Arencibia hits two HR's in debut to fuel Jays win over Rays

Baseball Betting Lines

08/07/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.P. Arencibia had a major-league debut to remember, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and three RBI, as the Toronto Blue Jays belted eight home runs en route to a 17-11 drubbing of the Rays, handing Tampa Bay a season-high fourth straight loss.

Arencibia, a first-round pick by Toronto in the 2007 draft, belted 31 homers in Triple-A Las Vegas this year before getting brought up earlier this week due to an injury to All-Star catcher John Buck (thumb). The 24-year-old backstop hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw in the second inning and added a solo blast in the sixth.

The rookie highlighted a barrage of long balls by the hosts, including two from Aaron Hill and one each from Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind, Lyle Overbay and league-leader Jose Bautista in Toronto's fourth win in five games.

Tampa Bay's James Shields (10-10) allowed nine hits -- six homers -- and four walks while yielding eight runs in four innings to snap a personal three-start winning streak. Dan Johnson went 2-for-2 with a homer and four RBI in defeat.

The Blue Jays set a season-high for runs and hits (20) and put on a home run display to extend its 3-2 lead in the third. Lind and Hill opened the inning with shots over the right and left field fences, respectively, and Encarnacion pulled an outside pitch to left for another round-tripper two batters later.

Bautista smashed his MLB-best 34th bomb leading off the fourth, and Hill barely cleared the left-field wall later in the frame to notch his third career multi-homer game.

Toronto starter Brad Mills was pulled after walking B.J. Upton in the fifth with the bases loaded, and the Rays got two more runs in the inning on a Johnson sacrifice fly and Evan Longoria groundout off Brian Tallet (2-4), who got credit for the win for throwing three innings of relief.

Dale Thayer mercifully relieved Shields in the home half and was just as ineffective. The Jays pushed across five runs with two outs, starting with Vernon Wells' bases-loaded infield single and capping it with consecutive two- run hits by Lind and Hill.

Arencibia put the finishing touches on his prolific arrival with an opposite- field shot to right in the sixth, leading to a curtain call from the Rogers Centre crowd.

Overbay topped Johnson's two-run homer in the seventh with a three-run blast in Toronto's half.

The Blue Jays failed to score in the eighth, the only frame in which they were blanked. The Rays plated four in the ninth on a Reid Brignac sac fly, a Travis Snider error on the same play, a Gabe Kapler double and a Willy Aybar groundout.

Yunel Escobar's RBI double in the first inning and Arencibia's first-pitch, two-run homer in the second were countered by run-scoring hits from Upton and Johnson in the third frame.

Game Notes

Bautista has homered in 10 straight series, tying a Blue Jays record set by Carlos Delgado (2001)...Arencibia became the first player since Boston's Daniel Nava (6/12/2010) to hit a home run on his first pitch in the big leagues...The Blue Jays currently lead the majors with 175 homers this season, 30 more than the Red Sox going into their game against the Yankees...Mills, recalled from Las Vegas to take the rotation spot of the injured Jesse Litsch (hip), surrendered five hits, four walks and five runs over four-plus frames in his second start this season...Escobar, Encarnacion and Hill each had three hits for the Blue Jays...Johnson's homer was his first since September 15, 2008.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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