Beltre's blast helps Mariners past Toronto

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2007 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Beltre's two-run homer in the fourth inning gave Seattle the lead for good and the Mariners went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2, in the opener of a three-game set at Rogers Centre.

Jose Guillen and Raul Ibanez drove in a run each for the Mariners, who have won eight of their last 11 games. J.J. Putz recorded the final three outs to register his 31st consecutive save (29th of the season) and extend his scoreless innings streak to 22, as Seattle began its seven-game road trip with its fourth straight win away from home.

Seattle's starting pitcher Miguel Batista (10-7) got the win against one of his former teams. The right-hander, who played for the Jays in 2004 and 2005, allowed two runs on five hits, striking out six and walking three, in 5 2/3 innings. He has now won two straight and three of four starts.

Alex Rios went 3-for-4 and Troy Glaus had two hits and drove in a run for Toronto, which opened its six-game homestand by losing for the fourth time in six outings.

Toronto starter Jesse Litsch (2-4) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He also walked four and struck out two, losing for the fourth time in five decisions.

Toronto started the scoring in the second inning. Frank Thomas, Lyle Overbay and Aaron Hill all worked walks to begin the inning. Gregg Zaun then hit into a 4-6-3 double play to score Thomas.

Beltre put Seattle ahead 2-1 in the fourth with his homer. Then, in the fifth, Ibanez singled home Yuniesky Betancourt and Guillen's base hit plated Ichiro Suzuki.

The Blue Jays got a run back in the sixth. Rios doubled to start the frame and scored on Glaus' one-out single to make it a 4-2 game.

However, that was it for the Jays. The Seattle bullpen worked the final 3 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits.

Game Notes

Toronto manager John Gibbons was ejected in the sixth inning by first base umpire Tim Timmons after Timmons said Aaron Hill went too far on a check swing. Hill ended up striking out later in the at-bat...Beltre's HR was his 15th of the season...Toronto's John McDonald went 0-for-2 and is now in an 0- for-20 slump...Howie Clark, who pinch-hit for McDonald in the seventh, grounded out in his only plate appearance to see his hitless slump extend to 13 at-bats...Richie Sexson had two of the six hits for the Mariners...Putz has not allowed a run in 16 road games.

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Big Ten Conference odds

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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