Bannister helps Royals shut out Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

04/22/2009 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Bannister threw six strong innings to lead the Kansas City Royals in a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the middle installment of a three-game set at Progressive Field.

Bannister (1-0), making his first start of the season in lieu of Doug Waechter (strained elbow), gave up four hits with two walks and a strikeout to get the win. He is now 4-1 with a 1.62 ERA in six career starts against the Indians. Joakim Soria tossed a scoreless ninth to get his fifth save of the year.

Willie Bloomquist went 1-for-3 and drove in a run for the Royals, who snapped a two-game slide. David DeJesus also had an RBI in the win, while Coco Crisp went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Mike Jacobs scored the other run for KC.

Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee (1-3) was the hard- luck loser, as he went eight innings and was touched for just two runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and only one walk. Lee had his personal five-game win streak against the Royals snapped. Tony Sipp made a strong major league debut with a perfect ninth inning.

Victor Martinez went 2-for-4 to notch his ninth multi-hit game of the season for the Tribe, who have alternated wins and losses for the past six games.

The Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Crisp led off with a double, moved to third as Mike Aviles flied out to right and crossed home when DeJesus offered a sac fly to right.

The offenses went dormant for the next few innings, until KC added another run in the seventh. Jacobs clubbed a one-out single and Alberto Callaspo followed with another base hit before Miguel Olivo popped out. Bloomquist then made it 2-0 with an RBI single back up the middle.

The Royals threatened again in the eighth. Billy Butler had a two-out single and Mark Teahen followed with a double to the gap in left-center. However, Trevor Crowe launched a throw to Jhonny Peralta, who relayed it to Kelly Shoppach at home to catch Butler trying to score.

Soria came on in the ninth to try and close it out for the Royals and got Travis Hafner to ground out, though Peralta drew a walk. Shin-Soo Choo, the potential tying run, added a single but Shoppach flied to left for the second out. During Crowe's at-bat a passed ball advanced both runners into scoring position, but Crowe was caught looking at the third strike to end the game.

Game Notes

It was KC's third shutout this season, which is the most in the American League...Lee, who went 22-3 with a 2.54 earned run average in 31 starts a year ago, opened the 2009 campaign with consecutive losses to Texas and Toronto before rebounding against the New York Yankees on Thursday. He only gave up one run at the new Yankee Stadium after allowing 11 over the previous two starts, and scattered seven hits in six innings of a 10-2 win. The veteran left-hander has pitched at least five innings in each outing this season and had owned the Royals throughout his career. Lee was 12-4 with a 4.47 ERA in 19 career starts against them coming in...Kansas City took two of three games from Cleveland last week at Kauffman Stadium and has won six of the last eight matchups between the teams.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

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 this sportsbook “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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