Rays homer twice in six-run ninth to stun Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

08/06/2008 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gabe Gross tied the game with a two-run homer and Carlos Pena blasted a three-run shot to cap a six-run rally in the bottom of the ninth, as the Tampa Bay Rays pulled off an improbable 10-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the rubber match of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.

After the Indians scored an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch by Troy Percival for a 7-4 edge, Tampa Bay sent six batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning and all six scored.

Jason Bartlett led off against Edward Mujica with a double to left and scored on a two-bagger just inside the first base line by Eric Hinske. Gross then drilled a pitch into the right field seats for his eighth homer to tie it.

Masahide Kobayashi (4-5) took over on the mound and yielded an infield single to Akinori Iwamura before Ben Zobrist drew a walk. Pena followed with a drive over the fence in center field for his 20th home run to win it.

Bartlett finished with three hits for the Rays, who have won seven of their last eight games. Dioner Navarro added a two-run homer and Evan Longoria drove in a pair of runs in the victory.

Percival (2-0) was credited with the victory as the incredible rally took Tampa Bay starter Scott Kazmir off the hook. The lefty was tagged for five runs on nine hits with three walks and four strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings.

Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers was in line for the victory after allowing four runs -- three earned -- on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in six innings.

The loss spoiled a big day for Jhonny Peralta, who was 5-for-5 with a homer and a run-scoring double for the Indians, who have dropped three of four overall. Peralta notched his second five-hit game of the season, also accomplishing the feat on June 30 against the Chicago White Sox. He has a 10-game hitting streak and finished this series 8-for-12 with a pair of homers and four runs batted in.

Franklin Gutierrez gave the Indians an early lead when led off the game with his fifth home run, drilling a pitch just inside the left field pole, but the Rays answered with three in the bottom of the inning.

Zobrist started the rally with a one-out single and Pena drew a walk. The runners attempted a double steal and Zobrist reached third, but Pena was gunned down at second for the second out. Longoria, though, blooped a hit into center field to score a run and raced all the way to third when the ball skipped past Gutierrez for an error. Navarro followed with a drive just over the wall in left field for his sixth homer to make it a 3-1 game.

The Indians got one back on a two-out solo homer by Peralta in the third, then scored three in the fifth to move in front.

Jamey Carroll started the fifth with a walk, raced to third on a one-out double by Peralta and scored the tying run on a single by Shin-Soo Choo. Andy Marte then doubled into the left field corner to chase home two more for a 5-3 edge.

Tampa Bay pulled to within one in the home fifth when Zobrist reached second on a two-out error and scored on a base hit by Longoria, but Peralta doubled home a run with two outs in the sixth to extend the Cleveland advantage back to two runs.

The Tribe added an insurance run in the ninth after Peralta's fifth hit of the game. He led off with a single, but was quickly erased on a fielder's choice by Choo, who stole second and took third on a grounder by Marte before scoring on a wild pitch by Percival.

Cleveland manager Eric Wedge benched first baseman Ryan Garko after he failed to run out a ground ball along the first base line in the second inning. The ball was headed foul, but rolled into fair territory as Garko stood at home plate.

Tampa Bay left fielder Carl Crawford missed his third straight game because of a hamstring injury, while center fielder B.J. Upton was benched one game by manager Joe Maddon for not running out a ground ball in Tuesday's game.

Game Notes

Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera left the game prior to the bottom of the sixth inning with a sprained left ankle when he fell while trotting out to the field from the dugout. He is considered day-to-day...The Rays start their longest road trip of the season on Thursday with the opener of a four-game series at Seattle. They will also visit Oakland for three games and Texas for three more...Cleveland has Thursday off before beginning a three-game series in Toronto on Friday.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The 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)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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