Hall, Red Sox pound Blue Jays

Baseball Betting Lines

08/11/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Hall hit a pair of home runs and drove in four runs, as Boston used the long ball to support Clay Buchholz in a 10-1 pounding of Toronto at Rogers Centre.

Hill finished 3-for-5, Adrian Beltre hit a three-run home run and Mike Lowell contributed three hits, an RBI and run scored. Buchholz (13-5) had superb movement on his pitches Wednesday, surrendering one unearned run on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks over eight frames for the Red Sox, winners of three games in a row.

Shaun Marcum (10-6) was hit hard for eight runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks over four-plus frames. He gave up four home runs as well in the losing effort. Adam Lind finished with three hits for the Blue Jays, who have dropped two straight.

Each team managed to score a first-inning run without a hit. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Lowell, who looked at a close 3-2 pitch just off the inside part of the plate, forcing in a run.

In the bottom of the frame, Travis Snider reached on a Lowell fielding error, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, scampered to third on a passed ball then tagged and scored on Jose Bautista's sacrifice fly to right.

Boston tagged Marcum for a run in the second thanks to a solo shot off the bat of Hall, who was swinging for the fences again in the fourth. With a runner on first and one out, Hall pulled a low-and-away offering well into the seats in left for his second homer of the game and a 4-1 advantage.

The Red Sox then used more power to chase Marcum and extend their lead in the fifth. J.D. Drew began the proceedings with a long home run off a facade in the second deck in right-center field, then Victor Martinez singled in front of a David Ortiz base hit. Beltre followed with a three-run shot to right for an 8-1 edge, ending Marcum's evening.

Boston kept the onslaught going against the Toronto bullpen, as Hall's single to center scored Lowell for the fifth run of the frame.

Martinez's RBI single in the eighth made it a 10-1 game.

Game Notes

Boston has won nine of the last 11 contests versus Toronto...Buchholz has won five of his last six decisions. The right-hander improved to 5-3 in nine games (eight starts) versus the Blue Jays...Marcum did toss seven shutout innings versus Boston back on May 12...Beltre has hit safely in 23 of 26 games since the All-Star break...Boston's 268 victories versus Toronto are the most wins ever by any club against the Blue Jays...Buchholz has posted a 10-2 record over his last 14 starts. His 12 victories in night games are tops in Major League Baseball.

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Horse Betting

(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."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.