Cardinals Of Halladay Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

Matt Thornton retired all six batters he faced to pick up his third save of the season.

 

The Cubs grounded into double plays in their opening three at-bats, providing little help offensively as Garza strolled through the first five frames.

 

Gavin Floyd toes the rubber today for the White Sox, aiming to stop a four- start winless stretch. The right-hander limited the Rockies to six hits and a pair of runs over seven innings in a no-decision. His last victory came June 1 at Boston.

 

Floyd, who has not walked more than three batters in 43 straight starts, the longest streak by a Sox starter since Mark Buehrle in 2008, is 0-2 in three career games vs. the Cubs.

 

Lopez is 2-2 with an 8.04 ERA in nine games (five starts) against the Southsiders.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Approaching a couple of team records, Cliff Lee aims to continue his shutout streak this afternoon when he takes the mound for the Phillies, hoping to help his team to a three-game sweep in Toronto. Already the first Phillie to throw three consecutive shutouts since Robin Roberts in 1950, the crafty lefty can tie the Phillies record today. Grover Alexander threw four consecutive shutouts during the 1911 season. Lee's 32 straight shutout innings are already fifth-best in club history.

 

All told, Lee has surrendered just one earned run over his last five outings a span of 42 innings, which has lowered his ERA to 2.66 this season. He hasn't lost since May 31 at Washington. Lee is 2-4 with a 3.81 ERA in nine lifetime starts against the Blue Jays.

 

Roy Halladay beat his former team on Saturday in Philadelphia's 5-3 win. Chase Utley hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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