Abreu, Giambi go deep as Yanks batter Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

05/24/2008 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobby Abreu drove in four runs and Jason Giambi belted a three-run homer, as the New York Yankees continued to assault Seattle pitching with a 12-6 victory over the Mariners in the second of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.

Abreu hit a two-run homer and doubled in two runs for New York, which has won a season-high four straight games. The Yankees roughed up the Mariners in Friday's opener by a 13-2 margin and have won all five meetings with Seattle this season.

Giambi finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and Robinson Cano continued his resurgence with four hits, including three doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Melky Cabrera drove in two runs and Hideki Matsui chipped in a pair of hits with an RBI and three runs scored in the victory.

"It's good at-bat after good at-bat," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi about his team's recent offensive surge. "We did a nice job of getting runners into scoring position [today] and driving in runs."

Mike Mussina (7-4), pitching on three days' rest for the first time in four years, bounced back from a dreadful start on Tuesday against Baltimore to win for sixth time in his last seven outings. He threw just 41 pitches in two- thirds of an inning against the Orioles in a 12-2 loss, allowing seven runs -- one earned -- on five hits and two walks.

On Saturday, the veteran right-hander worked five innings and surrendered four runs on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He also gave up a pair of homers after going five starts without allowing a long ball.

"I give this one to the offense today; this was their win," noted Mussina, who earned his 257th career victory. "I was out there so briefly the other day. I could have pitched more."

Instead, the Yankees decided to continue with the Joba Chamberlain experiment, as the second-year right-hander continues his transition toward the starting rotation. He threw 40 pitches in two innings, yielding one hit with a walk and two strikeouts.

"We're pleased," Girardi added, saying Chamberlain was on a 45-pitch limit. "It's a process that's going to take some time."

Jose Vidro clubbed a three-run homer, Adrian Beltre added a solo shot and Richie Sexson contributed with a two-run blast for the Mariners, who have lost five in a row and have allowed 55 runs in that span.

Carlos Silva (3-4) took the loss for Seattle, as he was tagged for seven runs -- five earned -- on 11 hits in six innings. He has lost two straight starts and is 0-4 in his last five outings.

The Yankees battered Silva for eight runs in three innings on May 4 to start his skid, then scored four times in the second to open a lead in this one.

Alex Rodriguez led off the home second with a base hit and advanced to third on a ground-rule double by Matsui. Giambi followed with a blast over the wall in left-center field for his ninth homer of the season. Cano then doubled and scored on a bloop single by Cabrera for a 4-0 lead.

Seattle, though, tied it in similar fashion in the third. Yuniesky Betancourt led off with a double and Jose Lopez singled with one out before Vidro connected for his third homer of the season. A two-out homer by Beltre, his 10th of the year, made it 4-4.

The Yankees went back on top for good in the bottom of the inning. Matsui singled with one out and advanced to third on a double by Giambi. After Cano was intentionally walked, Jose Molina flied out to shallow center field, but Cabrera came through with a two-out single to chase Matsui home with the go-ahead run.

Abreu's two-out, two-run homer in the sixth extended New York's lead to 7-4 and the Yankees broke it open with five in the seventh.

Matsui started the big inning with a walk, took second on a single by Giambi and raced home on Cano's third double of the game. Molina singled home a run and the Yankees went on to load the bases for Abreu, whose ground-rule double scored two more. Rodriguez drew a walk to again load the bases and Matsui walked for the second time in the inning to force home the last run of the frame to make it 12-4.

Sexson's two-run homer in the eighth against Kyle Farnsworth accounted for the final margin.

Game Notes

Giambi hit his 186th home run as a Yankee, surpassing Paul O'Neill for 15th place on the club's all-time list...Mussina earned his 110th win with the Yankees, surpassing Spud Chandler and Fritz Peterson for 14th in franchise history...Mussina also improved to 19-5 lifetime against the Mariners, including 8-1 as a Yankee...The Yankees swept Seattle in the Bronx from May 2-4, outscoring the Mariners 19-4. The teams will meet in Seattle from September 5-7...Girardi was back in the dugout after serving his one-game suspension for his theatrical ejection during Thursday's game against Baltimore...The Yankees will go for the sweep with Chien-Ming Wang on the hill Sunday, while the Mariners will try to salvage one game with Jarrod Washburn. Wang was pushed back a day because of a mild calf strain.

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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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