Kouzmanoff, Gonzalez help A's top Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in two runs and Gio Gonzalez tossed seven innings of one-run ball, as the Oakland Athletics handled the Kansas City Royals, 5-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

Jack Cust and Mark Ellis each had an RBI for the Athletics, who have won three in a row since a four-game skid. Gonzalez (8-6) gave up seven hits to go with three strikeouts and one walk.

Alberto Callaspo had two hits for the Royals, who have lost four straight contests.

Zack Greinke (5-9) allowed five runs -- two earned -- on four hits in six innings to take the loss. He also walked four and struck out three. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award recipient had gone 4-0 with a 3.00 earned run average over his previous five starts. He had also lasted at least seven innings in each of those games.

The A's went ahead in the top of the first on Cust's sacrifice fly. Kansas City, though, got the run back in the home half. With runners on the corners and nobody out, David DeJesus plated a run when he grounded into a double play.

Oakland scored a run in the second to take a 2-1 lead. Kouzmanoff got things started with a double. Ellis then reached first on Greinke's throwing error, which allowed Kouzmanoff to score.

The Athletics opened things up with a three-run third. Cliff Pennington walked, Coco Crisp reached base on Yuniesky Betancourt's fielding error, and Kurt Suzuki walked to load the bases one out. After Cust popped out, Kouzmanoff hit a two-run single to center. Ellis followed with an RBI base hit for a 5-1 advantage.

The Royals failed to score after loading the bases in the fourth. Billy Butler singled, Jose Guillen walked and Callaspo singled to load the bases with nobody out. Gonzalez, though, settled down and retired the next three batters in order to keep it a four-run game.

Kansas City never threatened the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Oakland won six of eight bouts with Kansas City last season, including two of three games held at Kauffman Stadium...The A's were without outfielder Ryan Sweeney (right knee)...The Royals started a six-game homestand on Friday...Greinke fell to 4-1 lifetime against Oakland.

Wwwasian-odds Baseball Betting News

<< Wolf helps Brewers down Braves
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Wolf picked up a rare win against Atlanta, backed by two RBI apiece from sluggers Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder in a 9-3 Brewers win at Turner Field. Wolf (7-8) turned in six-plus solid frames,

<< Swisher's late heroics help Yankees overcome Rays
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Swisher hit the game-tying home run in the eighth inning and singled in the winning run in the ninth, lifting the New York Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on an emotional night at Yankee

<< Garrigus joins Bettencourt in first in Reno
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Garrigus fired a seven-under 65 on Friday to join first-round leader Matt Bettencourt in a share of first after the second round of the Reno-Tahoe Open. Garrigus and Bettencourt, who bogeyed his l

<< Marte, Kearns homer as Indians rout Tigers
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Marte and Austin Kearns each hit a two- run homer, leading the Cleveland Indians in an 8-2 rout of the Detroit Tigers to begin a four-game series at Progressive Field. Travis Hafner and Trevor Crowe bo

<< Strasburg, Nats open second half on winning note
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Willingham hit a three-run double in the top of the sixth inning, and the Washington Nationals beat Florida 4-0 in the opener of a three-game series at Sun Life Stadium. Washington rookie phenom Steph

Mauer helps Twins hold off White Sox >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Mauer had two hits, including a big two-run single in the eighth inning, as the Minnesota Twins held on for a 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox in the continuation of a four-game series. Francisco

Truck race at Gateway postponed due to power outage >>
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A power outage at Gateway International Raceway just outside St. Louis forced NASCAR to postpone the 200-mile Camping World Truck Series race until 1:30 p.m. (et) Saturday. Shortly after Kevin Harvick won

Bengie Molina hits for cycle, GS keys Texas win >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bengie Molina hit for the cycle and clubbed a tie-breaking grand slam in the fifth inning, boosting the Texas Rangers to an 8-4 win over the Boston Red Sox in the continuation of a four-game series. Molina singl

Astros' Moehler hits DL with groin strain >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros placed right-hander Brian Moehler on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a strained right groin. In addition, fellow righty Felipe Paulino had his right shoulder tendinitis flare

Molina, Cardinals hit Dodgers again >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yadier Molina belted a two-run homer and drove in four runs as St. Louis again used an offensive display to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, this time by an 8-4 count at Busch Stadium. Tyler Greene and

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.