McBraves sweep Phils

Baseball Betting Lines

04/05/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian McCann drove in two more runs and Kelly Johnson highlighted a six-run fifth inning with a two-run homer, as the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game series sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with an 8-4 win at Citizens Bank Park.

Scott Thorman also drove in two runs and Edgar Renteria had three hits for the Braves, who are off to their best start since beginning the 1994 campaign with seven consecutive wins.

Jeff Francoeur and Andruw Jones drove in a run apiece and Chipper Jones scored twice for Atlanta, which now heads to Turner Field for their home opener on Friday against the Mets. New York also won their first three games, setting up an interesting early season series between the two division rivals.

Chuck James (1-0) started for the Braves and earned the victory. The left- hander allowed just one run on six hits, striking out five and walking one in five innings of work.

McCann had a stellar opening series, going 6-for-12 with two homers, a league- leading tying six RBI and three runs scored. His two-run ninth-inning homer on Wednesday forced extra innings, helping the Braves to an eventual 3-2 win. Renteria also had a productive set, ending 7-for-15 with two homers, three RBI and three runs scored. Renteria also has a 10-game hitting streak dating back to last season.

Pat Burrell ended 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for the Phillies, who blew late-inning leads in the first two games of this set before falling behind early and never recovering in the finale.

Chase Utley added three hits for Philadelphia, which also got off to a slow start last year by losing its first four games. The Phillies will try to get their first win of the season on Friday when they travel to Florida to face the Marlins in the opener of a three-game set.

Adam Eaton (0-1) made his regular-season debut for the Phillies and suffered the loss, surrendering eight runs -- seven earned -- on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander, who was signed in the off-season, also walked four and struck out three.

The Braves got going in the first inning and it was McCann who inflicted the damage, but it was a throwing error by Ryan Howard at first that allowed it. With one out and a runner on first, Chipper Jones hit a would-be inning-ending double-play grounder to Howard. His throw to shortstop Jimmy Rollins covering second, however, sailed into left field, keeping the inning alive.

Eaton then walked Andruw Jones and McCann followed with a single to plate two runs for the early lead.

The Phils got a run back in the fourth when Burrell doubled home Utley, who led off the frame with a two-bagger of his own.

Atlanta, though, put the game out of reach in the next inning, scoring six times for a seven-run lead. Johnson began the inning's scoring with a one-out two-run homer. Chipper Jones then started a two-out rally with a base hit and scored on Andruw Jones' double. After McCann was intentionally walked, Francoeur singled home Andruw Jones to force Eaton from the game in favor of Joe Bisenius.

Thorman capped the inning's scoring when he greeted Bisenius with a two-run double.

Philadelphia got a run back in the sixth when Burrell scored on a Greg Dobbs ground out, but Howard and Burrell ended up striking out with runners on first and second to end the seventh. Rollins stranded a pair of runners in the eighth by making the final out.

Wes Helms and Shane Victorino both worked bases-loaded walks in the ninth to make it a four-run game, but Rafael Soriano came on with two outs and got pinch-hitter Carlos Ruiz to fly out to shallow left field to end the game.

Soriano got his first save of the season with his one-pitch appearance.

Game Notes

Phillies reliever Clay Condrey struck out five in two hitless innings of work...Philadelphia pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts...Prior to the game, the Phillies acquired pitcher Francisco Rosario from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations...After hitting sluggers Howard and Utley in the three and four spots, respectively, in the first two games, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel flip-flopped the two for this game...The Braves have won seven of their last nine trips to Philadelphia...This was the Braves first three-game series at Philadelphia since April 22-24, 2005.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

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 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.