08/20/2008 - (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 for the Brewers in tonight's finale of a three-game series versus the Houston Astros at Miller Park.
Parra is winless (0-4) over his last five trips to the hill and has allowed three runs or more in four of those outings. He recently lost at Los Angeles on Friday after allowing four runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings of work, falling to 9-6 with a 4.12 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) this season.
The lefty, who is a solid 5-2 at home in 2008, is sporting a 2-2 record and a 5.91 ERA in four engagements with the Astros this season. In a July 25 matchup against Houston, Parra yielded three runs in six innings of a 3-1 loss.
Milwaukee is currently 2 1/2 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card standings, but has dropped four of six contests since an eight-game winning streak. In Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Astros, starter Ben Sheets continued his rough stretch after giving up all five runs on five hits in six innings to absorb the loss. He dropped his second consecutive start and has lost in four of his past five trips to the mound.
Jason Kendall had three hits, while Mike Cameron and J.J. Hardy each drove in a run in a losing cause. Milwaukee is 1-1 on a six-game homestand and 37-24 at Miller Park this season.
The Astros have won two of three and 10 of their last 13 games, but sit 7 1/2 games off the pace in the Wild Card race. Geoff Blum provided the Houston fireworks with a three-run homer in the sixth inning, while Michael Bourn finished with a triple and two RBI in the win.
Brian Moehler started for Houston and recorded the win after limiting Milwaukee to a pair of runs -- one earned -- on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. He also walked one and struck out four batters.
Houston is 1-1 on a seven-game road swing and 30-34 away from Minute Maid Park this season.
Wandy Rodriguez gets the nod for the Astros on Wednesday and has dropped two of his last four starts. Rodriguez was last on the hill Friday versus Arizona and was rocked for four runs and three hits in just 2 1/3 innings.
Rodriguez fell to 7-5 with a 4.15 earned run average in 19 starts this season after his miserable performance versus the D'Backs.
The left-hander will square off with Milwaukee again this season after defeating the Brewers on July 25 at Miller Park. Rodriguez limited the Brewers to just one run and three hits in six frames of a 3-1 win.
He is 3-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 11 career games (10 starts) against Milwaukee.
The 2008 season series between Milwaukee and Houston is tied at seven games apiece.
<< Mets' Pelfrey toes rubber versus Braves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Pelfrey tries to win for the 10th time in his last 12
decisions this evening when the New York Mets play the middle test of their
three-game series with the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium.
Pelfrey's emergence ha
<< White Sox try to finish off home sweep of Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League Central division-leading Chicago White
Sox will shoot for their fifth straight win and a three-game sweep of the
Seattle Mariners this afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.
Chicago remained one game
<< Phils send Myers to hill in second test with Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Myers' season turnaround began with a victory over
Washington almost a month ago. The Philadelphia Phillies hurler will try to
continue his resurgence against the Nationals tonight, and hand them their
12th s
<< Liriano leads Twins in finale vs. Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Liriano is not the same pitcher who faced the
Athletics in April. Back to his old form, Liriano will try to lead the
Minnesota Twins to a victory against Oakland this afternoon in the rubber
match o
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
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
Dodgers send Billingsley to hill versus Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The pitcher who has emerged into the unlikely ace of the
Los Angeles Dodgers' staff will be asked to play the role of spoiler when the
National League West contenders resume a three-game series against the
visiting Colorado R
Marlins, Giants resume series in San Francisco >>
(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 import
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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