A's, Tribe play rubber match in Cleveland

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The finale of a three-game set at Progressive Field will take place this afternoon when the Cleveland Indians host the Oakland Athletics.

Taking the hill for the Indians will be Fausto Carmona, who has won three of his last four outings. The last time Carmona was on the bump, the right-hander led the Indians past Toronto, 5-4.

Carmona threw a little over six innings in the victory, surrendering four runs -- three earned -- on six hits and three walks.

It was the third home win on the year in eight starts at Progressive Field for Carmona, who has a mediocre 3.69 earned run average in front of a home crowd this season.

Earlier this season Carmona held the Athletics to just one run on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings of work. In his career against Oakland, Carmona is 3-3, but has a terrible 5.87 earned run average.

The Athletics will turn to Vin Mazzaro, who notched his third victory on the season in his last outing. In the 4-2 victory over Baltimore, the righty tossed six solid innings, allowing just one run on three hits and six walks.

It was the second road win on the season for Mazzaro, who has a 4.43 earned run average in games on the road.

This will be the second-ever start for the New Jersey native against Cleveland. In his only other start against the Tribe, Mazzaro was punished for five runs on 10 hits in just six innings.

On Saturday, Matt LaPorta bounced a base hit back through the middle to chase home the winning run in the 10th, as Cleveland captured a 5-4 win against Oakland.

Travis Hafner lined a double into the right-center gap with one out in the 10th, stayed put on an intentional walk and was then replaced by pinch- runner Anderson Hernandez, who scored on the hit by LaPorta, who ended with three hits and a pair of RBI.

Jayson Nix added a two-run homer for the Indians, whose season-high, five-game winning streak was broken in the opener of this three-game set Friday.

Cliff Pennington went 3-for-4 with a two-run triple and scored twice for Oakland, which had won six of seven coming in. Craig Breslow (3-2) took the loss.

Tony Sipp (1-2) got Adam Rosales to ground out to end the top of the 10th with a runner on third.

Clay Mortensen worked six innings in place of scheduled starter Dallas Braden, fanning seven with two walks while yielding four runs (three earned) on six hits in his 2010 debut. Braden hit the 15-day disabled list Saturday with tightness in his pitching elbow. He has failed to pick up a win since hurling his perfect game way back on May 9th versus the Rays

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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