D-Backs host Astros, shoot for fifth straight win

Baseball Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Recent trade acquisition Joe Saunders tries to make it two wins in a row for the first time since arriving in Arizona tonight, when the Diamondbacks meet the Houston Astros in the middle matchup of a three-game weekend series at Chase Field.

The red-hot hosts won Friday's opener, 4-3, on Augie Ojeda's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning. Adam LaRoche went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and Gerardo Parra added two hits and a run scored for the Diamondbacks, who have won four in a row and seven of eight while outscoring their opponents by a 58-28 margin.

Aaron Heilman (5-5) earned the win with a scoreless top of the eighth and Juan Gutierrez worked a scoreless ninth to preserve the victory and earn his seventh save.

Wilton Lopez (5-1) suffered the loss after yielding the deciding run on one hit over one inning of work for the Astros, who had a three-game win streak snuffed out.

Saunders, a 29-year-old Virginia native, has won just two of seven starts since the late-July transaction that brought him to the National League from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in exchange for right-hander Dan Haren.

The left-hander allowed just three runs in 16 innings over his initial two NL outings, but then lost four in a row while surrendering 23 runs in his next 22 innings pitched. He bounced back for a win in his most recent effort, allowing two runs on 10 hits across eight innings in Arizona's 7-2 home triumph over San Diego on Monday.

Saunders has never faced the Astros.

Right-hander Bud Norris tries to restart a win streak for Houston when he opposes Saunders tonight. The 25-year-old, who won six games in 11 appearances as a rookie last season, was 2-7 this season before a seven-start unbeaten streak that saw him record four straight wins.

That run ended in his last performance, however, when Norris was touched for five runs on eight hits in a 5-1 loss to the New York Mets last Sunday in Queens.

Prior to that game, the Astros had won six straight Norris starts as he dropped his earned run average more than a run from 6.09 to 5.03.

The former sixth-round draft pick (2006) has lost his two career starts against the Diamondbacks, while giving up 12 runs in 11 hits in just six innings.

Arizona has now won four of five meetings with the Astros this season following Friday's result.

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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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