Baseball: Longoria a beauty to star for Tampa Bay; WORLD SERIES FIVE 1.05am.Byline: By Steve Morgan
Steve Morgan OBE (born November 25, 1952 in Liverpool) is an English businessman. TWELVE months ago Tampa Bay Tampa Bay, inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, 25 mi (40 km) long and 7 to 12 mi (11.3–19 km) wide, W Fla., separated from the Gulf by numerous small islands; it receives the Hillsborough River. St. finished the season with the worst record in baseball, but one year on they have reached the World Series, which starts tonight, and look set to cap a remarkable turnaround with victory in the Fall Classic over Philadelphia. Both teams have solid claims, but there are more reasons to believe that the Rays will triumph in the first-to-four series. They finished top of the American League East, which is widely considered to be MLB's hardest division, accumulating an excellent 97 wins, five more than the Phillies who participate in the weaker National League. The Rays will start with home advantage in game one and will play at home in four of the seven games, and that could be the decisive factor Noun 1. decisive factor - a point or fact or remark that settles something conclusively clincher causal factor, determinant, determining factor, determinative, determiner - a determining or causal element or factor; "education is an important determinant of in a close series. They have the best home record in the major leagues, winning 57 of 81 at Tropicana Field. Pitching becomes even more important in play-off baseball, and the Rays have three top-class starters in Matt Garza, James Shields and Scott Kazmir. All have picked up wins already in the post-season, and have earnedrun averages well below four during the regular season. Their offence has improved in the post-season, too. They have scored 5.81 runs per game in October, which dwarfs the Phillies' modest 4.44. Readers who took RPSPORT's advice to back Tampa Bay at 5-1 at the start of the play-offs are in a good position, but those who did not should still be looking to side with the men from the Sunshine State to win a first World Series in franchise history. Evan Longoria has been in incredible form in the play-offs and looks a decent bet to be the series' most valuable player. The Tampa Bay third baseman has hit six home runs in knockout baseball to supplement the 27 he hit in the regular season. He has 11 runs batted in during the post-season and if he maintains that level of performance, he could land the MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. award. Recommendations Tampa Bay to win World Series 2pts 8-11 Ladbrokes E Longoria to be MVP 1pt 11-1 Ladbrokes Already advised Tampa Bay to win World Series 1pt 5-1 general CAPTION(S): Evan Longoria hits out against Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox are a member and currently champions of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball’s American League. From to the present, the Red Sox have played in Fenway Park. last week |
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