Phils, Myers close series at Chavez Ravine

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Brett Myers took the hill he had a fantastic outing spoiled by his behavior. Tonight, Myers will try to keep his cool and put the Philadelphia Phillies back in the win column in the finale of a four- game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.

The fiery Myers last took the hill on Saturday versus the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of the Philly faithful at Citizens Bank Park. After tossing 7 2/3 solid innings of one-run, five-hit ball, manager Charlie Manuel decided he had seen enough from the right-hander and went to the bullpen. Myers and Manuel exchanged sentiments on the mound before the Phillies' skipper stormed back into the dugout to have a word with Myers.

A perturbed Myers and Manuel were then face-to-face before pitching coach Rich Dubee escorted the right-hander into the clubhouse. Manuel and Myers have apparently patched things up, while Myers seems to have corrected his approach on the mound. Myers is unbeaten over his last five starts (2-0), with the Phillies going 3-2 over that span.

Myers, who is just 1-6 with a 6.61 ERA in 12 away starts, has compiled an overall mark of 5-9 in 21 starts this season. He is 3-1 with a 2.76 earned run average in 10 career games, nine of which have been starts, against Los Angeles.

The Phillies are relying on Myers to help prevent a sweep and end a three-game losing streak that has left the ballclub tied with the New York Mets atop the NL East standings. The Florida Marlins are right behind at 1 1/2 games off the pace. Philadelphia blew a 6-1 lead in Wednesday's 7-6 loss thanks Nomar Garciaparra's game-winning homer off of Clay Condrey in the home ninth.

Ryan Howard, Greg Dobbs and Jayson Werth each belted two-run homers in the loss. Starter Joe Blanton went five innings and allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks for the no-decision. Philadelphia is winless so far on a seven-game road trip and 32-29 as the guest this season.

While the Phillies have slumped into a tie atop their respective division, the Dodgers have surged to the apex of the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Los Angeles is perfect so far on its 10-game homestand and improved to 35-27 at Chavez Ravine this season after another late-inning rally on Wednesday.

Andre Ethier was the hero in Tuesday's 4-3 victory, while Garciaparra provided the fireworks in last night's 7-6 win with a walk-off blast. Manny Ramirez continued to shine in his new digs by belting a two-run homer and Ethier added a solo shot. Jeff Kent was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI for LA.

Jonathan Broxton worked a scoreless ninth to collect the victory and starter Brad Penny was touched for six runs on six hits in only three innings of work for the no-decision. Penny was making just his second start since a nearly two-month stint on the disabled list.

Taking the hill for the Dodgers on Thursday will be rookie Hiroki Kuroda, who is 6-8 with a 4.02 earned run average in 22 starts this season. Kuroda is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA over the past two starts.

Kuroda last took the hill on August 9 at San Francisco, hurling eight solid innings of one-run ball in a 3-2 loss for the no-decision. In his previous start before the Giants, Kuroda yielded only one run in 7 1/3 innings of a 4-2 victory versus Arizona.

The right-hander will get his first taste of Philadelphia tonight.

Los Angeles has won five in a row against the Phillies.

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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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP

With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.

There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.

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