05/15/2008 - Cleveland, OH (Baseball Betting) - Aaron Laffey threw seven solid innings and the Indians continued their mastery on the mound until holding on in the ninth during a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics to complete a three-game sweep.
Jhonny Peralta homered and scored three times for Cleveland, which has allowed just six runs in its last seven games. Ben Francisco had three hits and an RBI for the Indians, who outscored the A's, 10-2, during the series.
Cleveland starting pitchers had gone 44 1/3 consecutive innings without giving up a run until Laffey's throwing error scored Bobby Crosby in the second. It was the first run allowed by the Indians since the sixth inning of last Friday's game against Toronto. That marked the longest streak by an Indians staff since the 1948 squad went 47 frames without giving up a run.
Laffey (2-2) allowed five hits and an unearned run, while walking one and logging six strikeouts. Jensen Lewis worked around a single to Rajai Davis in the eighth before Rafael Betancourt had trouble in the ninth. Masahide Kobayashi escaped a jam in the ninth to get his second save.
During Cleveland's 6-1 homestand, Indians starting pitchers gave up just two runs, including one earned. The starters went 6-0 with a 0.16 ERA during that span.
Because of Laffey's error, Cleveland starters haven't given up an earned run in the last 50 1/3 innings.
Greg Smith (2-3) was charged with the loss after surrendering seven hits and three runs over 4 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old lefty walked three and had seven strikeouts.
The Indians barely held on in the ninth. Jack Cust and Crosby singled with one out, and Jack Hannahan walked to load the bases. Kobayashi's wild pitch then made it 4-2, but he struck out pinch-hitters Mike Sweeney and Ryan Sweeney to end the game.
Peralta legged out an infield hit with one out in the first and scored later in the inning on Ryan Garko's double down the right field line.
Crosby and Hannahan singled to begin the second, and after Donnie Murphy struck out, Rob Bowen hit a weak grounder toward the mound. Laffey charged the ball, but threw wide of first baseman Garko with the ball sailing into right field. With runners at the corners later in the frame, Davis was caught stealing to end the inning.
The Indians regained the lead at 3-1 in the third. Grady Sizemore was hit by a pitch and Peralta walked before Francisco singled to left for an RBI. One out later, Travis Hafner singled to center to drive in Peralta.
Peralta led off the seventh with a homer to left off Santiago Casilla. Immediately after giving up the homer, Casilla was seen shaking his right arm in discomfort, and was removed from the game in favor of Chad Gaudin.
Game Notes
The A's play at Atlanta for three games this weekend, while the Indians are in Cincinnati...The 44 1/3 inning streak was the longest since the 1974 Baltimore Orioles starters went 54 frames of scoreless ball...Laffey hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 21 innings (3 starts).
<< Green, Singh share Irish Open lead
Adare, Limerick, Ireland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Green and Jeev Milkha
Singh opened with matching rounds of six-under-par 66 Thursday to share the
lead after the first round of the Irish Open at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf
Res
<< Federer, Nadal, Djokovic ease into Hamburg QFs
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The world's top-three stars --
Swiss Roger Federer, Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Serbian Novak Djokovic -- were
all straight-set third-round winners Thursday at the $2.955 million
Masters
<< Shoulder injury to sideline Cavs' Gibson
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson will
miss the next 1-2 weeks of action due to a shoulder injury, possibly keeping
him out the remainder of the playoffs.
Gibson left Wednesday's 96-89 loss at Bost
<< Queen Justine bids farewell
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of tennis' greatest champions abruptly
called it a career this week, as Justine Henin decided she'd had enough of the
tennis lifestyle at only 25 years of age.
Much like Bjorn Borg in the early 1980s,
Celtic legend Burns dies at 51 >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic legend Tommy Burns, 51, died on
Thursday morning after losing his long battle with cancer.
The former Scotland international, who played more than 400 games for Celtic
between 1975 and 1989, h
United's Ferdinand officially signs five-year deal >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio
Ferdinand has finally signed a new five-year contract which will effectively
keep him at Old Trafford for the rest of his career.
The 29-year-old England inte
Rockies' Cook, Francis on opposite ends >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Aaron Cook is responsible
for 40 percent of his team's wins this season. Now raise your hand if you
thought that would be the circumstance by mid-May.
If you did raise your hand then
Energie signs coach Prasnikar to extension >>
Cottbus, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Energie Cottbus coach Bojan Prasnikar has
signed a new contract running until the summer of 2010 after guiding the club
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The Slovenian was drafted in by Cottbus in September to ta
American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6
The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.
Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com. "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis. It's like Week 1 of the NFL. Pre-season means nada!
We do know the 24 finalists however.
Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24. He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway. He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien.
Brandon Rogers - Who?
Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition. He should go a good distance.
Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was. And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition. He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice! People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way.
"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks. He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes. But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.
A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”
Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes.
"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate. "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past. He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far. Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."
Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts)
And the others:
Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter
The girls
"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis. "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has. The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive. I think she will go far."
Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.
"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams. Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth. "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.
Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.
Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.
Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan
MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with).
Last two contestants will be?
1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)
2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)
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LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP
With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at Sportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.
There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.
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