Giants, Lincecum go for sweep in Arizona

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum tries to bounce back from a shaky effort his last time out when the San Francisco Giants close out a four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Lincecum escaped without getting a decision on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was hit for five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of his team's 7-5 win. The National League's reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner is 10-4 on the year with a 3.18 earned run average.

"I didn't bring my game to the table. I found myself battling every inning," Lincecum said after his last outing.

Lincecum did not get a decision in his last start against the Diamondbacks, but is 5-1 lifetime against them with a 2.36 ERA in 10 starts. His .833 winning percentage against them is his highest against any NL West opponent.

San Francisco won its third straight game on Saturday, as Juan Uribe hit his fourth career grand slam and Aubrey Huff stayed hot, helping the Giants to a 10-4 rout.

Rookie Buster Posey also extended his hitting streak to 17 games.

In Friday's contest, Huff went 3-for-5 with two home runs, and he followed that with another 3-for-5 performance Saturday. Huff drove in two runs for the Giants, who have won 10 of their last 12.

Another win today would five the Giants their second four-game sweep of the month on the road, but their first in Arizona since turning the trick from July 26-29, 2003. San Francisco swept the Milwaukee Brewers in a four-gamer from July 5-8 at Miller Park.

Madison Bumgarner (4-2) took the win after limiting Arizona to two runs on five hits and three walks in seven innings. He also struck out seven as he won his fourth consecutive start.

While the Giants won, outfielder Eugenio Velez was injured in the fourth inning while in the dugout, as he was struck in the head by a foul ball off Pat Burrell's bat. Velez fell to the ground and, after being attended to by trainers, was carried off on a stretcher and taken to a hospital, where he will remain overnight.

"CT scan was negative," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "He took a pretty good shot on the left side of the head. Don't know exactly where, but it hit him pretty good. But he never lost consciousness, and he's doing fine now."

Ian Kennedy (5-8) gave up four runs in 6 2/3 innings to take the loss for Arizona, which has lost six in a row to the Giants.

Arizona will pin its hopes on rookie right-hander Barry Enright, who is 2-2 with a 2.66 ERA. Enright was impressive in beating the New York Mets on Tuesday, as he held them to a run and five hits in eight innings. He also struck out eight, while walking a batter.

"I was attacking hitters from the beginning," Enright said. "The first two guys got on, but I never lost that aggressiveness."

This will be his first-ever start against the Giants.

San Francisco leads the 2010 season series with Arizona by a 6-2 margin, and is 19-7 over the past 26 meetings between the two ball clubs.

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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.

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