Blake powers Indians past Rangers

Baseball Betting Lines

06/03/2008 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey Blake tied career highs with two home runs and seven runs batted in, as he helped the Cleveland Indians win a slugfest, 13-9, over Texas in the opener of a four-game set.

Blake finished with three hits, while Ben Francisco went 2-for-5 with a two- run homer and David Dellucci added two hits and a two-run blast of his own. Jhonny Peralta also had three hits, including a double, for the Indians, who snapped a two-game losing streak and had scored 13 runs in their past four games combined.

Starter Aaron Laffey lasted five innings and gave up eight runs on 11 hits for Cleveland, which lost two of three to Texas in late May. Masa Kobayashi (3-2) picked up the win by throwing 1 2/3 frames and allowing just one run.

Josh Hamilton slugged a two-run homer, while Marlon Byrd added a grand slam for the Rangers, who put together 15 hits but lost their second consecutive game. Ian Kinsler and Michael Young each added three hits for Texas.

Doug Mathis struggled in his start for the Rangers, as he also gave up eight runs, on 12 hits in just 3 2/3 innings. But Eddie Guardado (0-1) took the loss after surrendering one run in the seventh inning.

After the Rangers trimmed their deficit to a run late in the game, Dellucci gave Cleveland some breathing room in the eighth. He hit the Indians' fourth and final homer, a two-run shot that just cleared the center field wall. Later in the frame, Joaquin Benoit had control issues and issued three straight free passes with two outs before walking Francisco to force in a run and push Cleveland's lead to 13-9.

Rafael Perez worked a scoreless bottom of the eighth, and Joe Borowski set the Rangers down in order in the ninth to close out the game.

After a scoreless first inning, the game came to life in the second when Dellucci hit a lead-off double and Blake slammed a two-run shot to right- center field for a 2-0 Indians lead.

A Jarrod Saltalamacchia single in the home half of the inning plated Chris Shelton, who had doubled in the prior at-bat, to get the Rangers back within one.

Blake, though, answered in the next frame with another two-run homer with two outs. Dellucci grounded into a double play with two runners on base, leaving Ryan Garko on third. Blake came up and smacked the ball to left field for a 4-1 Cleveland edge.

Shin-Soo Choo followed with a single and came around on an Asdrubal Cabrera double for a four-run Indians lead.

But in the bottom half, the Rangers came back with a two-run homer off the hot bat of Hamilton, who increased his home run total to 16.

Though, just as Texas had gotten its deficit down to 5-3, Cleveland expanded its lead once more. A walk to Victor Martinez, and singles from Garko and Peralta left the bases loaded with one out.

Dellucci then struck out, but that only set the stage for Blake, and the third baseman again delivered by roping a double to right. It cleared the bases, gave Blake seven total RBI, and pushed Cleveland's advantage to 8-3.

The next two half-innings went quietly, without a run scored, but in the bottom of the fifth the Rangers knotted the game on a big blast.

Kinsler led off with a double and Young plated him with a single. Hamilton then singled and Bradley walked to load the bases with one out. Laffey got David Murphy to pop out, but Byrd slugged a first-pitch fastball over the right-center field wall for an 8-8 score.

The back-and-forth game continued in the seventh. Guardado came out of the Texas bullpen and got two outs, but allowed a single to Cabrera. He was lifted in favor of Benoit, who Francisco greeted with a two-run homer to left.

Shelton drove in Murphy with a two-out single in the bottom half to bring the Rangers within 10-9.

Game Notes

Cleveland had 16 hits and, despite the offensive output, still left 11 runners on base...Blake has six homers this season...It was Byrd's fourth career grand slam...Mathis threw 100 pitches...Monday, the Rangers placed pitcher Vicente Padilla on Major League Baseball's bereavement list to tend to a family emergency in Nicaragua...Hamilton was named the American League Player of the Month for May on Monday...Cleveland optioned infielder Michael Aubrey to Triple-A Buffalo and recalled pitcher Tom Mastny from Buffalo on Monday. The Indians announced that Jake Westbrook has been scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday and will likely return to the disabled list. An official roster move will be made Tuesday.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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