Pirates wrap up short set in St. Louis

Baseball Betting Lines

08/20/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Todd Wellemeyer goes for an eighth start without a loss tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second and final game of an abbreviated two-game set at Busch Stadium.

Wellemeyer, who'll turn 30 on August 30, was coming off a two-start skid when he last faced the Pirates on July 12, allowing four hits and four runs en route to a no-decision in 6 1/3 innings of the Cardinals' 12-11 loss.

He's 3-0 in six starts since, allowing 31 hits and 13 runs in 37 2/3 innings.

He allowed three hits in 7 2/3 scoreless frames in his last outing, a 3-0 defeat of the Florida Marlins in Miami.

Wellemeyer is 3-1 in 16 lifetime matchups - five starts - against the Pirates with a 3.40 earned run average.

Tennessee-born righty Jason Davis looks for his first 2008 win as a starter with the Pirates.

The 28-year-old, who split 2007 between Cleveland and Seattle, began this year with four bullpen appearances for Pittsburgh before an Aug. 10 start at Philadelphia.

Davis allowed four hits and a pair of unearned runs over six innings in that game, won by the Phillies, 6-3.

He followed up with a seven-inning outing in which he allowed six hits and two runs in a 2-1 loss to the New York Mets.

Overall, in six games, he's given up just 16 hits and four earned runs in 20 innings.

He has never faced the Cardinals.

On Tuesday, Ian Snell mastered the Cardinal bats for seven shutout innings and Ryan Doumit had three hits and an RBI, as Pittsburgh took the opener, 4-1.

Snell (5-10) scattered four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts, breaking out of a rough stretch in which the right-hander had just one win in his last 10 starts.

Braden Looper (11-10) pitched well enough to win but was victimized by a suspect bullpen performance, allowing only one run on three hits with a pair of walks and as many strikeouts over seven frames.

He did continue an impressive streak in which the right-hander has allowed three runs or less in each of his last six starts.

Pittsburgh has won seven of its 13 meetings with the Cards this season.

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Big Ten Conference odds

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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