Dodgers finally solve Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

06/25/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Furcal's two-run double fueled a five- run fourth inning, as the Dodgers notched their first win this season in the Freeway Series with a 10-6 decision over the Angels.

Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll collected three hits apiece and knocked in a run for the Dodgers, who snapped a six-game losing streak and avoided a third consecutive interleague sweep.

"Putting the five-spot up in the fourth was big and it was nice that we continued to score," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We were aggressive on the basepaths. We had a lot of life tonight."

Charlie Haeger returned from a stint on the disabled list with a sprained right toe to start for the Dodgers. The knuckleballer gave up four runs on five hits and four walks over 4 2/3 innings. Jeff Weaver (4-1) tossed a scoreless inning to get the win.

Bobby Abreu went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs batted in for the Angels, who posted a 5-1 record against their crosstown rivals.

Scott Kazmir (7-6) allowed five runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. He had won four straight starts.

Abreu's RBI single staked the Angels to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Dodgers erupted in the fourth.

Matt Kemp led off with a single and Kazmir hit James Loney with a pitch. After Russell Martin drew a one-out walk, Reed Johnson reached on an infield single to plate the tying run. Furcal's double gave the visitors the lead and Carroll singled home Johnson before Furcal scored on a fielder's choice to make 5-1.

"My fastball command wasn't there, but I had a good feel with other pitches," Kazmir said. "Hitting Loney and walking Martin in the fourth was big. You can't give guys free bases."

Mike Napoli hit a solo home run to center field off Haeger in the fourth. A sacrifice fly by Martin in the fifth restored the Dodgers' four-run advantage.

Torii Hunter and Hideki Matsui stroked RBI singles to trim the Angels' deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the inning.

The Dodgers increased their lead to 8-4 in the seventh on RBI singles by Manny Ramirez and Blake. Ramirez and Loney both contributed run-scoring singles in the eighth.

The Angels picked up two runs in the ninth on a double by Kevin Frandsen and single by Abreu.

Game Notes

The game was delayed for 18 minutes in the top of the seventh inning when a set of lights overlooking right field went out. The lights remained out when play resumed...The Dodgers improved to 3-9 against the American League this season...The Dodgers are just 14-26 all-time at Angel Stadium.

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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.