Rockies try to end road woes in LA
Baseball Betting Lines
06/02/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies will try again for the first victory of their current 10-game road trip, as they battle the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in the opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.
The Rockies are 0-7 so far on their trek and have dropped a franchise-record 12 straight on the road, having not won as the visitor since May 9 at San Diego. Colorado is yielding almost nine runs a game on its current slide.
It's a far cry from last year, when the Rockies won 14 of their final 15 games of the season on the way to securing the National League wild card spot. That run included a perfect 6-0 homestand, and Colorado went 39-42 on the road for the most road wins in a season in franchise history, including 21-17 as the visitor after the All-Star break.
Colorado is no where near matching that this year, as it is now 8-23 on the road after getting swept in a four-game set by the Chicago Cubs. Ubaldo Jimenez (1-6) was credited with four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits and three walks in his five-inning loss.
Colorado's struggling offense tallied eight hits with Ian Stewart, Yorvit Torrealba and Omar Quintanilla each knocking in a run.
Rookie Greg Reynolds struggled with his command last time out and faces the Dodgers for the first time in his career tonight. Reynolds threw 101 pitches in a 6-1 loss to the Phillies on Wednesday, but only 51 of them were strikes. He ended up walking eight in what was his fourth career start, while also allowing five hits and six runs in 5 2/3 innings of work.
The right-hander also failed to strikeout a batter for the first time in his career and is 0-2 with a 7.94 earned run average in his two road starts.
Derek Lowe starts for the Dodgers. Though he has lost his last four decisions and hasn't posted a victory since April 23 the right-hander was excellent last time out, holding the Cubs to four hits and two walks over seven shutout frames. Lowe also fanned five, but got a no-decision in his team's 2-1 setback.
Lowe is 2-5 with a 4.52 ERA on the season and began his current slide with a loss to Colorado on May 4. He was hammered for five runs -- including three in the first inning -- on six hits and four walks over five innings, and is just 5-6 with a 5.33 ERA in 14 career starts versus the Rockies.
The righty might find success tonight against the Rockies, though, as Colorado is still missing a host of regulars due to injury, including Troy Tulowitzki, Clint Barmes, Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe.
The Dodgers are also struggling, having gone 1-6 on a seven-game road trip. However, Los Angeles plays its next seven at home, where it is 15-11 this season.
The club lost two of three to the Mets, including Sunday's 6-1 setback. Hiroki Kuroda (2-5) struggled and was charged with seven hits and six runs over 2 2/3 innings, as the Dodgers lost for the eighth time in 10 games. Matt Kemp had three hits in defeat and knocked in the lone LA run with a single in the opening inning.
Los Angeles won its first five games of the season versus the Rockies until they took the finale of a three-game home set on May 4. The Dodgers are outscoring the Rockies 47-32 so far this season.
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Marlins, Braves open four-game set in Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins will continue their 10-game trip
against NL East foes this evening, when they begin a four-game series against
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks begin
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Baltimo
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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