A-Rod's homer pushes Yankees past M's, to seventh straight win
Baseball Betting Lines
07/01/2009 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez continued his recent power surge, belting the go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning that lifted the New York Yankees to their seventh straight victory, 4-2, over the Seattle Mariners.
Andy Pettitte (8-3) threw seven solid innings to get the victory. The left- hander surrendered six hits and a pair of runs, while walking one and fanning five. Mariano Rivera retired the side in order in the ninth for his 502nd career save and third in as many games. It was his 20th of the season.
Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera also homered for New York, which won at home over Seattle for a 10th straight time.
Ken Griffey Jr. smacked a solo homer for the Mariners, who came into this series winning four of five contests, but are now in danger of being swept in the three-game set.
Jarrod Washburn (4-6) was charged with eight hits and four runs over seven frames. The lefty has dropped six of his last seven decisions and has just one victory since April 21.
Mark Teixeira singled to left to start the bottom of the sixth, and Rodriguez then drilled the 0-1 offering from Washburn over the wall in dead center field. It was his fourth homer in the last six games. He has 13 RBI over his last seven contests.
Pettitte, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke and Rivera combined to no-hit the Mariners over the final three innings.
Damon homered to right with two outs in the third, but the Mariners tied it in the next inning when Jose Lopez scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Wladimir Balentien.
Cabrera homered over the foul pole in left field with one out in the fifth. Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu came out to argue the call, but it stood even after umpires met for a video replay.
Griffey homered to right field with two outs in the sixth. He has now homered in 44 different ballparks, one less than Sammy Sosa, who holds the all-time record.
Game Notes
Pettitte is 10-11 all-time against the Mariners...Rodriguez has 13 homers this season and 566 for his career...Seattle right fielder Ichiro Suzuki finished 0-for-4 and had his 12-game hit streak snapped.
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens have signed forward Brian Gionta to a five-year contract and defenseman Hal Gill to a two-year deal, the team announced Wednesday. Financial terms of both deals were not release
<< Flames sign Sjostrom
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames signed forward Fredrik
Sjostrom, the club announced on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not
disclosed.
Sjostrom, who was an original first round pick (11th overall) of the P
<< Rangers give long-term deal to Gaborik
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers made a big splash on the
first day of free agency, inking free agent forward Marian Gaborik to a five-
year contract.
TSN Canada is reporting the deal is worth $7.5 million yearly.
Ga
<< Coyotes ink G LaBarbera to two-year deal
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes have signed goaltender
Jason LaBarbera to a two-year contract, the team announced Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
LaBarbera, 29, split last season between
<< Columbus signs G Garon
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed
goaltender Mathieu Garon to a two-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but TSN Canada reports the deal is worth a
total of $2.4 million.
"One of
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ramon Castro hit a go-ahead three-run homer in a four-run sixth inning, and Jose Contreras pitched eight strong frames as the Chicago White Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians with a
Prado, Braves rough up Hamels, Phillies >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Prado was at it again, scoring three
runs and driving in two more runs after a four-RBI evening on Tuesday, as
Atlanta poured it on Philadelphia, 11-1, at Turner Field.
Gregor Blanco scored tw
Cubs grab early lead, top Pirates >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrek Lee belted a two-run home run and
Randy Wells tossed seven innings of one-run ball to lead the Chicago Cubs past
the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-game set at PNC
Park.
Butler/Georgetown, Indiana/Pittsburgh comprise Jimmy V Classic >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Butler will face Georgetown, and Indiana will
take on Pittsburgh in the matchups for this year's Jimmy V Classic, to be held
at Madison Square Garden on December 8.
This will be the debut for Georgetown and
Cueto, Reds blank D'Backs >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Cueto tossed six shutout innings and
the Reds bullpen finished the two-hitter from there, as Cincinnati blanked
Arizona, 1-0, in the second of three games with the Diamondbacks.
Cueto (8-4) surr
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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