Seattle downs Texas to end losing streak

Baseball Betting Lines

04/24/2007 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Beltre scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners held on to end a six-game slide and beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4, in the opener of a two-game set.

Ichiro Suzuki ended a homer shy of the cycle, driving in three runs with a bases-loaded triple in the fourth, as the Mariners recorded their first win since downing the Rangers on April 15. Jose Lopez also had three hits, drove in a run and scored for Seattle, which got 4 2/3 innings of one-hit ball from its bullpen to preserve the win.

Hank Blalock hit a two-run homer for the Rangers, who had a two-game win streak halted. Sammy Sosa added two hits and drove in a run for Texas, which fell to 1-3 against the Mariners this season.

With the game tied 4-4, the Mariners went ahead in the seventh. Beltre and Jose Vidro started the inning with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners and force Texas starter Kevin Millwood from the game. Rangers reliever Ron Mahay got Raul Ibanez to ground out, but Beltre scored from third on the play to give the Mariners all they would need.

Seattle reliever Brandon Morrow (1-0), who entered the game with one out in the fifth, pitched into the eighth to get the win. He allowed just one hit, walked two and struck out a pair, before giving way to J.J. Putz with two outs in the eighth. Putz recorded the final four outs for his first save of the season.

Mariners starter Cha Seung Baek allowed four runs on eight hits, striking out one and walking two, in 4 1/3 innings of work.

Millwood (2-3) was stuck with the loss, getting charged with five runs on 10 hits in six-plus innings. He struck out five and walked two, losing his second straight start.

Seattle got four runs in the fourth to start the scoring. With the bases loaded and one out, Lopez singled home the first run and one out later Suzuki tripled to clear the bases for the 4-0 lead.

Texas cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning when Blalock cracked a two-run homer and tied the game in the fifth courtesy of RBI singles by Michael Young and Sosa.

"The good thing is we grinded away," said Young. "We did a lot of things right. We had a big inning and a lot of clutch hits. We chipped away and got back into it."

Game Notes

Prior to the game, the Rangers placed pitcher Eric Gagne on the 15-day disabled list with a right hip strain and recalled right-hander Frank Francisco from Triple-A Oklahoma...Seattle is 2-8 against the rest of the league...Vidro had two hits...Every Texas starter expect Gerald Laird had at least one hit.

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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.

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