A-Rod hits grand slam as Yankees overpower Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

05/31/2010 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam to highlight a six-run seventh inning and ended with six RBI, as the Yankees closed out a four-game series against the Indians with a 11-2 victory.

Andy Pettitte (7-1) rolled through Cleveland's lineup for seven innings, allowing just four hits -- one a Jhonny Peralta solo homer -- with five strikeouts and zero walks.

Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a solo home run and later chipped in a two-run single.

Rodriguez finished with three hits -- the others an RBI double and run-scoring single. It was his 20th career grand slam, passing Eddie Murray for third place on the all-time list.

Brett Gardner added three hits and an RBI, while Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher each picked up two hits and scored twice as New York picked up its fifth win in seven games behind a season-high 18-hit attack.

Indians starter Mitch Talbot (6-4) was charged with three runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings. A combination of Rafael Perez and Chris Perez came on to surrender five runs during the fateful seventh frame without retiring a batter.

It was a 2-1 Yankee lead going into the seventh where everything fell apart for Cleveland.

Gardner began the onslaught with a single, but was quickly erased on an attempted steal of second. Derek Jeter then singled, but was replaced by a pinch-runner. He had taken a pitch to the back of his left thigh in the second inning. Yankee manager Joe Girardi indicated after the game the hamstring had stiffened as the game went along.

Rafael Perez came on for Talbot and gave up a base hit to Granderson, uncorked a wild pitch to advance the runners and intentionally walked Mark Teixeira to load the bases.

Chris Perez was called upon to limit the damage, but instead served up a 3-1 fastball that Rodriguez crushed to dead center. Cano then ripped a pitch over the wall in right and Swisher doubled to bring Jamey Wright out of the pen.

Francisco Cervelli capped the frame's scoring with a sacrifice fly to make it an 8-1 affair. New York stretched its lead further with Rodriguez's RBI double and Cano's two-run single in the eighth.

Pettitte, meanwhile, had retired 14 straight following a Mark Grudzielanek single in the third leading up to New York's huge seventh inning. Chan Ho Park took over where Pettitte left off by retiring the next five before hitting a snag with two outs in the ninth. He put three on and gave up a Shelley Duncan RBI single before getting the final out.

The Yankees got on the board in their first at-bat. Granderson lifted a ground-rule double to right and came home two batters later on Rodriguez's base hit into right-center.

Peralta turned on a Pettitte fastball and put it well into the right-field bleachers leading off the second for his 100th career home run.

The game remained tied until the fourth when Swisher led off with a double and Gardner laced a two-out single to center for a 2-1 edge.

Game Notes

The Yankees took three of four in the series after winning five of the eight matchups a year ago...Pettitte lowered his earned-run average to 2.48 on the season with three earned runs and no walks over his last two starts (15 innings). He evened his record at 8-8 in 20 career starts against the Tribe and was 0-4 in his previous six starts against the Indians in the Bronx...It was A-Rod's seventh homer this year and 590th of his career. Only Yankee legend Lou Gehrig (23) and Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez (21) have more career grand slams than Rodriguez...Cano hit his 11th home run this season and is batting .450 (27-for-60) with eight doubles, two homers and 17 RBI over his hitting streak....Gardner was caught stealing twice in the same game for the first time in his career.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

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