Garza gets Rays' first no-hitter by blanking Tigers

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07/26/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history in a 5-0 win over Detroit in the opener of a four-game set at Tropicana Field.

Garza (11-5) walked one, struck out six and faced the minimum 27 hitters for the Rays, who have won three in a row and four out of five. Brennan Boesch was the only baserunner for Detroit and was erased on an inning-ending double play grounder in the second inning.

Tampa Bay was the victim of a no-hitter twice earlier this season at the hands of Oakland's Dallas Braden, who tossed a perfect game on May 9, and Arizona's Edwin Jackson, who needed 149 pitches to finish the job on June 25. In fact, the Rays have been no-hit three times since last season with the White Sox' Mark Buehrle turning the trick in another perfect game July 23, 2009.

The New York Mets and San Diego Padres are now the only major league teams not have not thrown a no-hitter.

Matt Joyce hit a two-out grand slam in the sixth inning to break up dueling no-hitters and Carl Crawford added a solo shot in the eighth.

Max Scherzer (7-8) had kept the Rays hitless until Joyce's decisive blow and wound up taking the loss after allowing four runs -- three earned -- on two hits and four walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings for the Tigers, who have dropped three out of four.

Garza threw 120 pitches to etch his name in the record books and throw the fifth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. It's the first time since 1991 that at least five no-hitters have been thrown in a single season.

He set down Miguel Cabrera on a line drive to left to open the eighth and then retired Boesch on a called third strike and got Ryan Raburn on a swinging third strike to end the frame.

The right-hander set down Don Kelly on a ground ball to second to open the ninth and then got Gerald Laird on a called third strike to reach the brink of history. He completed the no-hitter by retiring pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago on a fly ball to shallow right field. The Rays then mobbed their teammate, who had been 0-4 in six previous starts against the Tigers.

Ben Zobrist started the winning rally in the sixth with a one-out walk and moved up when Crawford reached on catcher's interference. Evan Longoria walked to load the bases for Carlos Pena, who struck out. Joyce then broke up Scherzer's no-hit bid with a grand slam off the right field foul pole on a 3-2 pitch. He had hooked the prior pitch foul down the right field line.

Jason Bartlett followed with a single to center field that chased the Tigers' young right-hander from the game. Brad Thomas came on and retired Reid Brignac to end the inning.

Crawford's homered in the eighth off Enrique Gonzalez.

Game Notes

Garza has won his last four decisions...Tampa Bay is 17-8 against the AL Central this year...Joyce's grand slam was his second of the year and of his career. Detroit skipper Jim Leyland was thrown out of the game after B.J. Upton stole second base the third when he appeared to have been tagged out before arriving at the bag...Scherzer is 0-6 in his last eight road starts and has won only once away from home all season, April 18 in Seattle...Austin Jackson had a 10-game hit streak snapped, while Santiago and Cabrera lost seven-game hit strings.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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