Thomas homers twice as Blue Jays top Twins

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2007 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frank Thomas hit a pair of two-run home runs as the Toronto Blue Jays downed the Minnesota Twins, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game set.

Thomas, who has 503 career home runs, is now just one home run behind Eddie Murray for a tie of 20th place on the all-time list.

Alex Rios and Reed Johnson each hit solo home runs for the Blue Jays, who have won three straight.

Shaun Marcum (6-4) got the win as he gave up four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts in six innings.

Justin Morneau hit two home runs and had three RBI, and Torii Hunter added a solo shot for the Twins, who have dropped five of their last seven contests.

Johan Santana (11-8) got the loss as he was rocked for six runs on seven hits in five innings.

The Blue Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Johnson led off the frame by hitting a 1-0 low fastball into the left field stands. After the next two batters recorded outs, Vernon Wells kept the inning alive with a single and Thomas followed by hitting the ball over the center field wall.

Morneau got the Twins on the board in the second inning when he started the inning with a home run to left-center.

Rios got Toronto another run in the bottom of the third as he led off the inning with a homer to left and a 4-1 lead.

Minnesota made it a one-run game in the fourth as Joe Mauer started the inning with a triple and Morneau followed with his second home run of the game to make it a 4-3 contest.

The Blue Jays, though, made it a 6-3 game in the fifth when Thomas hit a two- run shot over the left-center wall for his second home run of the game.

The balls continued to fly out of the park as Hunter hit a two-out homer in sixth to cut the Twins deficit to 6-4.

That was as close as the Twins got, though. Casey Janssen pitched a scoreless seventh and got two outs in the eighth before Scott Downs recorded the final out of the inning. Jeremy Accardo got around a leadoff double to Hunter in the ninth by retiring the final three batters and pick up his 16th save of the season.

Game Notes

Each team has won four games in the season series...Marcum is 1-1 in three career games against the Twins...Santana is 2-4 in 10 career appearances against the Blue Jays...Thomas has 16 home runs on the season...Morneau has 28 homers and 85 RBI this season...Attendance was 26,091.

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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.