Bruce's homer lifts Reds over Braves in 10th; Griffey hits No. 599

Baseball Betting Lines

05/31/2008 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Bruce made his first major-league home run a game-winner, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-7 victory in 10 innings over the Atlanta Braves in the middle contest of a three-game set.

Ken Griffey Jr. blasted his 599th career home run, doubled and drove in three runs. But Bruce, who continued his hot start with three hits and a walk, stole the show.

Manny Acosta started the 10th with a strikeout of Jerry Hairston Jr., but Bruce followed by taking Acosta's pitch deep to right, giving the Reds their second consecutive extra-inning win. Cincinnati edged Atlanta on Friday, 3-2, in 11 innings.

Bruce's blast made a winner of Francisco Cordero (2-0), who entered for the 10th and allowed a leadoff single to Josh Anderson, but worked around it and got Mark Teixeira to line out to end the inning. Acosta (3-2) took the loss.

The Reds were only in position to win the game in extra innings because of a ninth-inning tally. Rafael Soriano walked Adam Dunn to start the frame, and pinch-runner Ryan Freel moved to third on a one-out single from Joey Votto.

David Ross grounded weakly to Soriano, who looked the runner back, but Freel raced home anyway as Soriano flipped to first for the out.

Teixeira then went home with a throw, but wasn't able to get Freel, who was safe and tied the game at 7-7. Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected arguing the call, and the teams went to the 10th inning.

The Reds have now won four of five, despite a shaky start from Josh Fogg, who lasted only 3 1/3 innings and gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks.

Braves starter Jair Jurrjens didn't fare much better, as he also allowed six runs, on nine hits and six walks in just 4 1/3 innings.

Jeff Francoeur, Teixeira and Greg Norton added home runs for the Braves. Chipper Jones had two hits and three walks to raise his MLB-best average to .413 for Atlanta, which has dropped four of five.

The Reds wasted no time in getting to Jurrjens in the first. Bruce smacked a one-out single to center followed by Griffey's 599th home run, a line shot into the seats in right. Brandon Phillips followed that by cranking a homer to left, his 11th of the season.

Atlanta answered in the second by cutting the Reds' lead to one. Francoeur looped a lead-off single to left, and Norton took a full-count slider to the seats in right-center to bring the Braves within 3-2.

Cincinnati came right back in the home half, leading off with back-to-back singles from Hairston and Bruce. Hairston, who advanced to third on Bruce's knock, scored on a Griffey sacrifice fly. Edwin Encarnacion lined a two-out single to left three batters later, giving the Reds a 5-2 lead.

But Atlanta again fired back and tied the game in the third. Kelly Johnson took a leadoff double to right and Jones followed with a walk. Teixeira then clobbered a three-run shot to dead center to even things up.

Jurrjens helped himself in the fourth, leading off with a triple to right. Johnson brought him in with a one-out single off the newly inserted Jeremy Affeldt.

One inning later Jurrjens was in trouble, loading the bases on a single, double and a walk with one out. Hairston moved the runners along with a single to knot things up at 6-6 and chase Jurrjens from the game.

Royce Ring came on and induced a double-play groundout from Bruce to end the threat.

Francoeur broke open a tie game in the seventh, greeting David Weathers with a line-drive homer to right-center to start the frame.

Game Notes

Griffey remains 10 shy of Sammy Sosa (609) for fifth on the all-time home run list and looks to become only the sixth player ever to reach 600...The Reds took six of seven contests from Atlanta last season...Bobby Cox was ejected for the third time this season...Hairston extended his hitting streak to eight games...Jurrjens' six walks were a career-high.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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