07/23/2008 - St. Petersburg, FL (Baseball Betting) - Ben Zobrist had two RBI from the ninth spot in the lineup as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 at Tropicana Field in the rubber match of a three-game series.
James Shields (9-6) lasted 8 1/3 innings yielding three runs and six hits while striking out seven for the Rays, who have won four of their last six games. Shields is 5-1 in his last six starts.
Zobrist's day included a solo home run as he was the only Ray with a multi-hit day going 2-for-3. Jonny Gomes also homered, a two-run shot, as the bottom two batters in Tampa Bay's order drove in all four of its runs.
Troy Percival saw one run score -- charged to Shields -- while issuing a walk and no hits in the ninth as he reached the 20-save plateau for the 10th time in his career.
Greg Smith (5-9) went six-plus innings allowing four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four as Oakland lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Emil Brown and Carlos Gonzalez both homered, while Jack Cust doubled and scored the A's final run.
Gomes' two-out blast in the bottom of the fifth, his eighth, brought home Carlos Pena, who was hit by a pitch, to tie the game at two. Zobrist wasted no time giving the Rays their first lead, taking the next pitch over the wall in right for his fifth homer.
Tampa Bay padded its lead in the seventh on another Zobrist hit off reliever Santiago Casilla. The shortstop's one-out single scored Willy Aybar, who led off with a double to chase Smith from the game. Alan Embree relieved Casilla after just one-third of an inning of work, and after an Akinori Iwamura groundout, walked B.J. Upton to load the bases. Carl Crawford grounded out, however, to strand three runners.
The Athletics put one more run on the board with a Brown sacrifice fly in the ninth. Cust, who hit a one-out double to chase Shields from the game, advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Brown's pop fly to center.
Brown and Gonzalez led off the second with back-to-back homers, their eighth and third, respectively, to give Oakland the early lead.
Game Notes
Tampa Bay's 20 series victories this season set a franchise record...Tampa Bay is 4-2 against Oakland this season...Shields was two outs shy of his fourth complete game.
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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds
With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season. What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season. Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all. Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13). Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two. Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury. Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven. Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury. Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.
In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons. Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4. Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1). The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this. No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.
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Atlanta Hawks 1000-1
Boston Celtics 5000-1
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Chicago Bulls 20-1
Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1
Dallas Mavericks 2-1
Denver Nuggets 25-1
Detroit Pistons 6-1
Golden State Warriors 250-1
Houston Rockets 12-1
Indiana Pacers 60-1
Los Angeles Clippers 45-1
Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1
Miami Heat 9-1
Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1
Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1
New Jersey Nets 50-1
New Orleans Hornets 150-1
New York Knicks 150-1
Orlando Magic 75-1
Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1
Phoenix Suns 5-2
Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1
Sacramento Kings 250-1
San Antonio Spurs 9-1
Seattle Sonics 5000-1
Toronto Raptors 35-1
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Washington Wizards 25-1
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