Indians Baseball

Steven Zoine asked:


Casey Blake from the Indians drove in two runs and extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games to help lift the Cleveland Indians to a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.

“I don’t really know why I did it,” Blake said of his surprise bunt single in the second inning. “I guess when you feel confident you just do things without second guessing.”
Aaron Boone also had two hits as the Indians won their third in a row and delivered the sixth straight loss for the Royals. Cliff Lee (3-4) overcame a first-inning dizzy spell to pitch six-plus innings for the win. Avoiding a career-high fourth straight loss and improving to 7-2 in his career against the Royals.

This Cleveland team is playing better every day and they’re improving their game as the season goes by. If they continue with this regularity throughout the season they can get back to being one of baseball best like they were a few years ago.

Lineup

Grady Sizemore, CF. 2.Jason Michaels, LF. 3.Jhonny Peralta, SS. 4.Travis Hafner, DH. 5. Casey Blake, RF. 6.Ben Broussard, 1st B. 7.Ronnie Belliard, 2nd B. 8. Aaron Boone, 3rd B. 9. Kelly Shoppach, C.

Detroit Tigers with one of the best season starts in years are at the peak of their game so far. Detroit Tigers haven’t had a winning streak like this in more than a dozen years. Brandon Inge and Placido Polanco homered and the Tigers won their seventh straight game beating the Minnesota Twins 5-3 last week for their longest winning streak since 1993.

“It’s pretty good, but nobody will care about that tomorrow,” said Detroit manager Jim Leyland, who has made all the right moves in his first season back in the dugout in seven years.

Detroit it’s 27-13 now and competing for the first place overall with the defending World Champions White Sox, nobody thought the Tigers would have such a good start in the season, but this young and talented team has proved to everybody that they are up for big things this year.

This series against a rising Cleveland Indians promises nothing but great baseball giving the opportunity to the entire sports betting community out there to enjoy a great series between these two.

Lineup

1. Curtis Granderson, CF. 2. Placido Polanco, 2nd B. 3. Ivan Rodriguez, C. 4. Magglio Ordonez, RF. 5. Carlos Guillen, SS. 6. Chris Shelton, 1st B. 7. Marcus Thames, DH. 8. Craig Monroe, LF. 9. Brandon Inge, 3rd B.



BENITO

Bob Acton asked:


July 28, 2006 (Cleveland, Ohio) - This city was once dubbed “the mistake by the lake” and they have done a heck of a job trying to change the impression that visitors like myself get when we visit this blue collar city. The Cleveland Indians have played some inspired baseball the past few years. King James rules the throne in basketball with the Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns, with their rich traditions, have made some great moves during the offseason.
I was looking forward to seeing the new additions to coach Romeo Cremmel’s stable yesterday as this is year two in his regime and optimism reigns supreme at the training headquarters in Berea, Ohio. That was until Thursday morning when the Brownies were conducting their first 11-on-11 drills and their most prized acquisition, All-Pro Center LeCharles Bentley, went down on an innocent running play. Whether it be NFL or College Football, the number one criteria for a winning team is a strong and healthy offensive line. The center is arguably next to a talented quarterback, the most important component in this unit.

He calls all the blocking assignments and every play begins with him huddling up the team and then commencing it with the snap of the ball. A Cleveland native, Bentley spent his first four years with the New Orleans Saints. He started at right guard in his first two seasons and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2003. The following year, Bentley moved to center and earned his second Pro Bowl selection in 2005.

The Browns forked over $36 million in the offseason to sign him to a 6-year deal and now he will miss the entire year with a torn patella tendon. Bentley’s injury is the latest for a Browns team beset by serious medical setbacks — No. 1 overall picks Courtney Brown and quarterback Tim Couch had several major injuries — since the club returned to the league as an expansion team in 1999.

On Thursday, tight end Kellen Winslow had his first contact after missing the past two seasons with major leg injuries. The Browns also are without wide receiver Braylon Edwards, their first-round pick in 2005, who is expected to be out until Oct. 1 following knee surgery.

While I realize that injuries are a big part of the world of football and playoff bound teams must overcome adversity, the Browns are done in 2006. With a young second year quarterback in Charlie Frye still learning on the job, this is one security blanket he desperately needed.

The good news for Ohio fans is that they still have the Ohio State Buckeyes to cheer for!

Bob Acton

Online Sports Betting



CODY

Steven Zoine asked:


White Sox are one of the favorites to win the World Series this year according to some Sportsbook odds. Their manager Ozzie Guillen, went on the attack Monday in the wake of comments made by Cubs closer Ryan Dempster and comments not made by him. “All of a sudden, he’s saying coaches shouldn’t be out there, coaches shouldn’t be involved in fights,” Guillen said of comments made by Dempster on a local Chicago radio show Monday morning. “Good thing he’s thought about it, because if he keeps pitching like that, he might be coaching pretty soon.”

Guillen was also under the impression that during that radio interview Dempster not only was accusing Sox third base coach Joey Cora of biting the ankle of Jacque Jones during Saturday’s bench-clearing brawl between the two teams, but that Dempster said that Guillen’s kids were on the field for the fight.

Dempster never really said either in the interview, and then came out Monday afternoon and told Cubs writers that he never said Cora bit Jones; a fact that Jones also backed up. That didn’t keep Guillen from making Dempster just the latest casualty of his wrath.

“Well, when you name names you have to be 100 percent right, and he’s not,” Guillen said. “He said my kid was on the field, my kids know the rules maybe better than he did. My kid (Ozzie Jr.) has more years in the big league than Dempster does.”
The Indians had a scheduled off day Monday, one of two off days in the next four days, after completing a so-so 5-4 homes stand. The Indians will begin a five-game trip to Minnesota and Detroit on Tuesday, with the start of a brief two-game series with the Twins.

The trip is an important one for the Indians, because all five games will be played against division rivals. The importance of those games and the continued slump of No. 5 starter Jason Johnson appear to be the main reasons why Johnson probably won’t make a start on the trip.

Although manager Eric Wedge hasn’t said so officially, the way the pitching is being lined up for the trip, it’s apparent that the Indians will use the off days Monday and Thursday to let them skip Johnson’s turn in the rotation.

The 32-year-old right-hander signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Indians as a free agent during the off-season. But he has been a disappointment thus far.

Johnson started the season with three good starts, but since his last win on April 18, he is 0-4 with a 9.73 ERA. His last start came Saturday, in an 8-6 loss to lowly Pittsburgh. Johnson was hammered for eight runs on 10 hits in the game.

Following the game, Wedge said Johnson would remain in the rotation “for now”, but Wedge hasn’t yet indicated when Johnson will get his next start.



VINCE