Johnson's 10th-inning homer gets Rays past Red Sox

Baseball Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Johnson's leadoff homer to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted Tampa Bay over Boston, 3-2, in the second of three between the clubs at Tropicana Field.

The hit made a winner of Randy Choate (4-3), who recorded the final out in the top of the 10th.

B.J. Upton also homered and Matt Joyce knocked in a run for the Rays, who snapped a two-game slide. Tampa Bay remained tied for first in the AL East after the Yankees topped the White Sox later Saturday.

Victor Martinez homered and David Ortiz finished with three hits for the Red Sox, who have dropped two of three. Boston fell to 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees and Rays.

Scott Atchison (2-2) took the loss after allowing the game-deciding blast.

The Sox picked up a run in the fourth as Martinez singled, Ortiz doubled and Adrian Beltre lifted a sacrifice fly to left.

Evan Longoria's infield single to short was the first Rays hit, coming with one down in the home fourth, then Joyce singled to start the fifth but Tampa was unable to capitalize.

Tampa tied the game in the seventh. Longoria started with a single, then after a Carlos Pena fielder's choice, an errant pick-off move from Sox starter Clay Buchholz saw Pena go to third. Joyce's foul out to right was then far enough away to plate the run.

Buchholz wound up yielding four hits and two runs -- one earned -- with five strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings, while his counterpart Matt Garza scattered six hits and one run over seven frames.

Martinez reached the seats in right with two out in the eighth against Joaquin Benoit to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Though the Sox had two runners in scoring position afterwards, no runs came in.

Upton tied the game in the home half with a leadoff homer.

Game Notes

It was Johnson's first career walk-off home run...Tampa leads the season series 9-5 and have evened their record at 4-4 over the Sox in Florida...Prior to the game, the Red Sox activated pitcher Hideki Okajima from the 15- day disabled list and optioned pitcher Michael Bowden to Triple-A Pawtucket.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

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Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.