AL West: Hapless in Seattle

Baseball Betting Lines

06/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The good news is the Seattle Mariners have been able to score some runs here and there.

The bad news is they enter play Tuesday cemented in last place in the American League West, eight games back of the first-place Oakland Athletics. Seattle is also 5 1/2 games behind the third-place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Mariners are no doubt happy to turn the page on May, a month that began with a six-game losing streak and ended with three straight defeats. Those three straight losses have underscored the fact that Seattle has managed to score at least four runs in five of its last six games. Of course, with interleague play set to begin next weekend, the M's pitchers will now be taking their hacks as part of baseball's least intimidating lineup.

Manager Don Wakamatsu sent a message with a bullpen shakeup following Monday's 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Relievers Kanekoa Texeira (5.30 ERA) and Jesus Colome (5.29) were designated for assignment after both had some major control issues in Sunday's 9-7 loss to the Angels. In their place, the team recalled left-hander Garrett Olson and right-hander Sean White from Triple-A Tacoma.

The move gives Wakamatsu added flexibility with a bullpen that has been stretched thin. According to a report on the team's website, the M's bypassed Triple-A prospects Luke French (1.76 ERA) and Steven Shell (3.00) so they could continue their development as starters rather than be thrust into a big league bullpen role.

In terms of the lineup, Wakamatsu has stopped relying on Ken Griffey Jr. (.184) and Casey Kotchman (.192) in everyday roles, instead giving more opportunities to Mike Sweeney (6 HR) and Michael Saunders. After only two months of play, it seems the M's manager has tried just about everything to jumpstart his team. Still, he's not about to give up now.

"Sometimes guys get to a point where they're pressing so much that they just give up," Wakamatsu told the Seattle Times. "And all of a sudden, there's a freedom in that. Where you stop the pressing."

NO CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION IN ANAHEIM

The mob-scene celebrations at home plate following a walk-off home run have become commonplace these days in Major League Baseball. But that has begun to change after Angels' star first baseman Kendry Morales broke his ankle in one of those celebratory scrums following his walk-off grand slam against Seattle on Saturday.

Morales was leading the team in batting average (.290), home runs (11), total bases (94) and RBI (39). He was expected to undergo surgery on Sunday, but that procedure was pushed back a week because of a high level of swelling in his fractured left ankle. He will be out of the lineup indefinitely.

"When you lose a player of Kendry's status, much like when we lost Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero last year, the players around them have to play at a certain level to absorb and create the production," manager Mike Scioscia said.

On Sunday, less than 24 hours after Morales' freak injury, Howard Kendrick belted a walk-off home run in a 9-7 win against the Mariners. This time around, Scioscia had put in place some guidelines for post-game celebrations. There was still a celebration at the plate, but the players waited on the grass, and there was no wild pileup.

"We were just trying to be careful that time," Hunter said. "When I saw (Kendrick) hit the home run, I saw him running around the bases and I saw everybody running out. I'm like, 'Calm down! Calm down! Wait, let him touch the plate.' And I was screaming, 'Two-jump minimum!'"

RANGERS TRYING TO STOP THE BLEEDING

Thanks to a four-game skid, the Texas Rangers (26-24) have lost their grip on the AL West lead. But that's not all they've lost.

Adding to the team's frustration is the addition of starting pitcher Derek Holland to the disabled list with a mild case of left rotator cuff inflammation. Holland (2-1, 4.19), who exited Sunday's start after 43 pitches, is expected to be shut down for about a week before he begins throwing again.

According to assistant general manager Thad Levine, the team will likely bring up Triple-A reliever Pedro Strop until Saturday, when a starter will be called up to fill Holland's spot in the rotation. That call is expected to go to right-hander Tommy Hunter, although he struggled in Monday's start for Oklahoma City, allowing five runs on 10 hits in five innings of work. Hunter is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA in six starts with Oklahoma City this season.

In other injury news, right fielder Nelson Cruz was sent to the DL on Saturday with a torn left hamstring. He is eligible to return June 13, at which time the team hopes he can rejoin the lineup. The Rangers can ill-afford an extended period without Cruz, who was hitting .327 with 10 homers and 34 RBI in 32 games. The injury occurred while he was legging out a ground ball against the Royals on Wednesday. He was already on the DL this season from April 27-May 14 with a strained right hamstring.

A'S MISSING PRODUCTION FROM LEFT SIDE OF INFIELD

The Oakland Athletics (28-24) hold a slim one-game lead atop the AL West, despite very little production lately from third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff or shortstop Cliff Pennington.

Pennington was given the day off this past Thursday, breaking up a string of 92 consecutive starts dating back to last season. He entered Thursday in an 0- for-15 skid, having seen his batting average drop from .272 to .156 over a 20- game span.

His counterpart on the left side of the infield, Kouzmanoff, has endured similar struggles. Through the first seven games of the team's 10-game road trip, Kouzmanoff is hitting just .111 (3-for-27).

Manager Bob Geren downplayed Kouzmanoff's hitting, though he did drop him from fourth to sixth in the lineup for Monday's game.

"He's hit balls pretty good," Geren said. "Just no luck. Sometimes when you look at one week or a span of 10 days, the numbers don't exactly indicate how well they're swinging the bat."

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

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The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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Big Ten Conference odds

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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