Indians hold off Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

04/21/2009 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Grady Sizemore hit a three-run home run to help the Cleveland Indians take an 8-7 win over the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game set at Jacobs Field.

Victor Martinez was 4-for-5 with a two-run home run while Mark DeRosa walked twice and scored three times for the Indians, who have won four of their last six games.

Aaron Laffey (1-0) got the win as he gave up just one run on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts over seven innings.

David DeJesus hit a two-run home run and drove in three while Mark Teahen went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI for the Royals, who have dropped their last two games.

Sidney Ponson (0-2) was saddled with the loss for giving up six runs on eight hits in just 3 1/3 innings of work.

Cleveland grabbed control of the game with four runs in the fourth. Back-to- back one-out singles from Ben Francisco and Asdrubal Cabrera was followed by a shot into the right field stands from Sizemore. Later in the frame, a wild pitch from Robinson Tejeda scored DeRosa for a 6-1 lead.

Kansas City had baserunners in every inning, but hit into double plays in each frame from the third through the seventh.

In the eighth, though, the Royals rallied off the Cleveland bullpen to make it a one-run game. Run-scoring singles from DeJesus, off Joe Smith and Teahen and Mike Jacobs both off Masa Kobayashi started things before Alberto Callaspo made it a 6-5 game with a sacrifice fly off Jensen Lewis.

However, Juan Cruz served up a two-run homer to Martinez in the bottom half that would prove costly as Kerry Wood gave up a two-out, two-run home run to DeJesus to make it a one-run game in the ninth. Wood recovered and struck out Billy Butler to pick up his second save of the season.

The Royals got a run in the first to take the early lead. Coco Crisp led off with a double and then stole third. After the next two batters recorded outs, Butler kept the inning alive with a walk and Teahen followed with a single to left that scored Crisp.

Cleveland, though, answered in the bottom of the first as the team loaded the bases and plated a runner when a passed ball by Miguel Olivo allowed Sizemore to cross the plate.

The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Three consecutive singles loaded the bases to start the frame and Jhonny Peralta's fielder's choice scored DeRosa. Shin-Soo Choo, though, lined into a double play to end the inning.

Game Notes

Cleveland has won its past two games against KC after dropping the previous five...Ponson is 0-8 with an 8.96 earned run average against Cleveland in his career...The six double plays recorded by Cleveland tied a franchise mark, which the team has done four times...The six double plays Kansas City hit into set a new club record...Laffey is 3-2 in six starts against KC in his career.

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MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds

With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.

Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season.  Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money. 

This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy.  A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.

Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:

Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame)
Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma)
Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State)
Michael Bush (RB, Louisville)
Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia)
Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville)
Chris Leak (QB, Florida)
Mike Hart (RB, Michigan)
Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State)
Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame)
Drew Tate (QB, Iowa)
Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)
Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn)
Chad Henne (QB, Michigan)
Kyle Wright (QB, Miami)
Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State)
Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama)
JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU)
Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State)
Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina)
Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech)		 5-2
7-2
7-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
18-1
18-1
20-1
30-1
35-1
35-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1

For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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