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07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shooting for their third straight victory, the New York Yankees close out a four-game set against division rival Tampa Bay this afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
After being crushed in the series opener on Friday night by a score of 14-4, the Bronx Bombers rebounded to take both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday with a 7-3 victory in the opener and then a 17-5 thrashing in the nightcap.
The early game made a winner out of Luis Vizcaino, even though he pitched just one inning of relief behind a strong effort by starter Kei Igawa. Igawa allowed just two runs on seven hits, two of those home runs, over five innings of action. Shelley Duncan, Andy Phillips and Hideki Matsui all knocked in two runs, while Alex Rodriguez crossed the plate twice in the win.
BJ Upton had yet another home run for the Devil Rays and had a total of three hits in the first game, but it wasn't nearly enough as reliever Jae Kuk Ryu suffered the loss.
Yankee bats made a huge statement in the second game as they generated 20 hits, eight of those being doubles, in the lopsided decision. Rodriguez cranked his 33rd home run of the season, leaving him three shy of 500 for his career, and also knocked in four runs to leave him four shy of 100 RBI for the season.
Johnny Damon had a four-RBI game and Bobby Abreu finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored for New York.
Yankees starter Matt DeSalvo gave up seven hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. Vizcaino threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his second win of the day.
JP Howell surrendered a career-high 10 hits and career-high seven runs in five innings for the Devil Rays, who had won three of four games heading into action on Saturday. Jonny Gomes went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the visitors.
As someone who has never finished at or below .500 in a single season, Andy Pettitte is having a rough go of it in the Bronx this season, but with a 12-1 career mark against Tampa Bay this might be the perfect matchup for the left-hander this afternoon.
Pettitte, already 1-0 this season versus the Rays, allowed just a single run on seven hits over seven innings on Tuesday against Toronto, yet still failed to factor into what became a 3-2 win for the Bombers. The Louisiana native seemed to be hitting all of his spots in that outing, fanning a season-high seven batters along the way.
As for Tampa Bay, James Shields is just the opposite of Pettitte because he has yet to earn a victory against New York, now 0-3 after losing his first decision of the season to the Yankees.
Shields, who is just a single game over .500 for his career at the moment, picked up his eighth win of the campaign on Tuesday when he permitted just two runs on seven hits over seven innings of work. He walked one and struck out two, which means he's fanned a total of just four in his last two outings after coming up with a total of 27 in the previous three games.
With their two wins yesterday the Yankees moved to within 7 1/2 games of Boston for first place in the AL East and are now 31-20 at home in 2007 while Tampa Bay wallows in last in the division, a mere 16-31 on the road and 20 games out of contention.
As he has done for much of the season, Rodriguez leads the majors in both home runs (33) and RBI (96) and now has nine runs scored as well over the last eight games.
The Devil Rays, who have won just four times in the last 14 games in the Bronx, have gotten huge production out of Upton in the last seven days, watching him knock out three home runs, plate nine and score nine times himself.
The Yankees now lead the season series 6-5 after yesterday's double header sweep.
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Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.
The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.
Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.
NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.
"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.
The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.
But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.
The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.
Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.
The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.
The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.
The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.
Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.
Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."
Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.
"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."
Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.
It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.
"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."
Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.
"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."
At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.
According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.
Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.
Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.
When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.
He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.
Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.
Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.
Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.
While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.
"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.
Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.
Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
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