Betting Odds - Graffiti - Podcast

Atlanta, GA - Yunel Escobar hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning, as the Atlanta Braves edged the Colorado Rockies, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game series at Turner Field.

The scoring went silent from the seventh inning on, until Atlanta mounted an attack in the bottom of the 10th. Jeff Francoeur started the rally with a one- out double off Taylor Buchholz (5-4), and Matt Diaz was intentionally walked to set up the double play. Escobar stepped in next and slapped a base hit to left on an 0-2 count to plate Francoeur and end the game.

“I’m not afraid to hit with two strikes,” Escobar said. “I hit a fastball. I’m just willing to do whatever it takes to get the team a victory.”

Escobar finished with two RBI while Chipper Jones fell a triple shy of the cycle for the Braves, who won the last two games to claim the series. Chuck James got the start and allowed four runs over five innings of work. The bullpen allowed just one run the rest of the way, with Oscar Villarreal (2-1) working the 10th for the win.

Aaron Cook opposed James and allowed five runs — three earned — on 10 hits over 5 1/3 frames for Colorado, which has dropped three of five. Ryan Spilborghs homered twice and Todd Helton knocked in a pair in defeat.

“I got some balls up in the zone today. I just wasn’t sharp,” said Cook.

Spilborghs put the Rockies in front with a two-out solo blast to right in the second.

Atlanta tied it in the fourth on Escobar’s RBI single, but Spilborghs led off the top of the fifth with his second home run of the game to give the lead back to Colorado.

Jones then gave the Braves their first lead of the game in fifth with a two- run homer to left after Kelly Johnson reached first on Jamey Carroll’s fielding error.

Colorado got to James in the sixth, though, to temporarily reclaim the lead. Carroll drew a leadoff walk and Matt Holliday followed with a base hit to set the stage for Helton, who singled to center to tie the game. Tyler Yates replaced James on the mound and was greeted by a Garrett Atkins double that scored Holliday for a 4-3 lead.

The Braves struck right back in the home-half of the sixth. Following a Diaz single and a sacrifice bunt by Escobar, Corky Miller came through with a double to left to tie the contest and chase Cook from the game. Jeremy Affeldt came in and yielded a run-scoring double to Willie Harris that put the Braves in front, 5-4.

Carroll tripled with one out, and Helton tied it with an RBI single in the seventh.

Game Notes

This was Spilborghs’ second career multi-homer game…Andruw Jones sat out with a hyperextended left elbow…Atlanta’s Kelly Johnson extended his hit streak to seven games.

Minneapolis, MN - Scott Baker dominated for eight innings and combined with Joe Nathan on a five-hit shutout, as Minnesota edged Cleveland, 1-0, in the third of a four-game set at the Metrodome.

Baker (6-4) allowed only four hits to outduel Fausto Carmona. Baker fanned four and walked a pair for the Twins, who won their second in a row and their sixth in eight games. Alexi Casilla’s RBI double accounted for the lone run of the game.

Carmona (13-6) yielded only five hits and a run, with five walks and five strikeouts for the reeling Indians, who have dropped two in a row and nine of their last 13 games.

Thanks to the poor play of the Indians and Tigers of late, the Twins have closed to within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Indians, who own a half-game lead over the Tigers in the American League Central.

The Indians had an opportunity to go on top early when Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner started the second inning with consecutive singles. Baker bore down, though, striking out Ryan Garko, getting Trot Nixon to foul out, and Jhonny Peralta to fly out to center to strand the runners.

“He gave us a great outing, eight innings, no runs … That’s about all you can ask for,” said Minnesota’s Joe Mauer of Baker. “He made some great pitches when he had to and got out of some jams.”

The Twins finally broke through against Carmona in the fourth with a two-out rally. After Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter both grounded out, Jason Kubel got things started with a single to left. After Brian Buscher walked, Casilla ripped a ground-rule double to left, plating Kubel to give the Twins the lead.

Baker helped his own cause with a spectacular diving catch in the eighth. After Nixon singled to left to start things off, Peralta tried to bunt him into scoring position. The Indians shortstop bunted the ball into the air to the first-base side of the mound, and Baker made the diving grab, turned from his knees and threw to first to double off Nixon. Josh Barfield then fouled out to end the inning.

Nathan closed things out in the ninth, allowing only a two-out single to Casey Blake before retiring Martinez to end the game.

“We had some opportunities, I think there are some guys who wish they could get some pitches back,” said Blake. “It’s a tough game, obviously we don’t have a whole lot going our way right now. Our starting pitching’s been fantastic, but certainly our offense isn’t clicking on all cylinders.”

Game Notes

Minnesota’s Michael Cuddyer, who had gone 3-for-7 with two doubles and two RBI in two games since returning from the disabled list on Friday, went 0-for-4 Sunday…The Twins won despite leaving 10 runners on base…Attendance was 38,334.

Hidalgo, TX - Israel Vazquez regained the WBC super bantamweight belt with a six round technical knockout of Rafael Marquez at the Dodge Arena Saturday.

The bout was a rematch from March 3 this year, which ended when Vazquez could not come out for the eighth round after suffering a nose injury.

After knocking down Marquez (37-4, 33 KOs) early in the sixth round, Vazquez (42-4, 31 KOs) continued to attack and landed a flurry of punches before referee Guadalupe Garcia stopped the fight at the 1:16 mark. The fight was a back-and-forth slugfest from the first round on and the stoppage may have been premature since Marquez, although seemingly vulnerable, was still defending himself.

Marquez, 32, lost for the first time since November 2000 against unheralded Genaro Garcia, a span of 17 fights.

Marquez-Vazquez could likely turn into a trilogy because of the exhilarating, toe-to-toe, give-and-take action the two have provided in each of their fights.

Celestino Caballero retained his WBA super bantamweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Jorge Lacierva.

Caballero (27-2, 18 KOs), a 31-year-old left-hander from Panama, was unimpressive in his fourth title defense. The Mexican challenger Lacierva initiated the action in at least the first three rounds while landing many big punches. Caballero, who had a six-inch height advantage, did rally late but received shockingly favorable scores of 115-112, 116-111 and 116-110.

The fight was a sloppy one. Referee Laurence Cole deducted a point from Lacierva (32-7-6, 22 KOs) in the sixth round after he warned the 29-year-old for a low blow and hitting behind the head earlier in the fight. Caballero, an unorthodox southpaw, was warned in the 10th for both holding and pushing.

Budapest, Hungary - Rookie Lewis Hamilton led every lap while capturing the Grand Prix of Hungary at the Hungaroring in Budapest. The No.2 McLaren driver crossed the finish line 0.715 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

The victory was Hamilton’s third of the season.

After Fernando Alonso was removed from the pole (dropped to sixth), Hamilton led the field off the grid for 70 laps of racing. Also dropped on the starting grid was Giancarlo Fisichella. He went from eighth to 13th for blocking Sakon Yamamoto.

On the start Hamilton immediately got away and Raikkonen slid past Nick Heidfeld for second place. Meanwhile, Alonso lost one place to Mark Webber in a rare poor start for the two-time World Champion.

Hamilton’s lead after two laps was already 2.4 seconds. He continued to pull away from Raikkonen as the early laps clicked off.

Alonso regained his composure and began the long fight back up the charts. He made a nice move around Robert Kubica on lap three and got right on the back of Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota.

Raikkonen finally began to cut into Hamilton’s lead beginning with a fastest lap of the day on lap six and again on lap eight, but he was still more than three seconds behind. Both drivers were well ahead of third-place Heidfeld as they approached the first round of pit stops.

Behind the two leaders, most of the top drivers pitted indicating that not only could they not keep pace, but they had less fuel on board and therefore were lighter. Alonso took about three seconds more of fuel than most, planning on a long second stint.

On lap 19 both Hamilton and Raikkonen made their stops and remained one-two after getting their fuel and new tires.

Raikkonen was closing in on Hamilton cutting the gap to just 1.5 seconds on lap 25 and 1.2 seconds one lap later. At the mid-point of the 70-lap event the margin was just 1.0 seconds.

Massa, who qualified a distant 14th and was using a one-stop strategy, came out after his stop just in front of Hamilton, but almost a full lap down.

Would he hold up Hamilton in an attempt to help his teammate Raikkonen?

The answer would come on lap 39 when he correctly pulled to the inside and allowed both race leaders to get by.

Hamilton and Raikkonen were still about one second apart and more than 35 seconds ahead of third-place Heidfeld.

On lap 47 Raikkonen pitted for the final time and put on the softer compound tire. Hamilton remained out and put in a a couple pretty good laps so he would have a bigger lead after his final stop.

Hamilton came in on lap 51 and after a clean stop he returned to the track with a 4.4 second lead.

Meanwhile, the longer stint by Alonso worked in helping him get past Ralf Schumacher, who he had been following for most of the race. Alonso only needed a quick fill on the final stop and re-entered the track ahead of Schumacher.

Hamilton and Raikkonen were working their way through lapped traffic and Raikkonen was doing it better, cutting the lead to 0.5 seconds with 13 laps to go. Heidfeld was still in third place and Alonso was up to fourth.

By lap 60 Hamilton and Raikkonen broke away from the slower traffic and it was one-on-one for the Grand Prix of Hungary. Slowly, Hamilton edged away from Raikkonen. With seven laps to go the gap was up to 1.1 seconds. It was still around one second with five circuits remaining.

Hamilton was mistake-free over the final laps and Raikkonen could never find a way to catch him despite setting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap.

Hamilton led all 70 laps en route to his third career win.

“With all the drama it would have been easy to lose focus,” said Hamilton. “But the team remained positive and the energy in the team remained which just proves there is nothing that can stop us.”

Heidfeld, Alonso, Kubica, Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen completed the points-scoring positions.

With the win, Hamilton expands his lead to seven points over Alonso (80-73).

The next race in the championship is scheduled for Sunday, August 26th for the Grand Prix of Turkey.

Lyon, France - Lyon, the defending French Ligue 1 champions, got their title defense off to a good start, winning their first contest of the 2007-2007 season 2-0 over Auxerre, Sunday.

Goals by Milan Baros and Karim Benzema gave the champs a spot at the top of the table early.

The first goal was scored in the 33rd minute when Jeremy Toulalan threaded a pass to Baros in stride and he did well, lifting the ball over Auxerre goalkeeper Olivier Sorin.

Benzema doubled the lead 20 minutes from time when Sidney Govou carried the ball into the attacking third dishing to Benzema, who blasted a left-footed rocket past Sorin.

In the other Ligue 1 contest Sunday, Marko Basa got the only goal of the game as Le Mans got their new campaign off to a winning start by beating Ligue 1 newcomers Metz.

Washington, DC - Top-seeded American Andy Roddick downed unseeded countryman John Isner in straight sets to win the $600,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic for a third time.

Roddick bested the 22-year old Isner, who starred collegiately at the University of Georgia, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

With the win, Roddick captured his 23rd career title in his 36th final. He’s now won 10 straight matches at this event after missing last year’s tournament due to an abdominal strain.

Roddick, the 2006 U.S. Open runner-up, also titled here in 2001 and 2005.

The 6-foot-9 Isner, who led the Bulldogs to the NCAA title last year, was playing in just his second-ever ATP event and was ranked 416th in the world.

Roddick pocketed $74,250 for his win.

St. Andrews, Scotland - This time there would be no meltdown, no miraculous shot from another player, no doubt about it.

Lorena Ochoa has her first major championship.

The Mexican star closed with a one-over 74 in the final round Sunday to win the Women’s British Open by four shots, ending her 0-fer in major championships with a weekend of steady golf on the Scottish coast while all the pressure of dubious past performances in the majors rested on her slight frame.

She seemed to handle it with ease, protecting her first-round 67 with three scores of 74 or better to finally gain that last bit of validation for her now-unassailable No. 1 ranking.

No one — not Annika Sorenstam, not previous foil Karrie Webb — could stop Ochoa this time. Her stunning 16-month run to the top of the women’s game has its climax.

“It was a great day,” she said.

Ochoa finished at five-under 287. She led after each of the four rounds, a fine achievement in the first professional women’s tournament ever hosted by storied St. Andrews.

Tiger Woods also went wire-to-wire for his second win at St. Andrews in 2005.

“It’s really hard to describe and I think it’s not going to be easy to realize what just happened,” Ochoa said, responding to her status as the first woman to win on the course.

Several players took stabs at Ochoa’s lead early on, but there were only three other survivors to par when all was said and done. Jee Young Lee and Maria Hjorth had matching 71s in the final round to finish at one-under 291.

Reilley Rankin also shot a 71 and was alone in fourth place at even-par.

Sorenstam, who was within five shots of Ochoa after six holes, went five-over par on her last 12 holes and tumbled all the way into a tie for 16th place at four-over 296.

Looking for a jolt to her middling play, Sorenstam didn’t come close to getting it. She closed with rounds of 77 and 76 on the weekend.

“I’m swinging as good as I can. I’m putting as well as I can, but it is just not coming together,” Sorenstam said. “It was just one of those weeks.”

The 25-year-old Ochoa had never won a major before Sunday, but she didn’t lack opportunities.

She squandered a seven-shot lead in the final round of last year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship and was beaten in a playoff by Webb. It was a record- tying meltdown at the modern women’s majors, one that almost felled her in regulation.

Many remember Webb’s miraculous hole-out eagle from the fairway at the 18th hole that Sunday, and for good reason. But lost in the mix was Ochoa’s own eagle moments later, set up by a gutsy five-wood into the 18th green at Mission Hills.

Ochoa was in the mix until the last hole of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open, then suffered a case of the shanks. She closed with a quadruple-bogey when a par could have gotten her into a playoff with Birdie Kim.

The ‘06 Kraft Nabisco was the only other time Ochoa held the 54-hole lead at a major. Sunday, she improved to 7-6 all-time with the third-round lead, and 3-3 this season.

It was her 13th career win, her 10th in the last 16 months, her fourth this season.

And it was never in doubt.

The high winds that hounded players and sent scores soaring on Saturday had died down by Sunday morning — it did rain, however — and Mhairi McKay and Miki Saiki posted early 67s to prove there were good numbers to be had on the Old Course.

As it turned out, Ochoa didn’t need one of them.

Several players made early runs at her lead while Ochoa opened with four consecutive pars, including Sorenstam, who made birdies at the third and sixth holes to pull within five shots.

Ochoa responded with back-to-back birdies from the fifth, shaking off any early jitters she may have had. The birdies put Ochoa at eight-under, giving her a seven-shot lead.

She gave a stroke back with a bogey at the eighth, and her lead was trimmed to five shots after Lee made a birdie ahead at the ninth.

But Ochoa made the turn with the same six-shot lead she held overnight after rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt at the ninth. When she lipped out a 10-foot par putt at the 11th, her advantage was five again.

Further bogeys at the 15th and 17th only served to trim her final margin of victory.

“I believed that I would win the tournament Monday when I first started practicing,” Ochoa said, laughing. “But the 18th tee shot (Sunday) is when we did it.

“After we hit that tee shot and put it in the middle of the fairway … I was walking with my caddie just saying that, you know, we did it and it was a great feeling.”

And a long time coming.

Washington, DC - Dmitri Young hit a two-run double in the eighth, as the Washington Nationals put up three in the inning to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3, in the finale of a three-game series at RFK Stadium.

Young ended with three RBI and Nook Logan scored and drove in a run for the Nationals, who went a perfect 6-0 on their homestand by sweeping both the Cardinals and the Reds.

Matt Chico yielded three runs on six hits over five innings of work. The bullpen shut down the St. Louis offense from there, with Ray King (1-0) recording the win and Chad Cordero tossing a perfect ninth for his 23rd save of the year.

Adam Wainwright pitched seven decent innings — allowing three runs on eight hits — and also hit his second career home run for St. Louis, which has dropped five in a row.

Logan started the eighth with a bunt single, and was knocked in later in the frame on Ryan Zimmerman’s base hit. That put runners on first and second for Young, who cleared the bases with a double to left.

That was more than enough cushion for Cordero.

Ryan Ludwick opened up the scoring in the second with a leadoff homer, his eighth long ball of the season.

Washington countered in the bottom of the frame courtesy of Chico’s RBI single, and added two more in the third. Zimmerman and Young hit back-to-back doubles to put the Nationals in front, and Logan’s base hit later in the frame made it 3-1.

Wainwright helped his own cause with a solo homer in the fourth, and Jim Edmonds knocked in Albert Pujols with a double in the fifth to pull the Cardinals even.

Game Notes

Nationals shortstop Felipe Lopez left in the sixth inning because of patella tendinitis in his right knee. He is considered as day-to-day…St. Louis manager Tony La Russa was ejected in the fifth for arguing balls and strikes…Washington stranded 11 runners, while St. Louis left eight men on base.

Minneapolis, MN - Scott Baker dominated for eight innings and combined with Joe Nathan on a five-hit shutout, as Minnesota edged Cleveland, 1-0, in the third of a four-game set at the Metrodome.

Baker (6-4) allowed only four hits to outduel Fausto Carmona. Baker fanned four and walked a pair for the Twins, who won their second in a row and their sixth in eight games. Alexi Casilla’s RBI double accounted for the lone run of the game.

Carmona (13-6) yielded only five hits and a run, with five walks and five strikeouts for the reeling Indians, who have dropped two in a row and nine of their last 13 games.

Thanks to the poor play of the Indians and Tigers of late, the Twins have closed to within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Indians, who own a half-game lead over the Tigers in the American League Central.

The Indians had an opportunity to go on top early when Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner started the second inning with consecutive singles. Baker bore down, though, striking out Ryan Garko, getting Trot Nixon to foul out, and Jhonny Peralta to fly out to center to strand the runners.

The Twins finally broke through against Carmona in the fourth with a two-out rally. After Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter both grounded out, Jason Kubel got things started with a single to left. After Brian Buscher walked, Casilla ripped a ground-rule double to left, plating Kubel to give the Twins the lead.

Baker helped his own cause with a spectacular diving catch in the eighth. After Nixon singled to left to start things off, Peralta tried to bunt him into scoring position. The Indians shortstop bunted the ball into the air to the first-base side of the mound, and Baker made the diving grab, turned from his knees and threw to first to double off Nixon. Josh Barfield then fouled out to end the inning.

Nathan closed things out in the ninth, allowing only a two-out single to Casey Blake before retiring Martinez to end the game.

Game Notes

Minnesota’s Michael Cuddyer, who had gone 3-for-7 with two doubles and two RBI in two games since returning from the disabled list on Friday, went 0-for-4 Sunday…The Twins won despite leaving 10 runners on base…Attendance was 38,334.

Atlanta, GA - Yunel Escobar hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning, as the Atlanta Braves edged the Colorado Rockies, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game series at Turner Field.

The scoring went silent from the seventh inning on, until Atlanta mounted an attack in the bottom of the 10th. Jeff Francoeur started the rally with a one- out double off Taylor Buchholz (5-4), and Matt Diaz was intentionally walked to set up the double play. Escobar stepped in next and slapped a base hit to left on an 0-2 count to plate Francoeur and end the game.

Escobar finished with two RBI while Chipper Jones fell a triple shy of the cycle for the Braves, who won the last two games to claim the series. Chuck James got the start and allowed four runs over five innings of work. The bullpen allowed just one run the rest of the way, with Oscar Villarreal (2-1) working the 10th for the win.

Aaron Cook opposed James and allowed five runs — three earned — on 10 hits over 5 1/3 frames for Colorado, which has dropped three of five. Ryan Spilborghs homered twice and Todd Helton knocked in a pair in defeat.

Spilborghs put the Rockies in front with a two-out solo blast to right in the second.

Atlanta tied it in the fourth on Escobar’s RBI single, but Spilborghs led off the top of the fifth with his second home run of the game to give the lead back to Colorado.

Jones then gave the Braves their first lead of the game in fifth with a two- run homer to left after Kelly Johnson reached first on Jamey Carroll’s fielding error.

Colorado got to James in the sixth, though, to temporarily reclaim the lead. Carroll drew a leadoff walk and Matt Holliday followed with a base hit to set the stage for Helton, who singled to center to tie the game. Tyler Yates replaced James on the mound and was greeted by a Garrett Atkins double that scored Holliday for a 4-3 lead.

The Braves struck right back in the home-half of the sixth. Following a Diaz single and a sacrifice bunt by Escobar, Corky Miller came through with a double to left to tie the contest and chase Cook from the game. Jeremy Affeldt came in and yielded a run-scoring double to Willie Harris that put the Braves in front, 5-4.

Carroll tripled with one out, and Helton tied it with an RBI single in the seventh.

Game Notes

This was Spilborghs’ second career multi-homer game…Andruw Jones sat out with a hyperextended left elbow…Atlanta’s Kelly Johnson extended his hit streak to seven games.