Padres go for sweep of LA

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres were in serious danger of falling out of first place in the National League's West Division, but a couple of games against the fading Los Angeles Dodgers seems to have gotten the surprising squad back on track. The division leaders will try for a three-game sweep of this late-season set when the two rivals square off again this evening at Petco Park.

San Diego had seen its once-commanding lead atop the NL West shrink to only one game after losing 10 straight contests heading into this series, but has been able to rebound somewhat by earning a pair of wins over the Dodgers this week. The Padres remained just one game up on hard-charging San Francisco, though, after the Giants defeated Arizona on Tuesday.

Following tonight's tilt, the Padres will host San Francisco in a critical four-game series beginning on Thursday.

San Diego prevailed last night behind another outstanding effort from Mat Latos, with the young hurler firing seven outstanding innings to lead the way in a 2-1 decision.

Latos (14-5) yielded just one run and four hits in addition to racking up 10 strikeouts and setting a new Major League record in the process. The 22-year- old became the first pitcher in history to allow two runs or less while lasting at least five innings in 15 consecutive starts.

"I didn't know about [the record]," said Latos afterward. "It's great to be able to set a record, but my career's not going to be defined as setting one record. My career's going to be defined on my reliability."

Aaron Cunningham and Adrian Gonzalez each knocked in runs to give Latos all the support he would need, while All-Star closer Heath Bell finished off the victory by recording the game's final five outs for his 39th save of the year.

Latos outdueled Dodgers youngster Clayton Kershaw (11-10), who permitted just two runs on five hits and struck out six over seven innings in a tough-luck result.

Los Angeles mustered just five hits in suffering its fourth straight loss and eighth setback in its last 10 games. The two-time defending NL West champions are now one game under .500 (69-70) for the season and 10 behind the Padres in the standings.

"I don't know how many clubs look good losing," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "It's been the same situation -- we've had trouble through the middle of our batting order putting anything together offensively."

The Dodgers will be trying to prevent matching their longest losing skid of the season and hope to break out against untested Padres pitcher Cory Luebke. The rookie makes his second major league start this evening since being called up from Triple-A Portland when rosters expanded in September.

Luebke was hurt by the long ball in his big league debut, serving up a pair of two-run homers in five innings of work in a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Friday. The left-hander gave up five hits in all and walked two while striking out three.

The 25-year-old, a supplemental first-round selection by San Diego in the 2007 draft, went a combined 10-1 with a 2.68 earned run average in 19 games (17 starts) between Portland and Double-A San Antonio prior to his promotion.

Luebke will be opposed tonight by Chad Billingsley, a pitcher who's enjoyed plenty of success when facing the Padres in the past. The Dodgers' right- hander owns a 10-5 record along with an excellent 2.48 ERA over 21 career meetings (17 starts) with San Diego and has flourished at Petco Park, where he's gone 5-2 with a 2.20 ERA in 13 career visits (nine starts).

Billingsley threw six shutout innings to defeat the Padres in San Diego on July 27, but did take a loss against the Friars in Los Angeles on August 5 after surrendering three runs in another six-inning stint. He's 2-1 with a splendid 1.40 ERA in three encounters with San Diego this season, with both victories taking place at Petco Park.

The 26-year-old is coming off an outstanding effort in his most recent start as well, limiting San Francisco to two unearned runs and just two hits while fanning seven over eight sharp innings on Friday. The performance improved Billingsley to 11-8 with a 3.54 ERA in 26 mound trips this season.

These two NL West foes have split 14 meetings so far this season, as well as eight bouts held in San Diego in 2010.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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