Reds subdue Brewers with 19-hit barrage

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Rolen was one of three Cincinnati players with four hits and drove in three runs as the Reds walloped the Brewers, 12-4, snapping Milwaukee's five-game winning streak.

Brandon Phillips went 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored out of the lead-off spot, while Joey Votto also had four hits, drove in one and scored three times. Rolen singled four times and Ramon Hernandez knocked in three runs for Cincinnati, which bounced back from a 3-2 loss on Monday to beat the Brewers for the seventh time in the last eight tries.

Orlando Cabrera had three hits, an RBI and scored twice for the Reds, who moved into a virtual tie with St. Louis for first place in the NL Central.

While the Reds tied a season-high with 19 hits, they couldn't get Edinson Volquez a victory because the right-hander was lifted after 3 2/3 innings. In his third start of the year, Volquez allowed six hits and four runs and threw 95 pitches, 54 for strikes.

Logan Ondrusek (2-0) lasted 2 1/3 innings to record the victory.

Yovani Gallardo (9-5) clubbed a two-run homer, but was blasted on the mound for a season-high 10 hits along with six runs -- five earned -- over 2 2/3 frames. Rickie Weeks homered for a third straight game and for the 22nd time this year.

Brewers manager Ken Macha didn't want to waste a reliever in the ninth inning, so infielder Joe Inglett pitched the final frame and retired the side in order.

Rolen, in just his second game back recovering from a right hamstring injury, snapped an 0-for-16 slump as part of a two-run first inning. Phillips doubled to start the game, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple. Cabrera doubled and scored on Votto's base hit to right field. After a base hit by Rolen and flyout from Jonny Gomes, Votto scored on a wild pitch when Jay Bruce swung at a pitch in the dirt.

Weeks scored on a Ryan Braun groundout in the bottom of the first, but the Reds struck for three more in the second - an RBI double from Hernandez and run-scoring hits from Phillips and Rolen.

Gallardo homered following a Jonathan Lucroy single in the bottom of the second, but the Brewers committed two errors in the third, leading to Phillips' RBI single. Bruce walked with the bases full in the fourth for a 7-3 cushion.

Weeks homered to left in the fourth, but Cincinnati tacked on three in the sixth - an RBI single from Rolen and two-run double from Hernandez off Chris Capuano.

Phillips doubled leading off the seventh against David Riske and scored on Cabrera's base hit. Rolen added a sacrifice fly to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

The Brewers went 1-for-9 with men in scoring position and left 11 runners on base...The Brewers have homered in 16 straight games, the longest stretch for the team since July 1-24, 2008 when they did it in a franchise-record 20 straight games.

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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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