Bannister helps Royals shut out Indians

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04/22/2009 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Bannister threw six strong innings to lead the Kansas City Royals in a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the middle installment of a three-game set at Progressive Field.

Bannister (1-0), making his first start of the season in lieu of Doug Waechter (strained elbow), gave up four hits with two walks and a strikeout to get the win. He is now 4-1 with a 1.62 ERA in six career starts against the Indians. Joakim Soria tossed a scoreless ninth to get his fifth save of the year.

Willie Bloomquist went 1-for-3 and drove in a run for the Royals, who snapped a two-game slide. David DeJesus also had an RBI in the win, while Coco Crisp went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Mike Jacobs scored the other run for KC.

Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee (1-3) was the hard- luck loser, as he went eight innings and was touched for just two runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and only one walk. Lee had his personal five-game win streak against the Royals snapped. Tony Sipp made a strong major league debut with a perfect ninth inning.

Victor Martinez went 2-for-4 to notch his ninth multi-hit game of the season for the Tribe, who have alternated wins and losses for the past six games.

The Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Crisp led off with a double, moved to third as Mike Aviles flied out to right and crossed home when DeJesus offered a sac fly to right.

The offenses went dormant for the next few innings, until KC added another run in the seventh. Jacobs clubbed a one-out single and Alberto Callaspo followed with another base hit before Miguel Olivo popped out. Bloomquist then made it 2-0 with an RBI single back up the middle.

The Royals threatened again in the eighth. Billy Butler had a two-out single and Mark Teahen followed with a double to the gap in left-center. However, Trevor Crowe launched a throw to Jhonny Peralta, who relayed it to Kelly Shoppach at home to catch Butler trying to score.

Soria came on in the ninth to try and close it out for the Royals and got Travis Hafner to ground out, though Peralta drew a walk. Shin-Soo Choo, the potential tying run, added a single but Shoppach flied to left for the second out. During Crowe's at-bat a passed ball advanced both runners into scoring position, but Crowe was caught looking at the third strike to end the game.

Game Notes

It was KC's third shutout this season, which is the most in the American League...Lee, who went 22-3 with a 2.54 earned run average in 31 starts a year ago, opened the 2009 campaign with consecutive losses to Texas and Toronto before rebounding against the New York Yankees on Thursday. He only gave up one run at the new Yankee Stadium after allowing 11 over the previous two starts, and scattered seven hits in six innings of a 10-2 win. The veteran left-hander has pitched at least five innings in each outing this season and had owned the Royals throughout his career. Lee was 12-4 with a 4.47 ERA in 19 career starts against them coming in...Kansas City took two of three games from Cleveland last week at Kauffman Stadium and has won six of the last eight matchups between the teams.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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