Indians overcome five errors to defeat Royals in KC

Baseball Betting Lines

08/20/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Hafner's infield single drove home the final run in a five-run eighth inning, as the Cleveland Indians overcame shoddy defense to rally past Kansas City, 7-3, in the finale of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits and two RBI for the Indians, who avoided being swept despite committing a season-high five errors.

Cleveland also snapped a five-game losing streak to the Royals.

Wilson Betemit had a two-run single for Kansas City, which was aiming for its first four-game winning streak of the season.

Royals starting pitcher Kyle Davies held the Indians to four hits through seven frames. However, Cleveland put up a five-spot in the eighth to erase a 3-0 deficit.

Trevor Crowe got things started with a one-out single, advancing to second on a wild pitch before Matt LaPorta capped a 13-pitch at-bat with a run-scoring single to center field.

Davies was lifted in favor of Blake Wood (1-3) after a single by Jason Donald. Pinch-hitter Shelley Duncan then greeted Wood with an RBI single. Michael Brantley walked to load the bases, and Cabrera lofted a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Shin-Soo Choo put Cleveland in front with an RBI single. Dusty Hughes replaced Wood on the mound, and Hafner made it 5-3 with a grounder to deep short.

The Royals stranded two runners in the bottom of the inning, as Chris Perez, who succeeded Rafael Perez (4-0), retired Jason Kendall on a grounder to defuse the rally.

Cleveland tacked on two more runs in the ninth on a RBI groundout by Brantley, who was injured on the play, and a run-scoring double by Cabrera.

The Tribe ran themselves out of a run-scoring opportunity in the first. Brantley doubled to begin the game and was eventually thrown out at the plate attempting to score on Choo's fly ball to left.

Kansas City had two men on in the third, but Kendall lined into a 1-6 double play to end the threat.

The Royals, though, got on the board in the next inning, loading the bases with one out on a pair of singles and a walk. Mitch Maier hit a bouncer to the first baseman LaPorta, who mishandled the ball before unloading a wild throw to the plate. Billy Butler scored the game's first run on the error.

Cleveland starting pitcher Mitch Talbot managed to limit the damage by getting Yuniesky Betancourt to ground into an inning-ending double play, but the right-hander couldn't make it out of the fifth.

Chris Getz singled to lead off the inning and Gregor Blanco followed by dropping down a bunt that was fielded by the pitcher, but Talbot's throw to first hit the runner, putting both men in scoring position. An intentional walk to Butler loaded the bases with one out and, after an infield pop up, Betemit stroked a bloop single to left that extended the Royals' lead to 3-0.

Game Notes

Chris Perez recorded his 15th save of the season...It was the first time since July 12, 1996 that the Indians won while making five errors in a game...Alex Gordon had three hits for the Royals...Davies retired 12 batters in a row at one point...Kansas City manager Ned Yost celebrated his 56th birthday on Thursday.

Wgrouplotto Baseball Betting News

<< Raiders QB Frye headed to IR
Napa Valley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders are expected to place quarterback Charlie Frye on injured reserve, forcing him to miss the entire 2010 season. Frye underwent surgery on his right wrist on Wednesday and is expected

<< Spiller, Evans help Bills outlast Colts
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie first-round running back C.J. Spiller rushed for 54 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries, as the Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts, 34-21, in a preseason game from the Rogers Centre in Toronto

<< Brady, Taylor each sharp as Pats down Falcons
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Brady completed 10-of-12 passes for 85 yards with a touchdown and the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 28-10, in an exhibition game at Georgia Dome. Fred Taylor rushed 11 time

<< Montreal pulls away from Winnipeg; Calvillo leaves early
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - S.J. Green scored touchdowns on two of his three receptions to lead the Montreal Alouettes to a 39-17 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at McGill Stadium. Running back Brandon Whitaker, filling

<< ChiSox unleash a 21-hit barrage, clobber Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Buehrle hurled seven scoreless innings and the White Sox knocked around Carl Pavano and Twins to cruise to an 11-0 victory in the finale of their three-game series against the American League

Clijsters, Wozniacki into QFs; Dementieva upended in Montreal >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters was an easy third-round victor, while defending Rogers Cup champ Elena Dementieva was an upset victim Thursday at this $2 million Canadian event, a U.S. Open tune-up. The

Cahill stars as Athletics edge Rays >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Pennington's two-run double in the bottom of the sixth was the difference, as the Oakland Athletics edged Tampa Bay, 4-3, in the opener of a four-game series at the Coliseum. Kurt Suzuki and Rajai D

Reds sweep Diamondbacks for sixth straight win >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Wood pitched 6 1/3 solid frames and the red-hot Reds kept rolling, bringing out the brooms in a 9-5 pounding of Arizona. The southpaw Wood (4-1) was solid if not spectacular, giving up one ru

Lilly tosses two-hitter as Dodgers take rubber match against Rox >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ted Lilly's two-hit shutout and Reed Johnson's two-run homer lifted the Dodgers over the Rockies, 2-0, in the rubber match of their three-game series. Lilly (7-8) struck out 11 and walked a

Astros place Keppinger on DL >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros placed infielder Jeff Keppinger on the 15-day disabled list with an injured big left toe. Keppinger has been sidelined since Tuesday with the injury. He is batting .285 with five hom

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com