Wells' slam helps Blue Jays hold off Tigers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2008 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells clubbed his fifth career grand slam and David Purcey was stellar on the hill, as the Toronto Blue Jays staved off a late rally to edge the Detroit Tigers, 4-3, in the third installment of a four-game set.

Purcey (2-3) allowed just two hits over six shutout innings before a 49-minute rain delay ended his night. Brandon League got his first save of the year despite a shaky ninth. David Eckstein went 3-for-4 and scored a run for the Jays, who have won eight of their last 11 road games.

"This was a good experience for me," Purcey said. "I was able to face good hitters and slow the game down enough to keep them off balance."

Kenny Rogers (8-10) took the loss as he gave up four runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 frames. He has now lost his last four starts. Edgar Renteria finished with a two-run double for the Tigers, who have dropped three straight. Miguel Cabrera also drove in a run in defeat, while Magglio Ordonez ran his hitting streak to 12 games with a 2-for-4 effort.

Scott Downs, who hadn't allowed a run in his previous 17 2/3 innings, came in for Toronto in the ninth to protect the 4-0 lead and surrendered a leadoff walk to Placido Polanco. Ordonez followed with a single that put runners on the corners. As Downs was backing up home plate on the play, though, he slipped, hurt his ankle and had to come out of the game.

League came in for the injured Downs and got Cabrera to hit into an RBI groundout. Pinch-hitter Matt Joyce then lofted a pop-up that Kevin Mench misplayed, allowing both runners to reach scoring position. Ryan Raburn went down swinging for the second out, but Renteria kept hope alive with a two-run double. However, Brandon Inge was caught looking at the third strike to end the threat and the game.

Toronto got on the board in the third inning. The bases were loaded as Marco Scutaro led off with a walk and Eckstein and Alex Rios singled. Wells cleared the table with a grand slam just out of the reach of a leaping Raburn in left.

"That inning was unfortunate in a lot of ways," Rogers said. "No one made a mistake, I just wish I had gotten that pitch to Vernon down a little. When you get the bases loaded with no one out, you aren't going to get away with anything."

Ramon Santiago broke up Purcey's no-hit bid with two outs in the fifth on a bloop single to right.

Game Notes

The Tigers placed relief pitcher Joel Zumaya on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday with a sore right shoulder...Detroit has now recorded an extra-base hit in 61 consecutive games...Detroit's Gary Sheffield was thrown out in the seventh for arguing a called strike...Wells now has 16 RBI in his last 14 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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