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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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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