97 to 2002, hadnt faced Cleveland since 2005. "I felt good," Colon said. "The only problem is the Cleveland team is hot right now." NOTES: The In

Welcome to the pinnacle of gridiron fantasy games!The beauty of Eliminator Challenge lies in its simplicity: every week youre asked to pick the winner of one NFL game straight up. If the team you choose prevails, then you advance! The only caveat is you can only use a team ONCE during the season, and so the strategic intricacies emerge.Do you map out the entire schedule ahead of time, assuming the teams you feel are strong at the start of the season can remain that way for all 17 weeks? Do you take the biggest favorite every week and hope to consistently survive the dreaded upset? Perhaps you save an elite team for a juicy matchup down the road and rely on one thats less favorable to carry you through.For instance, Carolina is sure to be a sizeable Week 2 home-favorite over San Francisco, but burning a potential Super Bowl caliber team that early might be playing it too safe for your taste.As is always the case in the NFL, nothing comes easy. Its usually the matchup you overlook that gets the better of you, and if that happens your season is over. Thats right: if you lose even once youre out. While potentially devastating in its abruptness, the challenge of having to survive and advance each and every week is what makes this game so fun to play.No matter the strategy, theres sure to be a time when youre sitting on the edge of your seat wondering why you decided to stake your entire season on a team thats now losing in the 4th Quarter. Its inevitable, but if you survive theres sure to be another week when youre in the clear and good percentage of your competitors are facing a similar situation.At first glance it might seem as though you can leave all of your NFL player-based knowledge and spread savvy at the door for this one, but youll need all of that and more to succeed here - and quite possibly a bit of luck as well.If you need more help, ESPN.com has all the tools you need to make the right decisions, week after week:NFL Pick Center: ESPN Insiders can look at two different simulation models to get an idea of how every NFL game will play out each week.NFL Power Rankings: Who are the best teams in the league? Consult the power rankings, a weekly poll of some of the best writers in the business.ESPN Chalk:?Comprehensive betting coverage, including best bets for every NFL game. JK Scott Super Bowl Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Corey Linsley Super Bowl Jersey . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Elgton-Jenkins-Packers-Jersey/ . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. ZaDarius Smith Super Bowl Jersey . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Jace Sternberger Super Bowl Jersey . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. CLEVELAND -- Everything is going the Indians way. Theres no dispute or debate about that. One day after the home run that wasnt, Jason Kipnis, Nick Swisher and Mark Reynolds connected for homers and Scott Kazmir struck out 10 in six innings, leading Cleveland to a 9-2 win over Oakland on Thursday and a four-game sweep of the Athletics. The Indians ended the series with a convincing blowout, only hours after they won 4-3 with the help of a blown call in the ninth inning when umpires, after watching a video replay, ruled that an apparent tying home run by Oaklands Adam Rosales was a double. Major League Baseball acknowledged the umpires made an "improper call," but executive vice-president Joe Torre said the "judgment" decision is final. There was no argument on Thursday as the Indians put a resounding thumping on the As and won for the 10th time in 11 games. "Our starting pitching is giving us a chance to win," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We have a very good bullpen. Were playing well defensively. A lot of guys are contributing offensively. Thats a good way to play baseball." Kipnis hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Bartolo Colon (3-2) for the Indians, who improved to 13-4 since April 20. They got more good news after the game when centre fielder Michael Bourn was activated from the 15-day disabled list after missing nearly one month with a cut finger. Bourn will be ready for a three-game series against first-place Detroit starting Friday. Kazmir (2-1), who at this time last year wasnt even pitching professionally, allowed one run and five hits. The left-hander has won consecutive starts for the first time since 2010. "Im not thinking about last year or what happened before that," Kazmir said. "Im looking ahead. Im throwing the ball well right now. Im feeling better every time out." Josh Donaldson homered for the As, who fell to .500 for the first time since April 4 when they were 2-2. Oakland is just 6-14 after starting 12-4. "Theyre playing great and cant do anything wrong and were struggling," As manager Bob Melvin said. "Thats what happens. What happened last night shouldnt affect today. They just beat us." The Indians were already leading by six runs when MLB released a statement indicating umpire Angel Hernandez and his crew had erred Wednesday night. After watching a video replay, they failed to reverse a call and gave Rosales a double instead of a homer. TV replays showed Rosales shot off Chris Perez had easily cleared the 19-foot-high wall. "Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made," Torre said. "Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavour, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the prrocess of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last nights decision.ddddddddddddquot; MLB director of umpires Randy Marsh was sent to Progressive Field for the series finale to inspect the video replay equipment. Marsh did not find any problems and reported his findings to Torre. Francona was pleased with Torres ruling, and understand it can be an imperfect game. "I respect Joe and his statement and Im glad it stands," Francona said. "All you can ask is guys to do the best they can. They went and checked. Obviously, it wasnt conclusive on what they saw, and so you move on. Those things have a way of evening out." Francona disagreed with any assertion the decision should be overturned. "You cant do that," Francona said. "Its not because we won. The rule is in place and you cant change the rules. You do the best you can." The Indians, who came in leading the AL in homers, took a 2-0 lead in the first on Kipnis fourth homer, a two-run shot. Michael Brantley singled to open the first off Colon and Kipnis followed by belting a 2-1 pitch over the left-field wall, not far from where Rosales contested hit landed. "I was happy that it stayed up there and someone caught it just to make sure there was no confusion about it," Kipnis said. He added a sacrifice fly in the second, when the Indians tacked on three runs to open a 5-0 lead. Swisher led off the third by pulling Colons first pitch over the wall in right for his fifth homer and second in two days. Swisher, who played college ball at Ohio State, was typically animated after rounding the bases. He bashed forearms with Jason Giambi and raised arms to give the "O-H" gesture to Cleveland fans. The Indians added three runs in the fifth, two coming on Reynolds AL-leading 11th homer. Colon gave up six runs and eight hits in five innings. The right-hander, who pitched for the Indians from 1997 to 2002, hadnt faced Cleveland since 2005. "I felt good," Colon said. "The only problem is the Cleveland team is hot right now." NOTES: The Indians entered the series having lost eight straight to Oakland. It was the Indians first-four game sweep of the As since 1999. ... To make room for Bourn, the Indians optioned LHP Scott Barnes to Triple-A Columbus. Barnes snagged a hard comebacker for the final out to finish the sweep. ... Kazmir had not posted double-digit strikeouts since Aug. 26, 2009 for Tampa. ... All five of Swishers homers have been at home. ... After playing three against the Tigers, the Indians will return home for a doubleheader Monday against the New York Yankees. The teams were rained out twice last month. ... RHP Vinnie Pestano (sore elbow) is scheduled to resume a throwing program this weekend. ' ' '