Walker leads 17-hit attack, Pirates finally beat Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Neil Walker collected three hits, scored three times and knocked in a pair of runs as Pittsburgh pounded out 17 hits in a 12-6 win over Houston in the middle meeting of a three-game set.

Jose Tabata and Lastings Milledge each had two hits and knocked in a pair of runs, while Garrett Jones, Pedro Alvarez, Erik Kratz and Ronny Cedeno also had a pair of hits apiece to help the Pirates snap a seven-game losing streak.

Javier Lopez (2-1) earned the win by recording the final out in the fifth inning. Brendan Donnelly, Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan and Octavio Dotel then combined to retire the final 12 Houston hitters in succession to sew up Pittsburgh's first win over Houston in eight tries this season.

Bud Norris (2-7) took the loss after being charged with seven runs -- four earned -- on nine hits while walking two and striking out four over 4 2/3 innings for Houston, which has dropped three out of five.

The Pirates, who had been scored on in the first inning in six of their last seven games, turned the tables on Houston in the first to take the early lead.

Tabata reached on a Chris Johnson throwing error with one out, moved to third base on a Walker single and scored on Jones' double to right field. Alvarez struck out before Milledge lashed a two-run single to center to cap off the three-run rally.

The lead didn't last long, as Hunter Pence led off the second inning by belting Ross Ohlendorf's second pitch of the second inning over the wall in left-center field for his 13th home run of the year.

Johnson was then hit by a pitch, moved to second on a Jason Castro single and came in to score on a double by Angel Sanchez. Norris legged out a bunt base hit to load the bases for Michael Bourn, who doubled to left to plate two runs to give the visitors their first lead at 4-3. Lance Berkman walked to reload the bases with one out and spell the end of the night for Ohlendorf.

D.J. Carrasco took over and got Carlos Lee to ground into an inning-ending double play. Ohlendorf was charged with four runs on five hits and a pair of walks, while striking out one, in the shortest start of his career.

The Buccos responded in their half of the frame with a two-run double by Tabata to center that put them back in the lead by one.

Carrasco retired the first eight batters he faced before Berkman walked with one out in the fifth and advanced to second base on a two-out single by Pence that chased the right-hander from the hill.

Lopez was called on by skipper John Russell but the move backfired when Johnson doubled into the alley in left-center to drive in both runners and put the Astros back in front, 6-5. Castro then lined out to end the inning.

The see-saw affair tilted back in favor of the Pirates for good in the bottom of the inning, as Cedeno singled in the tying run with two outs and knocked Norris out of the game. Chris Sampson took over and gave up a pinch-hit single to Ryan Church that plated Erik Kratz to move the home team back on top, 7-6.

Gustavo Chacin assumed the hill for the Astros in the home sixth and gave up a one-out double to Tabata that was followed by Walker's run-scoring single. Pence misplayed the ball in right field, allowing Walker to advance to third, from where he scored on a wild pitch to push the Pirates lead to 9-6.

The home side dashed any hopes of a comeback with three runs in the eighth off Casey Daigle on RBI hits by Walker, Alvarez and Kratz, who drove in the first run of his career.

Game Notes

The Astros had held the Pirates to 15 runs in the first seven meetings before Saturday...Houston right-hander Felipe Paulino, who was scheduled to start Tuesday at Wrigley Field, instead will return to Houston to undergo an MRI on Sunday and then be examined by the Astros medical staff on Monday...He has been on the disabled list since June 21 with right shoulder tendinitis, which flared up again during a Friday workout in Pittsburgh...The Pirates, who drew better than 36,000 Saturday night, improved to 6-1 playing in front of home crowds of 30,000 or more...Kratz picked up the first two hits of his career. Alvarez has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games...Pence extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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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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