Rookie aims for repeat in Giants' tilt with Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sadowski will shoot for an encore performance tonight for the NL Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants, who will open a 10-game homestand with the first of three consecutive meetings versus the Houston Astros at AT&T Park.

Sadowski made his major league debut Sunday at Milwaukee and threw six shutout innings in a 7-0 victory, scattering four hits and striking out two batters with three walks. The right-hander was 5-2 with a 4.11 earned run average in 13 starts for Triple-A Fresno before being recalled.

The Giants hope that Sadowski can pitch them back into the win column after losing the last two tests of a four-game series in St. Louis. In Thursday's 5-2 loss at Busch Stadium, veteran starter and 2002 AL Cy Young recipient Barry Zito yielded all five runs and five hits with seven K's and three walks over 4 1/3 frames to absorb the loss.

"Everything they hit fell in, similar to the first two games for us," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "We didn't play well defensively the last two days either. We made some mistakes we haven't been doing."

Aaron Rowand provided the offense with a two-run homer for the Giants, who went 5-5 on a 10-game trek and sit a half-game ahead of both the Brewers and Cardinals in the Wild Card standings. San Francisco will host Houston, Florida and San Diego on the residency and has won three straight as the host.

Houston recently won three of four matchups in San Diego and recorded a 7-2 victory in Thursday's series finale. Wandy Rodriguez started for the Astros and earned the win with seven innings of one-run ball, while allowing seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Geoff Blum hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs for Houston, and Lance Berkman ended with two hits, three runs scored and an RBI in the win. Carlos Lee also contributed two hits and knocked in a run for the Astros, who have won six of eight games and are 3 1/2 games behind San Francisco in the Wild Card race.

"The key is to keep winning series'," said Astros manager Cecil Cooper. "That's the name of the game and we've been able to do that quite a bit lately and that's good."

Taking the ball for Cooper's club tonight will be Felipe Paulino, who is 2-4 with a 5.51 ERA in 12 games (9 starts) this season. Paulino won his most recent start Saturday versus Detroit, as he held the Tigers to a run on three hits over seven innings. He also struck out nine batters and issued no walks.

Paulino, a right-hander, recorded his first win since May 2 at Atlanta and will face San Francisco for the first time tonight. He is, however, just 1-3 in five games, three of which have been starts, on the visiting mound.

Houston and San Francisco are meeting for the first time since the Astros took seven of the eight meetings a year ago. Houston went 3-1 at AT&T Park in 2008.

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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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