of John Smoltz with a 9-3 thrashing in the finale of a three-game interleague series at Nationals Park.
Anderson Hernandez and Cristian Guzman also knocked in a pair of runs each for the Nationals, who avoided the sweep and snapped a three-game losing skid.
Jordan Zimmermann (3-3) went seven innings for the victory, scattering five hits and a run while fanning six.
Rocco Baldelli hit a two-run homer and David Ortiz drove in the other run for the Red Sox, whose four-game win streak came to an end.
Smoltz (0-1), finally able to make his season and Boston debut, was tagged in the loss for seven hits and five runs over five innings. The 42-year-old fanned five and walked one but suffered his first defeat since April 27, 2008 as a member of the Atlanta Braves.
It was the first appearance on the mound for Smoltz since last June 2, when his season was derailed due to surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder.
For the third straight time in the series, the Nats got on the board first, tagging the unlucky Smoltz for four runs.
Nick Johnson was drilled with a pitch two batters in, and Ryan Zimmerman followed with a double before Adam Dunn walked to load the bases. Josh Willingham's single plated one run, then Bard followed with another RBI hit. After a Harris line out, Hernandez dumped a single to left that brought in two more.
Willingham doubled with one out in the third and Bard drove him in two batters later for a 5-0 contest.
Boston finally hit the scoreboard in the sixth. Back-to-back singles from J.D. Drew and Jason Bay with one out put runners on the corners, and Ortiz lofted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Drew.
Washington was not done, and pushed across two runs in the home sixth on a two-run single by Guzman. The Nationals plated two more in the seventh on a second-deck blast to right by Harris.
Baldelli deposited a Tyler Clippard pitch into the left-field seats with one out in the ninth for a 9-3 game, but the reliever struck out Nick Green and Ramon Ramirez to finish off the win.
Game Notes
It was the first victory by any Washington-based club over Boston since September 18, 1971, when the Senators were based in the American League and played in RFK Stadium...It was also the first win over the Sox for the franchise since the Montreal Expos posted an 11-7 victory at Olympic Stadium on July 17, 2001...Smoltz had been activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the contest...Johnson had to leave the game in the second inning with a bruised left shin suffered when Smoltz hit him in the first.
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Best Horse Betting Online
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
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