Basketball Betting

Torres leads Giants to late win over Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andres Torres sparked a three-run top of the ninth with a two-run double, as the San Francisco Giants rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5, in a wild game between these NL West rivals.

Holding a 5-4 lead, Jonathan Broxton (3-2) took over on the mound for the Dodgers in the top of the ninth. He loaded the bases with one out to bring acting manager Don Mattingly to the mound for a visit. Following the visit, Mattingly took one step off the hill before turning back. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy was all over Mattingly like a hawk and rushed out of the dugout. The umpires gathered and ruled Mattingly made two trips to the mound.

"Don thought he was still on the mound when he went back to talk to Broxton. But replays showed he was on the grass when he went back," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

That forced LA to bring a new pitcher into the game. A cold George Sherrill faced off against Torres, who laced a two-run double into the gap in left- center field. Travis Schlichting was called in from the bullpen and issued an RBI single to Buster Posey two batters later. The Dodgers eventually got out of the inning, but not before the Giants took a 7-5 lead.

The bizarre events in the ninth capped off what was a heated game. A total of three batters were hit by pitches, and many others were almost hit. That helped lead to the ejections of Torre, Los Angeles starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, and Dodgers bench coach Bob Schaefer.

Pablo Sandoval had two RBI for the Giants, who won 5-2 in the opener of this three-game set and have claimed victory in 11 of their last 13 games.

Tim Lincecum went 4 2/3 innings in the start, allowing five runs on seven hits. Santiago Casilla (3-2) pitched two frames of scoreless relief to pick up the win. Jeremy Affeldt worked around a one-out double in the ninth to record his third save of the season.

"I didn't bring my game to the table. I found myself battling every inning," Lincecum said. "A come back win in general was good for us."

Xavier Paul went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Dodgers, who have dropped six in a row. Paul will see plenty of action in left field over the next few weeks as Manny Ramirez (right calf) was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to Tuesday's game.

Andre Ethier hit a two-run homer, while Casey Blake and Blake DeWitt each had two hits and an RBI in defeat.

Kershaw gave four runs -- two earned -- on four hits before being ejected with no outs in the seventh. The left-hander also struck out six and walked two.

The Dodgers got to Lincecum in the first inning. Rafael Furcal walked, stole second, and scored on Paul's double. Ethier followed with a two-run homer to right for a 3-0 lead.

The Giants got a run back in the second. Juan Uribe hit a two-out double and eventually crossed the plate on Edgar Renteria's groundout.

LA plated a pair of runs in the third to go ahead 5-1. Paul singled and Ethier walked before Lincecum recorded two straight outs. DeWitt hit an RBI single in front of Blake's run-scoring double.

San Francisco finally got to Kershaw in the sixth to make things interesting. With one out, Freddy Sanchez and Posey singled to put men on the corners. Pat Burrell then hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field. Sandoval followed with a two-run double down the left-field line to cut the gap to 5-4. Uribe grounded out and Renteria flied out to end the frame.

Emotions started to boil over in the top of the seventh. Kershaw started the inning by hitting Aaron Rowand with a pitch. That led to the ejections of Kershaw and Torre. Hong-Chih Kuo took over on the hill and retired the first three batters he faced to keep LA in front.

Game Notes

Los Angeles has won five of the first eight matchups with San Francisco this season...Schaefer was ejected in the sixth inning after Dodgers catcher Russell Martin was almost hit with a pitch...Posey extended his hitting streak to 14 games...The Dodgers activated catcher Brad Ausmus from the 60-day disabled list...Adrian Johnson was the home plate umpire...Each team stranded seven.

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.

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