D-Backs down Padres in NL West battle

Baseball Betting Lines

09/05/2007 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doug Davis tossed seven strong innings and both Eric Byrnes and Tony Clark homered, as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the San Diego Padres, 9-1, at Chase Field.

Davis (13-11) allowed just one run on six hits, striking out five and walking five, for Arizona, which moved back into a tie with the Padres atop the NL West. The left-hander has now won three straight starts and is 6-1 in his last seven trip to the hill.

Orlando Hudson ended with three of the nine hits for the Diamondbacks, who have split the first two games of this three-game set.

Mike Cameron drove in the lone run for the Padres, who lost for just the fourth time in 14 outings.

Feeling the need to win this series and even the season series at nine each, the Padres will send ace Jake Peavy to the hill in the finale of this series on just three days rest. Peavy will counter Arizona's Livan Hernandez.

Clark started the scoring with his two-run homer in the first. Byrnes added his three-run shot in the third. Both players ended 1-for-4.

All five runs came off San Diego starter Chris Young (9-6), who suffered his third loss in six starts. The right-hander allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two, remaining winless since July 19. This was his first start since August 26, as he was skipped last time through the order because of lower back tightness.

San Diego got a run back in the fifth when Cameron's sacrifice fly scored Geoff Blum, but Arizona regained the five-run cushion in the sixth when Justin Upton's ground out scored Chris Young.

Jeff Cirillo doubled home a run and Padres reliever Clay Hensley balked home a run in the ninth to round out the scoring.

Game Notes

Padres outfielder Milton Bradley was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes. He ended 0-for-2...Davis set a new single-season career best for wins with 13. His previous best of 12 was set in 2004 with Milwaukee...Arizona's Stephen Drew ended 1-for-4 to extend his hit streak to seven games.

Wwwoasiscasino Baseball Betting News

<< Hafner lifts Tribe past Twins in 11
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Hafner's two-run homer sent the game into extra innings and his sacrifice fly in the 11th gave Cleveland the lead as the Indians held on for a 7-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodo

<< Medalist Moore ousted at Senior Women's Open
Sunriver, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stroke-play medalist Patty Moore was defeated in the third round of match play by Ana Schultz at the 2007 USGA Senior Amateur Championship at the Sunriver Resort. Schultz, the 2006 runner-up at this ev

<< Hawpe's game-winning hit helps Colorado edge San Fran
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Hawpe slung a base hit into right-center field in the bottom of the ninth, scoring Jamey Carroll with the winning run in Colorado's 6-5 victory over San Francisco at Coors Field. Hawpe knocked home a

<< Penny and Dodgers down Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Penny pitched seven strong innings to pick up his 15th win of the season, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs, 6-2, in the second installment of a four-game set at Wrigley Field. Penny (1

<< Revs need OT to advance to Open Cup final
New Britain, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Noonan scored minutes into overtime as the New England Revolution defeated the Carolina RailHawks, 2-1, on Tuesday to advance to the U.S. Open Cup championship. Noonan's goal completed New England

Kinsler, Rangers hang on to down Royals >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Kinsler finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI as Texas hung on to edge Kansas City, 9-8, in the second of three between the clubs. Jason Botts collected three hits, drove in

Angels edge Athletics >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Rodriguez struck out Nick Swisher and Jack Cust to close out the Angels' 4-3 victory over Oakland in the second of three games between the clubs. Rob Bowen's ground-rule double and Shannon Ste

Djokovic advances, Nadal upset at U.S. Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic survived his fourth-round match with Argentine Juan Monaco, while second- seeded Rafael Nadal fell to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer at the U.S. Open on Tuesday

Dallas holds on in OT to reach Open Cup final >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Ruiz and Abe Thompson scored in overtime and FC Dallas held on for a 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Tuesday to advance to the U.S. Open Cup final. Dallas, which is tied for second in the Wes

Brewers keep NL Central hopes alive against Houston >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers are in the thick of an NL Central race and will shoot for a series win over the Houston Astros tonight in the finale of a three-game series at Miller Park. Milwaukee has won four of five and pulled

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.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

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

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.