Cardinals hang on to edge Marlins
Baseball Betting Lines
08/14/2008 -
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Glaus collected a game-high four hits and
finished with an RBI and a run scored to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the
Florida Marlins, 6-4, in the third game of a four-game set at Dolphin Stadium.
Jason LaRue knocked in the go-ahead runs with a double in the seventh and Skip
Schumaker posted three hits for the Cardinals, who won for just the third time
in seven games.
Mike Jacobs drove in two runs on a pair of hits for the Marlins, who have come
up on the losing end in 13 of the last 18 times they played the Cardinals in
South Beach.
Braden Looper (11-9) earned the win against his former team in seven innings
of work. The righty only allowed one earned run, two total, on five hits and
one walk, while striking out five.
"The couple mistakes I made today didn't cost me," Looper said. "In my last
couple games [against the Marlins] I made a few and it seems like they hit a
homer every time, where today I made a few mistakes and got away with them."
Renyel Pinto (2-4) suffered the loss as the second Florida pitcher of the
night. In only two-third of an inning, Pinto was tagged for two runs on two
hits.
The game was even at two, but the Cardinals tallied two runs in the seventh
for their first lead of the game and they stayed in front the rest of the way.
Schumaker and Albert Pujols led off with back-to-back singles and then moved
to second and third, respectively, on a deep fly ball hit by Ryan Ludwick.
Then with two outs, Justin Miller handed Glaus an intentional walk and LaRue
made him pay with a two-run double to center that plated Schumaker and Pujols,
while Glaus was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
In the eighth, the Cardinals pushed their edge to 5-2 on an RBI single to left
by Schumaker. Adam Kennedy came around on the one-out hit after he smacked a
base hit and moved into scoring position on a single by Cesar Izturis.
The Marlins almost drew even in the bottom of the frame but came up one short
at 5-4. Pinch-hitter Wes Helms blooped in a lead-off single and jogged to
second when the next batter, Hanley Ramirez, was hit with a 2-2 pitch. After a
fly out, Helms ran through a stop sign to score on a single to left by Jorge
Cantu. Jacobs then brought in Ramirez with a double to right to make it a one-
run game. Dan Uggla drew a walk to load the bases with one out, but Chris
Perez got Josh Willingham to ground into a double play to end the threat.
The Cards added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI double by Glaus that
plated Felipe Lopez, who reached with a triple.
Perez recorded his third save of the year, a five-out one in which he only
allowed two walks, while also striking out two.
Ricky Nolasco walked away with a no-decision for Florida after he surrendered
two runs on 10 hits in six innings.
"I tried to keep us close," Nolasco said. "I had a lot of base-runners on
base. I just tried to limit the damage and make pitches. Just battled. Tried
to do my job right there."
The Marlins opened up the scoring right away with a run in the first thanks to
an error by Glaus. Ramirez led off and reached first when Glaus could not
handle a ball hit to third. Ramirez eventually got to second with two outs on
a Cantu groundout, and the shortstop raced home via a base hit to left by
Jacobs.
St. Louis knotted the game at one in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to left hit
by Kennedy. Glaus crossed the plate after he led off with a single, moved to
second on a LaRue groundout and trotted to third on a single by Looper.
In the fifth, the Marlins grabbed a 2-1 edge after they loaded the bases with
one out on three straight singles by John Baker, Alfredo Amezaga and Nolasco.
Baker then came around on the fourth consecutive base hit of the inning by
Ramirez.
But once again, the Cardinals would draw even in the sixth when Rick Ankiel
scored on Kennedy's sac fly to left.
Game Notes
The Cardinals pounded out 18 hits...St. Louis has seven errors in its last
four games...The Marlins have gone a season-high four games without an error.
<< D-Backs reinstate Slaten from DL, option Buckner
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks reinstated left-handed
pitcher Doug Slaten from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday.
Slaten, who was placed on the DL on July 19 with a right knee strain, is 0-3
with a 4.40 earned
<< Wells' slam helps Blue Jays hold off Tigers
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
install
<< A's lose Chavez for rest of season
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez
will miss the rest of the season after having successful surgery to repair
his right shoulder.
The six-time Gold Glove winner underwent a two-hour-plus proce
<< Rangers' Hamilton leaves game to be with pregnant wife
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton
left Wednesday's 8-4 loss to Boston to fly back to Texas to be with his wife,
who is close to giving birth to the couple's third child.
Hamilton was 0-for-3 in
<< Del Potro survives scare to advance in DC
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro was
tested in his second-round matchup at the $508,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
Wednesday, but the Argentine pulled through to advance in the U.S. Open tune-
up.
Hawpe, Rox edge D'Backs >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Hawpe clubbed a two-run homer in the bottom
of the eighth inning and the Colorado Rockies withstood a ninth-inning charge
from the Arizona Diamondbacks to hang on for a 6-5 win in the middle
install
Mets clobber Nationals behind huge third inning >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Murphy clubbed a two-run homer and
added an RBI single, as the New York Mets -- aided by an eight-run third
inning -- cruised to a 12-0 win in the second test of a three-game series
against
Buehrle helps White Sox complete second straight shutout of Royals >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Buehrle threw seven shutout innings, and
Jermaine Dye finished with a double and run batted in for Chicago, which shut
out Kansas City for the second game in a row, 4-0.
On Tuesday, in the opener of t
Blazers' G Roy to undergo surgery >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy will
have arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday to repair a tear in the meniscus of
his left knee, the club announced Wednesday.
An MRI taken Tuesday revealed the tear
The San Jose Earthquakes >>
Waived defender/midfielder Amir Lowery.
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the 2008 BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting
So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.
Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?
If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)
Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).
In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.
Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.
As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.
(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)
If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech
 The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.
Work left to do:
Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.
Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).
Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.
For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com
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