Rangers use long ball to nip Halladay, Blue Jays

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04/21/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz each hit two-run homers as the Texas Rangers edged the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game set at Rogers Centre.

Marlon Byrd chipped in with a 2-for-4 effort, including a double and a run scored for the Rangers, who were coming off a 6-5 win against Kansas City on Sunday. Texas has won three of five overall.

Brandon McCarthy (2-0) earned the win following a strong six-inning start. The right-hander allowed three runs on six hits while striking out two and walking a pair. The Rangers bullpen gave up only one unearned run in three innings with Frank Francisco getting his second save of the season.

Aaron Hill had a double and solo homer for Toronto, which had won four of five coming into the contest. Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and Adam Lind each had an RBI apiece in defeat. Lyle Overbay went 2-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks for the Blue Jays.

Roy Halladay (3-1) was tagged with the loss after going eight innings. The former Cy Young Award winner was touched for five runs on eight hits. He fanned nine without issuing a walk.

Home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley was taken off the field on a stretcher after Hank Blalock's broken bat hit him in the head with one out in the sixth inning. After being attended to by stadium medical personnel and carted off the field while strapped to a backboard, second base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt took over behind the plate.

With the Blue Jays trailing 3-2 in the fifth, Hill's one-out solo homer to left deadlocked things.

Then after Josh Hamilton was retired on a ground out to start the top of the sixth, Danley took the brunt of a Blalock broken bat off the side of his head, resulting in a 10-minute delay.

Texas then reclaimed the lead in the seventh. Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined a double to right, and two batters later Kinsler belted an 0-1 cutter over the right-field wall, putting the Rangers up 5-3.

Lind's run-scoring single off C.J. Wilson in the eighth brought home Rios to make it a one-run game. Francisco was then summoned from the bullpen and served up a single to Scott Rolen and a walk to Overbay to load the bases, but the Rangers reliever settled down to retire the next two batters to avoid further damage.

Toronto got a one-out double from Hill in the ninth, but was unable to plate a run after Rios grounded out and Wells popped out to end the game.

The Rangers drew first blood in the second when Byrd doubled to lead off the inning, then came around to score when Cruz lined an 0-1 fastball over the left-field fence to give Texas a 2-0 lead.

Toronto came back to even things in the third. Travis Snider doubled to start the frame and Marco Scutaro walked. Hill then flied out with Snider taking third. Rios followed with an RBI double to center and Wells' sacrifice fly made it a 2-2 game.

A Chris Davis run-scoring single in the fourth allowed Blalock to cross the plate, putting the Rangers back in front.

Game Notes

Texas split its eight games with the Blue Jays last season and is 9-9 in its last 18 matchups against them...It was announced earlier Tuesday that Rangers right-handed pitcher Kris Benson will miss his scheduled start versus Toronto on Wednesday due to right elbow tendinitis and be replaced by lefty Matt Harrison. Benson will start on Saturday at Baltimore...Toronto finished 2- for-10 with runners in scoring position, while Texas was 3-for-6.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

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The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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