Blue Jays seek fourth straight victory in opener with Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays take aim at their fourth straight win this evening when they open a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians at Rogers Centre.

Toronto started its six-game homestand in impressive fashion, as it completed a sweep of the woeful Baltimore Orioles, culminating with a 5-0 win on Wednesday.

Brad Mills threw seven shutout innings for his first career win and gave up just two hits and three walks with four strikeouts, as Toronto moved to 12-0 against Baltimore on the season.

"When you're in a tight game like that it's easy to focus and concentrate on the pitches I'm trying to make," said Mills. "It was nice to come out here and get the win."

Lyle Overbay smacked a three-run home run while Adam Lind went 3-for-3 with an RBI for the Blue Jays, who have homered in their last 10 games and have won five of their last six.

Heading to the hill for the Jays tonight will be righty Shaun Marcum, who has won his last two starts. Marcum beat the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, holding them to two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings to run his record to 9-4 to go along with a 3.36 earned run average.

Marcum's last loss came to the Indians back on July 1 - a setback that afterwards landed him on the disabled list with elbow discomfort - and is 0-3 lifetime against them with a 5.34 ERA in seven games, five of which have been starts.

Cleveland will counter with righty Justin Masterson, who beat Marcum and the Jays in that July 1 contest, but is 0-2 in four starts since. Masterson fell to Tampa Bay on Sunday, as he allowed four runs (three earned) and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, dropping him to 3-9 on the year.

This will be Masterson's second start against the Blue Jays. He is 2-0 in eight appearances against them with a 2.04 ERA.

Cleveland enters this series on the heels of losing three of four to the New York Yankees, including an 11-4 loss on Thursday at Progressive Field. Austin Kearns and Matt LaPorta each drove in a run for the Indians, who have lost five of six.

Frank Herrmann (0-1) was charged in defeat with a run in 1 1/3 relief innings. Starter Mitch Talbot departed after two-plus innings due to a mid-back strain after allowing a run while walking four.

Cleveland has won four of its seven meetings with the Jays this season.

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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.