Carmona, Indians top Braves to avoid sweep

Baseball Betting Lines

06/17/2007 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona pitched seven-plus strong innings, as the Cleveland Indians avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Jacobs Field.

Carmona (8-2) gave up two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking two. Joe Borowski kept Atlanta off the scoreboard in the ninth to record his 20th save of the season.

Casey Blake went 1-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 26 games for the Indians, who won for just the third time in their last eight games. Franklin Gutierrez finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Atlanta starter Kyle Davies went 5 1/3 innings and allowed five runs -- three earned -- on six hits. Davies (3-6) has now dropped three straight starts and four of his last five overall.

Chipper Jones, who went 2-for-4, recorded his 2,000 career hit with a single in the second inning for the Braves, who were looking to sweep their first interleague series on the road since winning three in a row at Boston in 2002.

Scott Thorman went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in the loss.

After four scoreless innings, Cleveland went up 1-0 in the fifth. Trot Nixon led things off with a walk and Gutierrez bunted for a single. Davies then recorded two outs before Jason Michaels roped a single to center to plate Gutierrez.

The Indians tacked on four runs in the sixth to extend their lead to 5-0. Victor Martinez led off the frame with a single and Jhonny Peralta followed with a double. Ryan Garko's grounder to first got past Thorman as Martinez and Peralta both scored on the play.

Nixon followed with a ground out to move Garko to third and he scored on Gutierrez's base hit. Chad Paronto then relieved Davies and Gutierrez stole second and hustled to third as Brian McCann's throw sailed into the outfield. The throwing error proved costly as Gutierrez scored on Josh Barfield's ground out to make it a five-run game.

The Braves scored twice in the eighth to get on the board. Thorman led things off with a home run and Carmona issued consecutive walks to Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson before being relieved by Rafael Betancourt. Willie Harris greeted Betancourt with a double down the right-field line to plate Escobar. However, Betancourt managed to settle down and recorded three straight outs to end the inning.

Atlanta put two runners on base in the ninth with one out, but Borowski got Escobar to ground out and Johnson to fly out to end the game.

Game Notes

Blake's hitting streak is the longest in the majors this season and longest in Cleveland history since catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr., hit safely in 30 straight games in 1997...Atlanta went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.

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With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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