Bourjos, Abreu homer in Angels' win over Twins

Baseball Betting Lines

08/21/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Bourjos and Bobby Abreu clubbed back- to-back homers in the second inning, as the Los Angeles Angels went on to beat Minnesota, 9-3, in the second portion of a three-game series at Target Field.

Bourjos added an RBI triple for the Angels, who had dropped four of five coming in. Trevor Bell gave up three runs on four hits and a career-high six walks in 4 1/3 innings. Francisco Rodriguez (1-3) limited the Twins to one hit in 2 2/3 innings of relief to pick up the win.

Michael Cuddyer stroked a two-run single in a three-run first for Minnesota, which had won 10 of its last 11 home games. The Twins began the day with a 4 1/2-game lead over the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central. Chicago is scheduled to play a double-header against Kansas City on Saturday.

Twins starting pitcher Kevin Slowey (11-6) departed after three innings because of discomfort in his right triceps. Slowey will be further examined by doctors on Monday. He gave up four runs on seven hits versus Los Angeles, one outing after tossing seven hitless innings against Oakland.

The Twins spotted Slowey a three-run lead in the first inning. Denard Span led off with a walk and swiped second before Joe Mauer drew a one-out walk. Both runners came home on Cuddyer's two-out single. Cuddyer took second on a walk to Jim Thome and scored on Delmon Young's base hit.

Los Angeles quickly countered with a four-spot in the second. Back-to-back singles by Hideki Matsui and Erick Aybar put runners on the corners to start the inning. Mike Napoli followed with a sacrifice fly. One out later, Bourjos tied the game with a blast to left field for his first career major league home run. Abreu's 15th home run of the season put the Angels in front.

A two-out RBI triple by Bourjos extended the lead to 5-3 in the fifth.

Minnesota loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning, but Jason Kubel was gunned down at the plate attempting to score on Young's fly ball to center.

The Angels tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Jeff Manship, who replaced Slowey on the mound, was lifted in favor of Ron Mahay with two outs and a runner on first. Matsui then hit a ball to center that couldn't be reeled in by Span. Torii Hunter scored easily and Matsui wound up on third because of the error. Aybar followed with an infield single to plate Matsui for a 7-3 Los Angeles advantage. Mahay was injured on the play and left the game.

Jeff Mathis tripled home Napoli in the ninth and scored when Minnesota shortstop J.J. Hardy misplayed a grounder off the bat of Bourjos.

Game Notes

Abreu joined Alex Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero as the only active players with at least 15 home runs in each of the last 13 seasons (1998-2010)...Howie Kendrick and Aybar both had three hits for the Angels...The Twins still lead the season series, 4-2.

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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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