10/06/2008 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeWayne Wise hit a two-run double in Chicago's three-run fourth, and the White Sox staved off elimination with a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of their American League Division Series.
Tampa Bay still leads the series 2-1, and can advance to its first-ever American League Championship Series with a win in Game 4, set for Monday afternoon in Chicago. Game 5, if necessary, will be back in St. Petersburg, Florida on Wednesday.
John Danks (1-0) gave up seven hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks, to pick up another big win for the White Sox. Danks was coming off pitching eight innings of shutout ball in the one- game playoff with the Twins on Tuesday, and he earned the win as Chicago edged Minnesota 1-0 for the AL Central title.
A.J. Pierzynski had two hits and an RBI for Chicago.
"At least we play tomorrow. That's the only thing about it," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "But it give us maybe a little, a lot of comfort for tomorrow's game. We've played against the wall before and we've come out of it. We're going to put a lot of pressure on them."
Matt Garza (0-1) gave up five runs on seven hits in six innings, with four strikeouts and four walks, to take the loss for the Rays. B.J. Upton hit a two-run home run, and Akinori Iwamura had two hits and drove in the other run for the AL East champions.
"To think that you are just going to waltz through this whole thing is not a good thought," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "It's very unreasonable. They're very good. And they're very good in this building also."
Gavin Floyd faces Tampa Bay's Andy Sonnanstine in the pitching matchup Monday.
Chicago plated three runs in the fourth to move in front. Jim Thome laced a double to center to start the rally, Paul Konerko walked, and Ken Griffey Jr. singled to right to load the bases with no outs. Alexei Ramirez lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Thome, and Wise followed by shooting a line drive into the corner in left, scoring Konerko and Griffey for a 4-1 White Sox lead.
Juan Uribe added an RBI single with two outs in the sixth, stretching Chicago's lead to 5-1, but Upton cut the lead to two with his long homer in the seventh.
Danks walked Rocco Baldelli to start the seventh, but fanned Jason Bartlett and got Iwamura to fly out to left. The Chicago right-hander grooved a fastball up and over the plate to Upton, though, and Upton turned on it and sent it deep into the stands in left.
Upton's first career postseason long ball cut the White Sox lead from four runs to two and, after Carlos Pena followed with a single, Danks was pulled for Octavio Dotel. A wild pitch by Dotel allowed Pena to take second, but the White Sox reliever rebounded to strike out Evan Longoria to end the threat.
Matt Thornton worked around a two-out walk in a scoreless eighth, and Bobby Jenks came on in the ninth to close it out for Chicago. Upton singled to left with two outs, bringing the dangerous Pena to the plate, but Jenks struck him out looking for the save, keeping Chicago's season alive for at least another day.
The game was delayed 35 minutes due to rain, and the Rays jumped in front with a run in the second. Dioner Navarro doubled to left with one out, and moved to third on Baldelli's groundout. Bartlett walked, and Iwamura grounded a slow roller to a perfect spot between first base and the mound. The infield single allowed Navarro to score for a 1-0 Tampa Bay lead.
The White Sox knotted the game with a two-out run of their own in the third. Wise walked to lead off the inning and stole second with two outs. Pierzynski then grounded back up the middle, and the RBI single tied the game at 1-1.
Game Notes
Chad Bradford pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Rays. Bradford has not allowed an earned run in 19 career postseason appearances, spanning 18 1/3 innings with the White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, and Tampa Bay...The Rays failed to become the fifth team to sweep their first-ever postseason series. The 1914 Boston Braves, 1966 Baltimore Orioles, 1969 New York Mets, and 1997 Florida Marlins all accomplished the feat...Danks had not allowed a home run in eight of his last 11 starts...Pena is 0-for-6 in his career against Jenks with four strikeouts.
<< Canucks sign Hodgson
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks signed center Cody
Hodgson, their top draft choice from this year, to an entry-level contract on
Sunday.
The 18-year-old Hodgson, the 10th overall pick, was a member of the Onta
<< Warner and Cardinals deal Buffalo first loss of season
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Warner threw a pair of touchdown passes
and Tim Hightower scored twice, as the Arizona Cardinals cruised past the
previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills, 41-17.
Warner hit on 33-of-42 pass attempts for
<< Hornets' Chandler hurts ankle
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Hornets center Tyson Chandler
left Sunday's 106-103 preseason-opening victory over the Golden State
Warriors in the first quarter with a sprained right ankle.
The injury occurred un
<< Manning, Colts rally to stun Texans
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning's five-yard touchdown pass to
Reggie Wayne with just under two minutes to go capped a furious Indianapolis
comeback as the Colts stunned Houston, 31-27.
Trailing 27-10 late in the fourt
White Sox try to force fifth game against Rays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox try to stave off playoff
elimination this evening when they play Game 4 of the best-of-five American
League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at U.S. Cellular Field.
Chicago lived to play a
BoSox attempt to finish off Angels and advance to ALCS >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox try to advance to their fourth American
League Championship Series in the last six years this evening when they play
Game 4 of the ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Fenway Park.
Boston fa
Hurricanes' Walker undergoes surgery >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carolina right wing Scott Walker had successful
surgery on his left hand Monday morning. The procedure was needed to repair a
torn ligament in the injured hand.
The 35-year-old Walker registered 14 goals a
Brewers' Weeks has successful surgery >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie
Weeks underwent a debridement of the meniscus of the left knee on Monday.
The procedure was performed by Dr. William Raasch at Froedtert Medical Center
in Milwau
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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