Tillman shines as Orioles top Lee in Rangers' debut

Baseball Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Tillman overshadowed the much- anticipated Rangers debut of Cliff Lee with 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and the Baltimore Orioles recorded their first road series win of 2010 with a 6-1 victory over Texas.

Tillman (1-3), who came into the game with an 8.40 earned run average and was recalled from the minors on Saturday, carried a no-hitter into the seventh and allowed just two hits and one walk while fanning three for Baltimore, which has won the first three games of this set to record its first road series win of the season (1-13-1).

Nick Markakis, Cesar Izturis and Adam Jones all homered in the victory.

Lee (8-4) had a less than spectacular debut with his new club, giving up six runs and nine hits in a complete game effort -- his sixth of the year and fifth in seven contests. The Orioles attacked him early in the count, as evidenced by his 95 pitches thrown, 73 for strikes.

The All-Star lefty was acquired on Friday in a deal with division rival Seattle, as the Rangers make a push for their first playoff appearance since 1999. It is Lee's fourth team in two seasons, and he will head for free agency in the offseason barring a long-term agreement with Texas.

David Murphy scored the Rangers' lone run on a wild pitch, as Texas lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Lee, who didn't arrive to the ballpark until a couple hours before game-time, showed signs of fatigue early on. The first pitch he threw as a Ranger went for a double by Corey Patterson, and the next pitch was lined to right for an RBI single from Miguel Tejada.

Lee was able to settle down until the fourth, when Markakis deposited an offering into the right-field seats for a 2-0 Baltimore lead. The Orioles kept taking Texas' new ace deep, as Izturis hammered his first homer of the year -- a solo shot -- with two outs in the fifth, and Jones' two-run shot with two down in the sixth provided a 5-0 cushion.

Meanwhile, Tillman flirted with history.

The Orioles' lanky righty retired the first nine hitters he faced before walking Elvis Andrus to begin the fourth. He was able to record outs during the next three at-bats and carried a no-hitter into the seventh.

Ian Kinsler, however, broke up the bid with one out in the seventh inning, poking a ground ball through the infield's left side. Tillman recovered to retire the next two hitters to keep his shutout intact.

The whitewash attempt quickly went by the wayside in the eighth, however, as Murphy singled to center and scampered to third when the ball eluded Jones and subsequently scored on a wild pitch.

Jones scored on a double play in the ninth to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

Lee is the first Rangers player to give up three homers in his debut with the team since Ryan Snare on August 6, 2004...Texas honored Michael Young prior to the game for capturing the team's all-time hits record earlier in the season. He went 1-for-4...Tillman's allowed run was unearned...Lee struck out two and walked none, raising his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 91-to-6...Lee has historically struggled in Texas, compiling a 7.33 earned run average in eight career starts there...Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton had his 29-game home hit streak come to an end after an 0-for-4 game. The team record is 30 games, accomplished by Al Oliver in 1981.

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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.