Thorrington's winner lifts Fire over Galaxy, into playoffs

Soccer Betting Lines

10/21/2007 - Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major League Soccer schedule maker couldn't have planned it any better.

The last game of the regular season was between two teams that were still in the hunt for the last playoff spot, while also featuring two of the league's biggest stars - Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Los Angeles' David Beckham.

The Galaxy seemed out of the race just three weeks ago, but ran off a seven game unbeaten streak, including five wins to get back into the race. The Fire were also on a seven game unbeaten streak heading into the last game, but only two of those were wins.

But the hopes of L.A. and its fans came to an end Sunday at Toyota Park. The Galaxy, needing a win to advance to the second season, fell to Chicago, 1-0, after a goal by the Fire's John Thorrington three minutes into second-half stoppage time.

It was Thorrington's first goal of the season and just the second of his career.

Blanco played a ball to Calen Carr in the offensive third before Carr found a streaking Thorrington headed toward the goal. L.A. goalkeeper Joe Cannon came out to challenge the chance, but Thorrington, in his third season in MLS, chipped a shot over him and into the goal to seal the visitors' fate.

The Fire just needed a draw to advance to the playoffs, but came out firing in the game - out-shooting the visitors 22-5 for their 10th win of the season. The Galaxy seemed uninspired for much of the contest, even though they needed just one more win to keep from missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

Cannon made 10 saves in the game, many of them of the spectacular variety, to give his team a chance, but as has been the story most of the season, it wasn't enough to push the Galaxy over the top.

Beckham came on in the 58th minute, but made little impact in the game as he was obviously not in game shape.

The loss starts a very interesting offseason for the Galaxy, with question marks all through the organization, from the GM to the coach to the players.

Chicago, on the other hand, will host D.C. United in the first leg of an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series this week.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.