Thome's HR in 10th pushes Twins' division lead to four

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08/18/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome played hero against his former team, drilling a two-run homer off Matt Thornton in the 10th inning, as the Twins edged Chicago, 7-6, to widen their lead to four games over the White Sox in the AL Central.

Alexei Ramirez hit the tying homer off Matt Capps to start the ninth inning and then singled in Brent Lillibridge with the go-ahead run in the 10th for Chicago, but Thome delivered in a big spot to send Minnesota to its fifth straight win.

Delmon Young singled to center to start the bottom of the 10th and Thome, who played for nearly four full seasons (2006-09) for the White Sox, then clobbered an 0-1 pitch from Thornton (3-4) into the crowd beyond the wall in right field.

Thome's 581 career home runs rank 10th on baseball's all-time list, two behind Mark McGwire.

After the game, Thome received a celebratory shaving cream pie to the face while he was being interviewed on the field.

"With them (White Sox) you take it day-by-day, you don't get ahead of yourselves," Thome said. "Any time you can gain ground or gain a game in the standings against a team like that, they can get hot like they did and run off a win streak. Our big thing is to keep the approach we have every day and stay true to our approach. Each of us knows our role and we've done a nice job with that."

Orlando Hudson and Young both homered off starter John Danks. Thome had three hits and drove in three runs in Minnesota's biggest win yet at new Target Field. Young also had three hits as the Twins moved to 9-4 this season against the White Sox.

Ron Mahay (1-1) retired the final batter in the top of the 10th to get the win in the opener of the big three-game series.

Paul Konerko and Mark Kotsay also homered for the White Sox, who lost for the seventh time in nine games.

Young homered to left field in the fifth, putting the Twins up 5-4.

Thornton escaped a jam in the eighth by retiring Denard Span on a fly ball to center, leaving runners at the corners.

Ramirez then homered to left field, but the White Sox lost an opportunity to add to their lead after loading the bases. Konerko, though, grounded into a 4-6-3 double play with first baseman Michael Cuddyer digging a low throw out of the dirt.

Kotsay and A.J. Pierzynski each singled in the 10th. Ramirez singled beyond diving shortstop J.J. Hardy to give Chicago the short-lived lead.

Hudson homered to left-center in the first inning, Kubel added a two-run triple just after singles from Joe Mauer and Cuddyer. Thome singled in Kubel later in the frame.

Konerko and Kotsay went deep in the second for a 4-3 game.

Thome was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Danny Valencia's double to end the third, and the White Sox tied it in the fourth on Pierzynski's RBI double.

Twins starter Scott Baker loaded the bases in the fifth, but Glen Perkins got Kotsay on a ground ball to keep the game tied.

"We fought back," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "They're playing hard, they played very good. The only thing you can do is go out and get them tomorrow."

Game Notes

Hardy missed the previous four games with a sore wrist...Danks allowed 11 hits over his seven innings...Baker yielded four hits in 4 2/3 frames...Chicago left 10 men on base and Minnesota nine.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

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The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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