Rangers host Mariners at the Ballpark

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06/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers will attempt to continue their season- long success at home when the current American League West leaders welcome one of the worst road teams in the majors, the Seattle Mariners, to Rangers Ballpark at Arlington tonight for the opener of a four-game divisional series.

A 20-10 record at home has helped the Rangers seize the top spot in the AL West, where the club presently owns a half-game edge on the hard-charging Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Texas is coming off a pair of victories in its three-game series with AL East-leading Tampa Bay at Rangers Ballpark over the weekend, although the Rays were able to claim the finale with a 9-5 decision yesterday afternoon.

The Rangers received shaky pitching on Sunday, with starter Rich Harden (3-2) serving up a pair of homers and allowing four runs (three earned) in a five- inning stint in which he labored through 111 pitches. Relievers Frank Francisco and Darren O'Day combined to give up three runs in the eighth, enabling the Rays to pull away in what had been a close contest.

"[Harden] still has to figure out a way to get us deeper into ball games," said Rangers manager Ron Washington afterward. "He left the game, we were still in the game, but he still has to get us deeper into the game and he's gotta keep working at it."

Matt Treanor belted a pair of solo home runs for Texas, with Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton each delivering RBI singles in a losing cause.

The Angels closed the gap on the Rangers in the standings with Sunday's 9-4 victory at Seattle, which completed a sweep of the three-game series. Mike Napoli's two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning snapped a 4-4 tie, and Anaheim later tacked on three more runs against the Mariners bullpen to put the game out of reach.

Hideki Matsui reached base with a one-out single off Seattle reliever Shawn Kelley (3-1) and Napoli followed with an opposite-field blast over the wall in right to give Anaheim a 6-4 advantage.

Ichiro Suzuki, Jose Lopez and Josh Wilson each had two hits and an RBI for the Mariners, who entered the series off three consecutive home wins over AL Central leader Minnesota. Seattle starter Jason Vargas worked the first six innings and was reached for four runs (three earned) on 10 hits.

"I think it's always disappointing when you get swept," Vargas said following the loss. "I thought we had some good momentum going in and let some games slip away at the end."

Seattle now heads to the road, where the team has gone a woeful 7-17 thus far in 2010, for a 10-game trip against three teams (Texas, San Diego, St. Louis) currently leading their respective divisions.

The Mariners also haven't fared well in Arlington in the recent past, with the Rangers having won 11 of the last 15 matchups between the AL West foes as the host. In addition, Texas has taken five of its previous six overall encounters with Seattle this season.

Seattle hopes to reverse its fortunes behind Cliff Lee, but the former AL Cy Young Award winner has had a rough go of it at Rangers Ballpark as well over his career. The accomplished left-hander does own a 3-3 record in six lifetime starts in Arlington, but has surrendered 35 runs (33 earned) in 32 1/3 innings over those games, as well as a .338 batting average against.

Lee does enter tonight's assignment on an excellent roll, though. He held the red-hot Angels to three runs -- two earned -- on just four hits and struck out 10 over eight innings in a May 28 victory, then followed up by yielding just one run on five hits and fanning eight through eight frames this past Wednesday against Minnesota. Lee did not receive a decision that night, but the Mariners were able to come away with a 2-1 triumph.

The 31-year-old was also outstanding in his season debut, which took place against the Rangers at Safeco Field. Lee permitted just three hits and struck out eight without a walk in seven scoreless innings in that April 30 clash, although he did not get a decision after exiting a scoreless tie.

In nine overall starts versus Texas, Lee is 5-3 with a 6.15 earned run average.

Scott Feldman gets the call for the Rangers this evening and looks to maintain his career mastery of the Mariners. The right-hander owns a 3-1 record with a 2.67 ERA in 16 games (seven starts) against Seattle and dealt the M's a defeat in Arlington by permitting two runs -- one earned -- over seven sharp innings back on April 11.

Feldman also enters tonight's tilt having won two of his last three starts and pitched a season-high eight innings in Wednesday's victory at Chicago. He was touched for five runs that night, but received plenty of offensive support in a 9-5 verdict.

A surprise 17-game winner for the Rangers last year, Feldman is just 3-5 with a 5.82 ERA through his first 11 starts of this season, but has gone 2-1 in six home starts so far in 2010.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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Police report: Terrell Owens hospitalized after attempt

Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.

The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.

Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.

NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.

"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.

The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.

But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.

The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.

Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.

The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.

The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.

The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.

Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.

Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."

Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.

"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."

Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.

It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.

"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."

Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.

"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."

At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.

According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.

Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.

Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.

When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.

He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.

Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.

Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.

Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.

While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.

"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.

Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.

Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

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