Nix leads Indians past Rays

Baseball Betting Lines

07/09/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jayson Nix continued his torrid pace with his sixth home run in seven games, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 9-3, to even a four-game series at Tropicana Field.

Nix, who hit his 19th career homer, had hit only 13 other home runs in 147 career games prior to this unprecendented stretch, as the Indians snapped a three-game losing streak. Jhonny Peralta added three hits, including a three- run homer, in the win.

Matt LaPorta, who missed the last three games with a head contusion, continued his hot streak with a three-hit game. LaPorta, who was the key part of the deal that sent CC Sabathia to Milwaukee in 2008, has batted .382 with four homers and 10 RBI in 10 games since his recall on June 27.

Fausto Carmona (8-7), in his final start before heading to the All-Star Game, gave up two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 6 2/3 frames to earn the win.

Carlos Pena homered and drove in two runs for the Rays, who had a six-game win streak halted. James Shields (7-9) continued to struggle, yielding four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 to take the loss. The righty has gone 2-8 in his last 10 games with a 6.87 earned run average.

The Indians took the early lead with two runs in the second.

Travis Hafner was hit by a pitch, and Peralta moved him to second with a one- out single. LaPorta followed with another base hit, scoring Hafner, and Peralta moved to third on a balk and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 advantage.

The Rays got one back in the third with a two-out rally, as Evan Longoria walked on four pitches, stole second and raced around to score on Pena's single.

Nix restored Cleveland's two-run cushion in the fifth with yet another home run -- a solo shot with two outs.

Tampa Bay threatened to come back in the seventh, knocking Carmona out of the game.

Carmona retired the first two batters, but was lifted after a walk to Carl Crawford. Chris Perez came in and issued three straight walks, the last to Matt Joyce to force in the second run. Perez, though, recovered to strike out John Jaso on three pitches to maintain a 4-2 lead.

Peralta then cemented the Indians' win in the top of the eighth, following base hits from Carlos Santana and Austin Kearns with a home run to left for a five-run cushion.

Jason Donald's RBI double later in the frame extended the lead, and Kearns' RBI ground-rule double in the ninth made it 9-2.

Pena's solo blast with two outs in the ninth accounted for the final margin.

Game Notes

Tampa Bay still leads the season series, 3-1...The Indians have recorded an extra base hit in 35 straight games, the longest active streak in the AL...Shields is 0-4 lifetime against the Indians...The Rays are 34-66 all-time against Cleveland, their worst mark against any AL opponent...Shields struck out nine.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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