Danks, Thome carry White Sox into postseason
Baseball Betting Lines
09/30/2008 -
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Danks dominated for eight innings, and
Jim Thome's solo homer in the seventh was all the offense Chicago needed, as
the White Sox edged the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on Tuesday in a one-game playoff
to decide the American League Central title.
Danks (12-9) gave up just two hits with four strikeouts and three walks for
the White Sox, who won their third straight to take the division after a
crushing three-game sweep in Minnesota last week.
Nick Blackburn (11-11) gave up just four hits and one run -- Thome's homer --
in 6 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and three walks to take the loss for
the Twins (88-75), who dropped two of three at home to the Kansas City Royals
to close the season when another win would have clinched the division.
The White Sox (89-74) have a quick turnaround after their champagne-
and-beer celebration on Tuesday night. They will play the AL East champion
Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS starting on Thursday at Tropicana Field. This will
be Chicago's first trip to the postseason since winning the AL Central in
2005, when the White Sox went on to win their first World Series since 1917.
"Hopefully we can continue this wonderful ride and carry it into October,"
said Thome who, like teammate Ken Griffey Jr., has yet to win a championship.
Griffey has never appeared in the World Series in his 19-year career.
"I was telling my wife today before I left the house that, if we get in, I am
truly going to cherish every moment of this," said Thome, who hasn't played in
the postseason since 2001 with the Cleveland Indians.
The win ensures that both Chicago baseball clubs will play in the postseason
for the first time since 1906, when the "Hitless Wonders" White Sox downed the
116-win Cubs in six games.
The White Sox trailed the season series 10-8 entering Tuesday, but lucked out
by winning the coin toss which decided the location of the tie-breaker. The
season series was dominated by the home club, with the White Sox 7-2 at home,
but the Twins 8-1 when hosting Chicago.
The White Sox forced the playoff by winning a makeup of a rainout with the
Detroit Tigers on Monday in Chicago, 8-2, thanks largely to Alexei
Ramirez's tie-breaking grand slam in the sixth inning.
Danks and Blackburn dominated into the seventh inning, but Danks needed a
tremendous play by Griffey and AJ Pierzynski to keep the Twins off the
scoreboard.
Michael Cuddyer doubled to left to lead off the fifth -- Minnesota's first hit
-- and moved to third on Delmon Young's fly out. Brendan Harris then lifted a
lazy fly ball to shallow center, and Cuddyer tested Griffey's arm. The veteran
center fielder hurled a one-hop throw to the plate that Pierzynski picked off
the dirt just before Cuddyer collided with him.
Pierzynski didn't have a chance to brace himself or his glove, but hung on to
the ball nonetheless, and the double play ended the inning.
Thome led off the seventh against Blackburn, and the White Sox only had two
singles to that point. The Chicago designated hitter unloaded on a letter-high
2-2 changeup, blasting it over the shrubbery beyond the center field fence.
The massive homer -- Thome's 34th this season and No. 541 on his career --
gave the White Sox the lead.
"It was very special," said Thome. "The way Blackburn was pitching, the way he
was throwing all night, to get an opportunity off him like that was special."
Griffey laced a double into right-center with one out and, after an
intentional walk to Monday's hero Ramirez, Blackburn was lifted for Jose
Mijares, who retired Pierzynski and Uribe to keep the deficit at 1-0.
Harris singled to left with one out in the eighth for the Twins, but Nick
Punto rolled into a 6-4-3 double play, and Minnesota remained scoreless.
Bobby Jenks came on in the ninth and struck out pinch-hitter Jason Kubel and
got Denard Span to ground out to first. Alexi Casilla lifted a pop to shallow
center, and Brian Anderson made a great diving grab to seal the win and Jenks'
30th save, kicking off the celebration.
Game Notes
This was the AL's fourth tiebreaker contest and the first since Seattle beat
the California Angels for the AL West title in 1995. Last season, Colorado
beat San Diego 9-8 in 13 innings in an NL wild-card tiebreaker game...This was
the lowest-scoring tiebreaker game in MLB history, and also had the least
combined hits -- seven...The White Sox are the first team in MLB history to
finish their regular season with three wins against three different teams.
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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