Marson slams Indians past Angels
Baseball Betting Lines
09/08/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lou Marson's first career grand slam highlighted a five-run sixth inning, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 6-1 victory over the struggling Los Angeles Angels in the middle test of a three- game set.
Travis Hafner added his 11th homer of the season for the Indians, who have won the first two games of this series. Jordan Brown and Michael Brantley each added two hits in the win.
Justin Masterson (6-12) continued the Indians' string of good starting pitching, allowing just one run on six hits and two walks while fanning five in seven frames. Cleveland starters have now allowed three or fewer runs in 12 of 13 games.
"I had good control with my mechanics," Masterson said. "I kept the ball down in the zone, and I had some good defense. Things are coming together."
Torii Hunter homered for the Angels, who have lost five straight at home for the first time since April 28-May 2, 2006. With 15 losses in 21 games, Los Angeles has fallen 9 1/2 games behind Texas in the AL West.
Trevor Bell (2-5) pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and three walks to receive the loss.
"Trevor never got into a rhythm," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "We had one bad inning, and they were patient and got the home run. We have to clean some stuff up."
After the Angels tied the game in the fifth, the Indians used a couple big swings to go ahead for good in the sixth.
Hafner began the inning with a blast just over the large wall in right-center. The umpires needed to review it despite initially ruling it correctly, and the replay confirmed the result.
Brown singled two batters later off Francisco Rodriguez, who relieved Bell, and Rodriguez issued consecutive walks to Jason Donald and Luis Valbuena to load the bases with one out. Marson followed by belting a waist-high fastball just over the left-field wall for a grand slam and 6-1 lead.
Masterson and the Indians bullpen held the Angels scoreless down the stretch.
The Indians got on the board in the third on Shin-Soo Choo's sacrifice fly, but Hunter tied the game in the fifth on a long home run to center.
Game Notes
The Indians lead the season series, 3-2...Angels pitcher Scot Shields (elbow) left the game...With wins in the first two games of this series, the Indians clinched their first series victory in Anaheim since May 9-11, 2005...Marson also threw out 2-of-2 potential base stealers, raising his season total to 23- of-63, the best percentage in the majors...Angels starters have allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of 12 games.
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Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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