Lilly tosses two-hitter as Dodgers take rubber match against Rox

Baseball Betting Lines

08/20/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ted Lilly's two-hit shutout and Reed Johnson's two-run homer lifted the Dodgers over the Rockies, 2-0, in the rubber match of their three-game series.

Lilly (7-8) struck out 11 and walked a pair en route to his third career shutout and first since 2004. The veteran lefty has been a revelation since coming over in a trade with the Cubs, winning each of his four starts with Los Angeles while pitching to a 1.29 earned run average.

LA has won 10 straight series against the Rockies and has shut them out in three of their last four games at Chavez Ravine. Colorado has alternated wins and losses in each of its 16 games in August.

Jorge De La Rosa (4-4) was the hard-luck loser, yielding five hits and four walks over a seven-inning start, his lone error being a hanging changeup in the second inning that Johnson drove into the left-field bleachers.

"The job De La Rosa did was terrific," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "He gave us a chance to win. He paid for one pitch up in the zone to Reed Johnson. We just couldn't hit."

That homer, which was a two-run shot thanks to Casey Blake working a walk ahead of the blast, was all Lilly needed, as his lone blemish in the first seven frames was Dexter Fowler's one-out double in the opening frame.

Lilly set down 19 straight from there, shook off Troy Tulowitzki's two-out single in the seventh and retired three in a row after walking Todd Helton to open the eighth.

Facing the top of Colorado's order in the ninth, Lilly walked Eric Young Jr. before getting Fowler to bounce into a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play.

Fittingly, the 34-year-old froze Ryan Spilborghs on an 0-2 sinker to finish off his masterpiece.

"There was not much room for error tonight," Lilly said. "I couldn't lose focus against a good team like that. I don't get the opportunity to finish very often, so I tried to make the most of it."

Game Notes

Lilly, who needed 110 pitches to notch his fifth career complete game, had three wins in 18 starts with Chicago this year. His last shutout came on August 23, 2004 against Boston while he was pitching for Toronto...Johnson's homer was his first since June 19, 2009...Rockies catcher Miguel Olivo was ejected by home-plate umpire Laz Diaz in the eighth inning after he slammed his bat following a called third strike...Ryan Theriot had two of LA's five hits...Before the game, Colorado released outfielder Brad Hawpe, who has spent his entire seven-year career with the club...LA also made a roster move, placing pitcher Vicente Padilla on the 15-day disabled list with a neck injury.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

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Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.