Giants down Padres to begin key series
Baseball Betting Lines
09/10/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Cain threw eight-plus solid innings and was backed by an offense that smacked four home runs, as the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3, in the opener of a critical four-game series.
Cain (11-10) gave up three runs on five hits and a walk, and struck out eight in the victory, which pulled the Giants within one game of the NL West-leading Padres.
San Francisco also sits one game behind Atlanta in the wild card chase, as the Braves lost to St. Louis on Thursday.
Aubrey Huff went 3-for-4 with a two-run shot, while Buster Posey also hit a two-run homer. Juan Uribe and Pat Burrell added solo blasts for San Francisco, which has won five of six.
Jon Garland (13-11) took the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks in five innings. Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick homered for the Padres, who were coming off a three-game sweep of Los Angeles.
The Giants got a run in the first inning, as Andres Torres began the game with a triple before scoring on Freddy Sanchez's single. Sanchez then singled with one out in the third inning and crossed the plate when Huff homered to center.
Venable led off the third with a homer to get San Diego within 3-1, but Uribe got that run back in the next inning, when he hit his 20th home run of the season.
The Giants kept adding on, as Huff doubled in the fifth before Posey slammed his 12th homer, making it a 6-1 contest.
Burrell then led off the sixth with a blast off Kevin Correia that reached the highest floor of the Western Metal Supply Company building in left field.
Cain stayed on the mound for the ninth inning and surrendered a two-run blast to Ludwick, and was removed after that. Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez closed the game from there.
Game Notes
Thursday marked the first time the Giants hit four home runs in Petco Park...Cain pitched at least eight innings for the eighth time this season...Garland has lost his last three starts...Despite the loss, San Diego still leads the season series, 9-3...Sanchez finished with three hits for the Giants...Ludwick also doubled for the Padres.
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<< Giants down Padres to being key series
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Cain threw eight-plus solid innings and
was backed by an offense that smacked four home runs, as the San Francisco
Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3, in the opener of a critical four-game
series.
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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.
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