Playoff-hopeful Phils return home to battle Brewers
Baseball Betting Lines
09/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies All-Star second baseman Chase Utley recorded just four runs batted in during August. At the pace Utley's at so far in September, his RBI total for the month will be astronomical.
Utley and the National League Wild Card-leading Phillies are back at home following a successful road trip out West and will open a three-game series versus the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies swept San Diego in three games, took two of three matchups in Los Angeles, then defeated Colorado last night in a make-up game of a previous rainout.
Philadelphia rallied from an early 4-0 deficit and scored nine runs in the top of the seventh inning for a seemingly comfortable 12-7 advantage in Thursday's game. Utley, who drove in a pair of runs in Wednesday's win over the Dodgers, highlighted the seventh-inning deluge with a grand slam. He had already recorded an RBI single earlier in the frame.
Ryan Howard blasted a two-run shot for the Phillies, who have won three in a row and sit two games in front of San Francisco in the Wild Card standings. Utley ended with six RBI at hitter-friendly Coors Field.
"I imagine there are a lot of guys that have driven in a lot of runs here," Utley said on the team's site. "There's a lot of room for hits. The ball carries extremely well here. You put those two together, you're going to have some success."
The Phils also pulled within two games of NL East-leading Atlanta after the Braves were downed by the New York Mets on Thursday. Jayson Werth belted a solo homer in the seventh inning -- Philadelphia's third of the frame -- and went 3-for-5 with three runs scored.
Colorado, however, responded with three runs in the bottom half of the seventh thanks to an RBI hit from Jonathan Herrera and a two-run single by Dexter Fowler. The Phillies were able to hold the Rockies to a run the rest of the way, though, and closer Brad Lidge notched his 19th save in the ninth.
Joe Blanton started for the Phillies and allowed six runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings for the no-decision. Antonio Bastardo got the win with an inning of relief.
The Phillies will also host Florida for four games on the residency and will try to erase the memories of a four-game sweep at the hands of Houston the last time they played at home. Cole Hamels will take the first crack at doing that when he toes the rubber tonight.
Hamels was 0-3 in his last eight starts despite a surprisingly decent 2.83 earned run average before beating the Padres in a 5-0 win last Sunday. He hurled eight scoreless innings and allowed four hits with six strikeouts and no walks to improve to 8-10 with a 3.31 ERA in 27 starts this season.
Hamels is 4-5 in 14 home starts and defeated Milwaukee on May 16 of this season at Miller Park, where he allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-2 triumph. The lefty and 2008 World Series MVP is 3-2 with a 4.23 ERA in seven lifetime starts against the Brewers.
Milwaukee is just trying to play consistent baseball right now and was just swept in three games at Cincinnati. It won all three games against Pittsburgh before coming up empty against the Reds and suffered a 6-1 setback on Wednesday. Chris Narveson pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball for the Brewers, but Todd Coffey absorbed the loss for giving up three runs in a six- run seventh inning.
"I didn't want (Narveson) to pitch the whole game and get a loss," said Milwaukee manager Ken Macha. "He was going to be in there in the seventh inning until he got a baserunner."
Narveson also had a team-best two hits and drove in Milwaukee's only run in the fifth inning.
The Brewers, who have lost seven of 10 games, will pin tonight's pitching duties on Chris Capuano. The left-hander is 2-2 with a 5.06 earned run average in 18 games (3 starts) this season and previously pitched in last Saturday's 8-7 win versus Pittsburgh. He was fortunate the results were in Milwaukee's favor after he gave up six runs and six hits in three innings of relief.
Capuano is 0-1 with a 3.54 ERA in four career appearances, three of which have been starts, against the Phillies.
Philadelphia swept a three-game set in Milwaukee back in May and has won five of the past seven meetings between the two ballclubs.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays need all the wins they can get if the team is going to capture home-field advantage throughout the upcoming American League playoffs. With Matt Garza on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles, the po
<< Greinke goes for Royals in opener with Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Zack
Greinke can continue a recent hot streak tonight when the Kansas City Royals
host the Detroit Tigers in the opener of a three-game weekend series at
Kauffman Stadium.
<< Nats, Pirates open set in the Steel City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ageless right-hander Livan Hernandez can reach double-
digit wins for the 11th time in his big-league career tonight when the soon-
to-be-shorthanded Washington Nationals visit the Pittsburgh Pirates for the
first of three
<< Cards hope to revive postseason hopes in opener with Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Cardinals faced the Reds, they completed
a three-game sweep that gave them sole possession of first place in the
National League Central.
The teams have drastically gone in opposite directions since.
F
<< Myers opposes red-hot Hudson in the desert
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trade deadline pick-up Daniel Hudson can continue a
sterling National League debut tonight when the Arizona Diamondbacks host the
Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game series at Chase Field.
A 23-year-old from Lynch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Colorado Rockies are going to return to the postseason, they need to turn it around soon. This weekend would be a good start, as they begin a three-game series against the National League West- leading San Diego Padres
A's seeking to get back on track against Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics are coming off a beating in the Bronx
and are back in the Bay Area to kick off a nine-game homestand starting with
Friday's opener of a three-game series versus the Los Angeles Angels of
Anaheim.
The
Indians, Mariners continue set between last-place clubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo and the Cleveland Indians look to remain in
the win column when they resume a four-game series against the homestanding
Seattle Mariners tonight from Safeco Field.
Choo stroked a three-run double during a fou
Ramirez, White Sox begin series in Boston >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Ramirez returns to one of his old stomping grounds in
a new uniform when the former Boston star leads the Chicago White Sox into
Fenway Park for a key three-game series with the Red Sox that begins tonight.
Ramir
Red-hot Yankees eye seventh straight win vs. Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees hoped to be playing their best
baseball in September, and the early returns of this month seem to indicate
they may have reached that goal.
The defending world champions set their sights
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com