08/20/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins will be trying to put together a winning streak for the first time this month when the young club takes the field tonight against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.
Florida kicked off an important nine-game road trip with Tuesday's 6-0 triumph over the Giants in the first of three straight meetings between these teams. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco went the distance on a brilliant two-hitter and helped his cause at the plate as well, contributing a two-RBI double during a three-run fifth inning.
Nolasco (12-7) struck out 11 Giants and issued just one walk in hurling the first complete game by a Florida pitcher since Anibal Sanchez accomplished the feat against Atlanta on September 16, 2006. The right-hander was in command from the start, throwing 78 of his 110 pitches for strikes.
John Baker went 3-for-4 with an RBI single and Jorge Cantu added two hits, including a solo home run, to help the Marlins keep pace in the National League East race. Florida is in third place in the division, four games behind the front-running New York Mets and 2 1/2 back of runner-up Philadelphia.
San Francisco committed a season-high four errors and saw its two-game win streak come to a halt.
Florida now aims for back-to-back victories for the first time since July 30-31. The team has struggled for much of August, having compiled a 7-10 record so far this month, but has now won two of its last three games.
Scott Olsen gets a chance to face the Giants' anemic offense tonight as he seeks to end a personal slide of four consecutive losing decisions. The young southpaw hasn't won in five starts since beating the Phillies on July 19, although Olsen has yielded three runs or less in three of those outings.
He pitched well in last Thursday's matchup against St. Louis but was victimized by a lack of run support in a 3-0 loss. In that game, Olsen allowed three runs over seven innings and struck out six without walking a batter.
The 24-year-old was hit hard in a defeat to the Giants in Miami back in May, lasting just 3 1/3 innings and getting tagged for seven runs (5 earned) on eight hits, including a pair of homers.
For his career, Olsen is 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA in three starts against San Francisco. This will be his first lifetime appearance at AT&T Park.
Matt Cain takes the hill for the Giants this evening in search of a third straight winning decision. The talented righty limited Atlanta to one run on six hits in seven innings of a 5-1 triumph on Friday, improving him to 3-1 with a 1.72 ERA over his last five mound trips. Cain has surrendered one earned run or fewer in four of those games.
The 23-year-old is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in three career starts against the Marlins. He recorded a no-decision at Dolphin Stadium on May 25, although Cain held the Fish to two runs and struck out six in six frames.
Florida won two of three tests from the Giants in Miami earlier this season. However, San Francisco is 10-5 over its last 15 encounters with the Marlins.
<< Rays put baseball's top record on the line in finale with Angels
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thanks to wins in the first two games of this series the
Tampa Bay Rays now have the best record in all of baseball. Tonight, they will
try to sweep the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the second time this
season in a three
<< Blue Jays try to catch Yankees in standings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two American League East foes currently headed in opposite
directions continue a three-game set tonight at Toronto's Rogers Centre, where
the surging Blue Jays shoot for a second consecutive win over the reeling New
York Yank
<< Haren, Peavy to go toe-to-toe in Diamondbacks-Padres tilt
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A showdown between two of the top pitchers in the National
League is on tap for tonight at Chase Field, where Dan Haren will lead the
Arizona Diamondbacks in the second test of a three-game series versus Jake
Peavy a
<< Brewers, Astros to complete Central clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's too bad CC Sabathia can't pitch every night for the
struggling Milwaukee Brewers, who are 8-1 with the big lefty on the hill.
Manny Parra will try to begin a streak of his own when he handles pitching
duties f
NCAA Football Preview - Texas A&M Aggies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Wins in their first three games, including a thrilling
47-45 overtime triumph over Fresno State, had the Aggies feeling pretty good
about the prospect of making some serious noise in th
Addition of Artest has moved Rockets up ladder >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There have been some significant moves in the Western
Conference during the offseason which should impact the way the West will be
won during the 2008-09 campaign.
Houston traded for Ron Artest, New Orleans inked swingman
Second opinion confirms knee injury for Sixers' Smith >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia 76ers center Jason Smith
was examined Tuesday afternoon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New
York.
Dr. David Altchek, the attending orthopaedic surgeon in the Sports Medicin
CC: Closer to an MVP than a Cy Young? >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The CC Sabathia for NL Cy Young Award talk is starting to
pick up some steam. Actually, "picking up steam" is the wrong phrase, but
everyone seems to be asking me these days if he has a shot at winning the
award.
If anyth
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 won’t 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 doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s 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. Where’s 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, don’t 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 won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m 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.
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