Marlins try for fourth straight win, sweep of Nationals
Baseball Betting Lines
08/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The chances of the Marlins matching their longest winning streak of the season and completing a three-game sweep of Washington tonight just got stronger with Ricky Nolasco set to take the mound.
Nolasco has won five straight road starts and is 8-2 with a 3.86 earned run average in 12 outings as the visitor this season. Nolasco had a personal three-game winning streak cut short in last Friday's 7-0 loss at home to St. Louis, as he surrendered all seven runs and 10 hits in five innings.
The right-hander, who is 12-8 in 23 overall starts this season, was recently beaten by the Nationals on July 16 in a 4-0 setback. Nolasco lasted 5 1/3 innings and was reached for four runs and seven hits, but is still 7-3 in 13 career meetings (11 starts) with the Nats.
Florida has to like those odds and has won three in a row, including the first two portions of this series. In Wednesday's 9-5 victory from Nationals Park, the Marlins beat up another Washington starter and got a huge night from young prospect Mike Stanton. Stanton went 5-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored, while Hanley Ramirez also went deep for the Marlins, who pounded Nationals starter Scott Olsen for seven runs in only 1 2/3 innings. Florida got to Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg for six runs in the series opener.
"He's been taking very good at-bats," Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said of Stanton. "What he did tonight could be the start of very good things to come."
Logan Morrison had a three-hit night and scored three times, and Chris Volstad gathered the win even though he allowed four runs and nine hits through five innings of work. The Marlins sit nine games off the lead in the National League East Division and are off to a perfect start on their 10-game trek through Washington, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
The Nationals couldn't save themselves from Olsen's poor outing and dropped their fourth straight game. Ian Desmond showed up in defeat with a pair of home runs and All-Star Ryan Zimmerman ended 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Nationals, who got three hits and an RBI from Ivan Rodriguez.
"I can't say that it wasn't a well-played game," Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said. "I think we played with great effort and intensity and that's what we ask from our players. We've been getting that every night."
Nationals slugger Adam Dunn clubbed his 31st home run of the season.
Livan Hernandez draws the start for Washington tonight and he's 8-7 with a 3.03 earned run average in 23 starts this season. He has won two of his previous three decisions, but did not figure into the outcome of Saturday's 3-2 loss at Los Angeles. Hernandez gave up two runs -- one earned -- and five hits in seven innings.
The veteran right-hander lost to Florida on July 17 this season. In a 2-0 loss to the Marlins, he tossed six innings and permitted two runs, one earned. Hernandez is 13-9 with a 3.46 ERA in 30 career starts against his former employer. Hernandez won a World Series with the Marlins in 1997, earning MVP honors.
Florida has won seven of 11 meetings with the Nationals this season.
CHICAGO (AP) -A judge in Chicago has handed down a 180-year prison sentence for a man convicted of killing the brother of NBA player Quentin Richardson.Thirty-one-year-old Lee Richardson Jr. was shot to death during a robbery in December 2005.Author
<< 5 arrested in All-Star protest at baseball meeting
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Police arrested five protesters outside the quarterly meeting of Major League baseball team owners in Minneapolis.They were among 100 people who gathered outside a downtown hotel Wednesday, trying to deliver petitions to commission
<< Fog delays start of PGA Championship
Kohler, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The start of the first round of the 92nd PGA
Championship at Whistling Straits has been delayed due to fog.
The forecast called for early fog that was to burn off after 9:00 a.m. local
time and give way to
<< Avril hopes to step up on new Lions defensive line
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -The Detroit Lions don't have many good memories of the Matt Millen era.They are hoping that Cliff Avril turns out to be one.Avril, a third-round pick in 2008, has 10 1/2 sacks in his two seasons, but has struggled against the
<< Schaub, Knapp reunite in Houston
HOUSTON (AP) -Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub seemed comfortable and confident enough last season, leading the NFL with 4,770 yards passing.But offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is gone now. He left to join his father, Mike, the new coach o
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona's four-game series with Milwaukee has certainly featured some exciting moments for the club, but there is one more thing left to do. The Diamondbacks, who have already secured their first series win at Miller Pa
Padres seek to extend domination of Pirates >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres have never swept a season series from
the Pittsburgh Pirates and will try to make history tonight in the finale of a
three-game series at Petco Park.
San Diego has won eight in a row overall in this se
Giants hope to secure series win over Cubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants try for a series victory over the
Chicago Cubs this afternoon in the finale of a four-game series at AT&T Park.
The NL Wild Card-leading Giants have won two of the first three installments
of t
Amid chaos, Mets try for series win against Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While Colorado is hoping to make a late charge for a
postseason spot, things just keep getting worse for New York, especially
closer Francisco Rodriguez.
The Rockies, looking to win in Queens for just the fifth time in 27
Yankees send Sabathia to hill in opener at KC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia tries for his 15th win of the season this
evening when the New York Yankees open a four-game series against the Kansas
City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Sabathia, who can tie Tampa's David Price for the
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com
Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.