Padres go for another sweep of Diamondbacks
Baseball Betting Lines
08/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres have built a comfortable lead atop the National League's West Division, and their performance at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks has certainly played a part in the team's rise to first place.
The surprising Padres have their sights set on another sweep of the last-place Diamondbacks when the divisional foes wrap up a three-game series this afternoon at Petco Park.
San Diego improved to 8-0 against the Diamondbacks at home this season with Wednesday's 9-3 victory, the ninth in a row for the Padres as the host in this series. The win was also the Friars' ninth in the past 11 overall meetings between the clubs, and Bud Black's squad is now 10-4 versus Arizona over the course of this season.
With second-place San Francisco losing to Cincinnati on Wednesday, the Padres now own a season-high 6 1/2-game advantage on the Giants in the NL West standings.
Adrian Gonzalez belted a three-run homer and Miguel Tejada had a two-run shot to key last night's triumph, with Yorvit Torrealba contributing a two-RBI single in the third inning. Tejada ended the night 2-for-3 with three runs scored, while leadoff hitter David Eckstein collected three hits and also crossed the plate three times to help the Padres to their 13th win in the last 16 games.
San Diego also received solid pitching out of Wade LeBlanc (8-11), with the young southpaw working 6 2/3 innings and allowing three runs while striking out seven Arizona hitters.
Diamondbacks starter Joe Saunders (1-4) wasn't nearly as effective, as the midseason pickup was battered for nine runs (six earned) and eight hits before exiting after only four innings.
"It's embarrassing to go out there and give up that many runs," Saunders told MLB.com afterward. "Hats off to them, they're a good ballclub, but the way I've been pitching I'm making them look like Babe Ruth up there. I've just got to make adjustments."
Stephen Drew was a lone bright spot for Arizona, losers of three in a row and seven of its last nine contests, with the shortstop hitting two solo homers and finishing 4-for-4 at the plate.
The Padres will shoot for the sweep today behind Kevin Correia, a pitcher who's bested the Diamondbacks twice at Petco Park already this season and is 3-0 with a 2.63 earned run average over four lifetime encounters with Arizona held in San Diego. The right-hander also enters this afternoon's clash with a 5-2 record and 3.79 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break.
Correia did have a personal three-game winning streak come to an end with a setback at Milwaukee this past Saturday, however. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings in that one and struggled with command, issuing four walks in addition to giving up five runs.
Prior to that outing, the 30-year-old fired six shutout innings to defeat the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on August 16.
Correia has faced the Diamondbacks a total of 21 times, 12 of which have come as a starter, and is 4-6 with a 3.66 ERA lifetime against Arizona.
Arizona counters with Ian Kennedy, who comes in having won four of his past six decisions and has done a good job keeping his team in games, as the D- Backs have prevailed in six of the right-hander's last eight trips to the mound.
Kennedy did not get a decision his last time out after surrendering three runs on 10 hits in a five-inning stint against Colorado last Friday. The California native was quite sharp in his preceding start, holding Washington to a pair of runs and striking out seven over seven frames in a 9-2 Arizona victory on August 14.
The former New York Yankees first-round draft choice has notched a pair of no- decisions in two prior starts against San Diego this season. In his lone career appearance at Petco Park, Kennedy yielded just two hits and fanned seven over five shutout innings back on April 18.
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
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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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