Cardinals vs Reds Free Pick It didn't take long for top prospect Billy Hamilton to make his presence felt.
Hamilton and the Cincinnati Reds go for a fourth consecutive win over the slumping St. Louis Cardinals as these NL Central rivals meet again Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park.
After entering as a pinch runner in the seventh inning, Hamilton stole his first base and then came around to score on Todd Frazier's double in Tuesday's 1-0 victory. The 22-year-old outfielder, who set a professional baseball single-season record by stealing 155 bases between Class A and Double-A in 2012, was called up the previous day.
"He (manager Dusty Baker) said, 'I need you to get to second base,'" Hamilton said after his thrilling big league debut. "I was like, 'OK, I got you.'
"That's my job - stealing in important situations. This was a real big situation - a pennant race."
Hamilton's speed could make a big impact down the stretch. He was hitting .256 with six homers and 75 stolen bases in 123 games with Triple-A Louisville before getting called up.
"Watching Billy run - I can watch that every day," Frazier said.
The Reds (78-61) had dropped 10 of 14 to the Cardinals before taking the last three meetings by an 18-2 margin. Cincinnati is now 1 1/2 games behind St. Louis (79-59) for the NL's top wild-card spot and second place in the division.
The Cardinals have hit .176 and been outscored 32-10 in losing five of six. Matt Carpenter singled twice Tuesday, providing both the team's hits.
Infielder Daniel Descalso is mired in a 3-for-32 slump, Jon Jay is 4 for his last 26 and Allen Craig is hitless in his last 10 at-bats.
"We've got an offense that's played a lot of games this year and done extremely well," manager Mike Matheny said. "You can't start trying to reinvent the wheel."
Matheny's club, though, could bounce back against Bronson Arroyo (13-10, 3.66 ERA). The right-hander is 8-16 with a 4.65 ERA in 35 starts versus St. Louis, by far his most losses against any opponent.
Arroyo, 1-8 in his last 13 matchups against the Cardinals, is looking to avoid a fifth consecutive loss in the series after surrendering a season high-tying seven runs in 3 2-3 innings in a 13-3 defeat Aug. 2.
"As good as they can be and as much as they grind at-bats, it's very difficult to kind of keep those guys down," he told MLB's official website. "They got a good ball club, and they just beat me around the ballpark."
Matt Holliday is 14 for his last 40 with four homers and four doubles versus Arroyo, and Jay is 14 for 34 with four extra-base hits.
Arroyo was also knocked around Friday, giving up six runs in a season-low 3 1-3 innings in a 9-6 loss at Colorado.
"That's just the way it rolls sometimes," said Arroyo, who saw his season-high four-start winning streak snapped.
Arroyo could benefit from getting back home, where he is 9-3 with a 3.20 ERA in 16 outings, 14 of which were quality starts.
The Cardinals counter with Shelby Miller (12-9, 3.13), who is 4-5 with a 4.68 ERA in his last 12 outings. The 22-year-old right-hander labored through 4 1-3 innings in Friday's 5-0 loss at Pittsburgh, surrendering five runs, eight hits and three walks.
While Miller dropped to 2-5 with a 5.80 ERA in his last nine road starts, one of those victories came in Cincinnati. He allowed three runs and struck out eight in five-plus innings opposite Arroyo last month, improving to 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two career matchups against the Reds.
By: NOEY KUPCHAN
AP SPORTS
Maria Menounos is best known as the co-host of Extra with Mario Lopez. She is also well known for being a die hard New England Patriots fan. Before Super Bowl XLVI in 2012, sexy miss Menounos made a Sports Bet that she will host the Extra show in Times Square in nothing but her bikini if her beloved Patriots lose. Well the Giants beat the Patriots and we are very glad she lost that bet. Enjoy! Tags: Maria Menounos, Maria Menounos Bikini Bet, Mario Lopez, Bikini Bet, New England Patriots Fans, Super Bowl XLVI, Sports Bet, Famous Sports Bets, Sexy Maria Menounos, Sexy NFL Fans
Pryor beats out Flynn for Raiders' Quarterback Terrelle Pryor may have the late Al Davis watching out for his interests We're about to find out if the Terrelle Pryor experiment is a success. Once again, it appears the Matt Flynn experiment is a failure. Despite Monday beginning with Oakland Raiders coach Dennis Allen saying he would not name a starting quarterback for Week 1 until game time Sunday, the San Francisco chronicle reported later in the day that indeed Pryor will get the start this coming Sunday against the Colts. Citing two league sources , the Chronicle said that "Allen told both Pryor and Matt Flynn his decision Monday morning and said he wasn't going to say whom he chose for competitive reasons." Pryor actually started the final regular-season game of 2012 in place of an injured Carson Palmer, but entered camp the backup behind Flynn, whom the Raiders acquired from Seattle shortly before trading Palmer to Arizona in April. But Flynn did not do enough to assert himself as the starter in the preseason, struggling most in the third game -- typically the game in which the starters receive the most playing time. In that game against Chicago, Flynn was 3 of 6 for 19 yards with two interceptions and a fumble with no touchdowns. In that same game, Pryor was 7 of 9 for 93 yards and accounted for two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing. Entering the game to cheers, he led the Raiders to four scoring drives in all. Then in the final preseason game last week against Seattle, Pryor started while Flynn sat out with a sore arm. Pryor's numbers were hardly scintillating in the preseason -- 17 of 32 for 221 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions; a 59.5 passer rating. But Al Davis took Pryor in the 2011 supplemental draft (the late owner's final draft pick) because of the former Ohio State standout's playmaking abilities. He led the Raiders with a 9.4 yards-per-carry average in the preseason, running for 131 yards on only 14 carries with a 25-yard TD run. In Flynn's 13 drives this preseason, the Raiders scored 10 points. They had 32 points in Pryor's first 14 drives. This would be a case of unfortunate dejà vu for Flynn, who signed with Seattle in the 2012 offseason but was beaten out by rookie Russell Wilson prior to the start of the regular season. Flynn is guaranteed $6.5 million from the Raiders this season. As for Raiders fans, how'd you think they would react? -- One fan was quoted saying "Terrelle Pryor is taking us to the superbowl" -- Matteus Cornell (@bigdaddymatte) September 3, 2013 @TerrellePryor gonna show wat he's got!!!!!!!!! #justwait -- Chris Thomason (@CJThomason21) September 3, 2013 Okay Terrelle Pryor the next Russell Wilson? Sorry Matt Flynn #raiders -- Daniel Spurlock (@D_Spurlock) September 3, 2013 Terrelle Pryor will be the starter, finally some good news -- Carlos mendoza (@carlos10884) September 3, 2013 @TerrellePryor time to #shine Here are some Pryor highlights from the Preseason Week 3 game against Chicago:
Tim Tebow had everything going for him - a loyal fan following, Heisman trophy, and even a verb named after his bended knee prayer. One thing he is lacking is an NFL team that will keep him on the roster. 59% polled think his NFL career is now over. Tim Tebow Poll "Is Tim Tebow's NFL career over?" courtesy of ESPN's Sportsnation A Heisman Trophy, a riveting playoff game, an international following. Tim Tebow won all that in his football career. On Saturday, he lost his third NFL job in 18 months. It might be hard to find another. The quarterback with two big problems - throwing the ball and reading defenses - was cut by the New England Patriots less than 12 weeks after they signed him and just five days before the season. But, as Tebow sees it, this long journey is not over. ''I will remain in relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback,'' he tweeted. Coach Bill Belichick gave the player whose profile was higher than his production what may have been his last chance when he signed him June 11, the day the Patriots' three-day minicamp began. And Tebow is grateful. He thanked Belichick, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and owner Robert Kraft, who said last Tuesday he was ''rooting'' for Tebow but would let Belichick make the decision. In his tweet, Tebow thanked the ''entire Patriots organization for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a classy organization.'' The Patriots cut 12 other players and put safety Adrian Wilson on injured reserve. That left them with 51 players, two below the regular-season limit they had to reach by 6 p.m. EDT. Belichick didn't comment on Tebow's release. But NFL.com analyst and former NFL executive Gil Brandt wasn't surprised. ''He has had a great career and I think it's probably time for him to admit that he just wasn't right up to NFL standards,'' Brandt said. ''I'm sure that whatever he does in life he'll be a huge success. Tebow was surely that at Florida, where he won the Heisman and two national championships while surrounded by talented teammates. He was a success with Denver, for one season, when he went 7-1 in his first eight starts in 2011 then threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime to give the Broncos a 29-23 playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tebow knelt on one knee - an expression of faith known as Tebowing - in the end zone. But then a career of accomplishment descended into adversity. Tebow led the Broncos into Foxborough the next weekend and lost 45-10 while completing barely a third of his passes. He was traded to the New York Jets the following March and languished on the bench while coach Rex Ryan ignored fans' calls for Tebow to replace a struggling Mark Sanchez. Tebow threw just eight passes, ran only 32 times and was cut last April 29. For six weeks no team wanted him until the Patriots signed him to a low-risk, two-year contract with no guaranteed money. One person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press that Tebow would make the veteran's minimum salary, $630,000 in 2013, with incentives. At least he wouldn't be in the center ring of a media circus that surrounded him in New York, not with Belichick's tight rein on players' interactions with reporters. If anyone could turn him into a good NFL quarterback, it seemed, it would be Belichick. And McDaniels was a booster of Tebow, drafting him in the first round in 2010 as Denver's head coach. There even was speculation that Belichick might find other positions for the mobile Tebow to play, but he worked out only with the quarterbacks. And his passes still bounced at receivers' feet and flew over their heads. ''We see things like the pass that he threw in overtime to Thomas,'' Brandt said. ''I think we see that every once in a while. It really gets us excited about the guy. ''I don't know if he's ever going to be a quarterback, and the reasons that I say that is that I think it's very, very hard with somebody that doesn't have real good accuracy (and) I don't know if he has a real good feel for the game.'' Now, barely two weeks after his 26th birthday, Tebow's NFL career may be over. ''I can't predict that,'' said John Fox, who took over as Denver's coach in 2011 and traded him after the season. ''I wish nothing but the best for him, as I've said many times. He did a lot of good things for us, was great to this organization and to this coaching staff, myself included.'' The Patriots have carried just two quarterbacks in three of the past four seasons. So with Ryan Mallett entrenched as the backup to Tom Brady, Tebow's challenge was a difficult one, even before the preseason started. Then he posted a quarterback rating of just 47.2 with two touchdown passes, two interceptions and seven sacks in three exhibition games. Tebow's last play with the Patriots, and perhaps in the NFL, was a 9-yard touchdown to rookie free agent Quentin Sims with six seconds left in a 28-20 win over the New York Giants on Thursday night. With two scoring passes, it was the best of Tebow's three games during a shaky preseason in which he completed 11 of 30 passes for 145 yards and ran 16 times for 91 yards. ''It's not just one game (that matters),'' Belichick said Friday about the player evaluation process, ''although every game is important. But the body of work, the camp, the rate of improvement, the ability to do the things that players are going to be asked to do at their respective positions (also matter).'' After his last game, Tebow said he wasn't sure it would be enough to keep him on the team. But he didn't plan to worry. He would ''go to sleep when I get home, wake up, come work out, watch the film,'' Tebow said. ''See what I did good, see what I did bad, try to learn from it and get better.'' NOTES: The Patriots cut punter Zoltan Mesko after three solid seasons in favor of rookie Ryan Allen. They released three other veterans - defensive linemen Jermaine Cunningham and Justin Francis and linebacker Jeff Tarpinian. Also cut were defensive lineman Marcus Forston, who spent last season on the Patriots practice squad, and seven rookie free agents - Sims, linebacker Ja'Gared Davis, defensive backs Kanorris Davis, Justin Green, and Stephon Morris, offensive lineman Chris McDonald and running back George Winn. HOWARD ULMAN (AP Sports Writer)
Steve Stevens, the star of an upcoming CNBC reality show called "Money Talks", is being called a fraud and an ex-convict by some of the most prominent people in the sports betting world today. Darin Notaro of upcoming CNBC reality show "Money Talks" airing Sept 10th Stevens has a business where he sells sports betting picks called VIP Sports Las Vegas. The CNBC press release for the show calls him "a well-known handicapper," and a promo video on his company's website claims he has a winning percentage of 71.5%. The show is a "docu-soap," and it's set to air Sept. 10. But apparently no one in Vegas has heard of Stevens, and his 70% winning percentage is considered impossible. Even worse, a damning report from WagerMinds lays out evidence alleging that his name is actually Darin Notaro, and he has been arrested multiple times for telemarketing fraud. Todd Fuhrman, a former oddsmaker at Caesar's Palace, wrote in a blog post
, "No one, and I mean no one, in the sports betting community I speak with daily knows who this guy is." Prime Wagers spoke with our very own Sports Betting mastermind Phil Vassallo, he said, "I have never heard of this Steve Stevens or Darin Notaro". Prime Wagers — a sports betting website that is focused on transparency in the industry — also said they've never heard of him in their article. Bob Voulgaris, a popular sharp NBA bettor, said on Twitter that he'd never heard of Stevens either, calling him "a complete scam artist" for the 70% claim. The 70% claim was a red flag for a lot of sports betting folks. Voulgaris, whom Nate Silver called the best sports bettor in the world, only wins about 57% of his NBA bets. SportsInsights ran the numbers in June and found that your chances of winning 70% of bets against the spread are about one in one trillion. It's basically impossible to win 70%, but the VIP Sports Las Vegas website is using that claim to sell its picks to customers. Here's the promo video from the website (with NSFW language): A CNBC spokesman told us in a statement that viewers will have to draw their own conclusions about Stevens' business, adding, "We are merely betting that viewers will be interested in the world of touts and handicappers and in no way endorse either Stevens’ picks or his business model." While CNBC says it doesn't endorse his business, there's a website called CNBCvipsports.com that directs readers to the VIP Sports Las Vegas site and asks readers for their email addresses and phone numbers. A CNBC spokesman told us, "He is not authorized to use the CNBC name or logo." CNBC declined comment on whether or not they're taking steps to remove the association on the website. The website boasts, "You may have seen VIP Sports on the new CNBC show Money Talks. If so you know Steve Stevens is the real deal." Before we jump on CNBC, there's a big difference between Stevens being a fraud and the show itself being a fraud. We'll have to wait to see how he is portrayed. But that's not all. WagerMinds reported that the domain name for Stevens' business VIP Sports Las Vegas was only registered eight months ago. It was registered under the name Darin Notaro. According to WagerMinds, Notaro has been arrested and convicted in telemarketing scams going back to 1999. He was sentenced to a year in prison at age 25 for a scheme that "bilked elderly citizens across the nation out of at least $234,000," according to the Las Vegas Sun. Judging by this screenshot from WagerMinds, they look alike: According to WagerMinds, it appears that Notaro also rents the office space where VIP Sports Las Vegas is housed. A CNBC spokesman said they are aware of the 1999 conviction. Here's the full statement: "We are aware of Steve Stevens’ 1999 conviction and while we are very clear in the press release that VIP Sports clients risk big dollars in the hopes that Stevens and his agents have the expertise to consistently deliver winners, viewers should tune in on September 10th at 10pm ET/PT to draw their own conclusions about VIP Sports. We are merely betting that viewers will be interested in the world of touts and handicappers and in no way endorse either Stevens’ picks or his business model." We called the number provided on the VIP Sports Las Vegas website and left a message. We are waiting a response. Again, we'll have to wait until the show airs to see if he is portrayed as what he claims to be (a big-shot sports bettor) or what many in the betting community see him as (a shady figure).
The power outage that stopped Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3, 2013 had a huge impact on the momentum of the game and the final spread for sports bettors. Ray Lewis who played in the game for the Ravens says it was no accident. Can you imagine Lewis singing along to "sabotage" by Beastie Boys? Ravens' Retired Linebacker Ray Lewis Remember when the lights went out during Super Bowl XLVII? Retired Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis says that was no accident. "I'm not gonna accuse nobody of nothing — because I don't know facts," Lewis says on an upcoming installment of NFL Films’ "America’s Game" series. "But you're a zillion-dollar company, and your lights go out? No. (Laughs) No way". "Now listen, if you grew up like I grew up — and you grew up in a household like I grew up — then sometimes your lights might go out, because times get hard. I understand that. But you cannot tell me somebody wasn't sitting there and when they say, 'The Ravens (are) about to blow them out. Man, we better do something.' . . . That's a huge shift in any game, in all seriousness. And as you see how huge it was because it let them right back in the game." As with all conspiracy theories, the attendant circumstances did seem to fall into a convenient narrative. At the time of the blackout, the Ravens were beating the San Francisco 49ers by 22 points. Somebody or something needed to stop the Ravens’ momentum or the big game was going to be a big dud. So then, boom, the lights go out and guess what? The 49ers got back in it. All the way back. Baltimore ended up winning 34-31, and Lewis got his second Super Bowl ring. Enjoy the vintage 90's "Sabotage" music video by the legendary Beastie Boys and comment if you think Ray Lewis is right about his sabotage theory below.
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