Cueto, Reds blank D'Backs
Baseball Betting Lines
07/01/2009 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Cueto tossed six shutout innings and the Reds bullpen finished the two-hitter from there, as Cincinnati blanked Arizona, 1-0, in the second of three games with the Diamondbacks.
Cueto (8-4) surrendered one hit and struck out eight, but walked four. However, he kept the Diamondbacks off the scoreboard, and Arthur Rhodes, David Weathers and Francisco Cordero each tossed a scoreless inning of relief as the Reds notched their seventh shutout this season.
Rhodes allowed the only other hit and walked two, while Cordero notched his 19th save this season.
Joey Votto went 2-for-4 and drove in the game's lone run for Cincinnati, which went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but held on to win for the third time in its last four games.
Jon Garland (4-8) allowed the one run on six hits in six innings of work for the Diamondbacks, and was dealt the loss. He has not won a start since May 19, going 0-6 in eight outings since then.
Felipe Lopez and Gerardo Parra had a hit each for Arizona, which won the opener of this series on Tuesday, but lost for the ninth time in its last 11 games. The Diamondbacks have not won back-to-back games since defeating Kansas City on June 17 and 18.
The Reds pushed a run across in the sixth, which Chris Dickerson opened with a single. Dickerson went to second on Jerry Hairston Jr.'s groundout, then scored when Votto's blooper fell for a single.
The Diamondbacks had a tremendous chance to score in the next inning, as Parra reached base on a bunt single to lead off. Parra moved to second on Rhodes' wild pitch, and Chris Young followed with a walk.
The runners moved into scoring position on Miguel Montero's sacrifice, but Rhodes struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Roberts. After Rhodes walked pinch-hitter Tony Clark, he got Lopez to fly out to end the threat.
Cincinnati had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out. But Clay Zavada, who began the frame in place of Cueto, fanned Dickerson for the second out before Juan Gutierrez entered and ended the inning on a Hairston pop-out.
Weathers worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Cordero tossed a perfect ninth to secure the 1-0 victory.
Game Notes
Cueto improved to 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four lifetime starts vs. Arizona...Cueto has also had four starts this season in which he did not give up an earned run...Cordero is 19-for-20 in save opportunities this season...Dickerson and Ramon Hernandez each had two hits for the Reds...Each team left seven runners on base...Cueto threw 108 pitches (58 strikes) in his six innings, while Garland needed 71 (50 strikes) to make it through six...The Diamondbacks were shut out for the sixth time this season...Cincinnati recorded its first shutout since May 5.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash 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 wont 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 doesnt focus only on your opponents 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. Wheres 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, dont 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 wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im 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.