Dodgers hope for sweep of division rival Padres

Baseball Betting Lines

05/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surprising Padres came into this series sitting in first place in the National League West. However, a pair of losses to the Dodgers has quickly reminded them just who the defending division champs are.

San Diego will try to avoid getting swept by Los Angeles at home for the first time in almost nine years this afternoon in the finale of a three-game series at Petco Park.

The Padres finished off a three-game sweep of the Giants earlier this week to move 3 1/2 games ahead of San Francisco in the division standings. They also came into this series five games up on the Dodgers, but San Diego's lead in the division now stands at 1 1/2 over San Francisco and three up on Los Angeles, which has captured the last two NL West crowns.

After dropping a one-run game in the opener on Friday, the Padres fell to the Dodgers last night, 4-1. Los Angeles starter Clayton Kershaw threw seven innings of one-run, three-hit ball with seven strikeouts, while Jamey Carroll had two hits and an RBI.

The victory stretched Los Angeles' longest winning streak of the season to six games. The club has won all five of its games so far on a six-game road trip, a swing that began with a sweep of Arizona.

The Dodgers were able to pick up last night's victory despite playing without early triple-crown threat Andre Ethier, who sustained a fracture on the tip of his right pinkie finger during batting practice. Ethier is slated to see a hand specialist today and leads the majors with a .392 average and 38 RBI, while his 11 homers are tied with Arizona's Kelly Johnson for the most in the NL.

"It's something you certainly don't want to have happen," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said of Ethier's injury. "The season doesn't give you a chance to breathe, just move on and the team we put on the field is the team we have to play with."

Chase Headley drove in the only run for the Padres, who haven't been swept at home by the Dodgers since a four-game series on June 28-July 1, 2001. San Diego was swept in four games at Los Angeles from April 30-May 3 of last season.

Kevin Correia was reinstated from the bereavement list prior to last night's game and gave up five hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings in defeat. Correia was placed on the bereavement list on Tuesday due to the death of his younger brother Trevor, who died last Saturday after falling from a 60-foot cliff while hiking.

"I know tonight was probably very emotional for him," Padres manager Bud Black said. "But I didn't see that from the time he came in the clubhouse until he left the game. He is a guy, by nature, that is pretty reserved."

Hoping to get the Padres into the win column is Wade LeBlanc. Though he has yet to lose in five starts this year or allow more than two runs in any of his outings, control issues prevented him from picking up a win last time out.

LeBlanc is 2-0 with a 1.61 earned run average on the year, but he lasted just 4 2/3 innings and 94 pitches on Tuesday versus the Giants. LeBlanc did not factor into the decision of his team's 3-2 victory after allowing two runs on six hits and a season-high four walks. Still, San Diego improved to 5-0 when the left-hander starts this season.

LeBlanc, 25, is 1-2 with a 6.27 ERA in four career starts versus the Dodgers, allowing 13 runs, 12 walks and four homers in 18 2/3 innings.

Chad Billingsley appears to have put some of his early-season issues behind him and he seeks a second straight winning start this afternoon for LA.

Billingsley held a 1-0 mark and 7.07 ERA over his first three starts of the year, but he has pitched to a 3.47 ERA over his last four, going 2-2 in that span. He did pick up a victory on Monday in Arizona after holding the Diamondbacks to a pair of runs and a season-low 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven while also matching a season high with four walks.

The 25-year-old righty is now 3-2 with a 4.82 ERA on the season and 8-4 with a 2.71 ERA in 18 career games versus the Padres, 14 of those starts.

The Dodgers won 10 of 18 versus the Padres last year, but San Diego took five of the nine contests played at Petco Park.

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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.

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

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