Tigers hope to stop road skid in clash with Red Sox

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are quickly falling out of contention in the American League Central. Tonight, they try to put the brakes on their 10- game road losing streak when they open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Detroit started its seven-game road trip in disappointing fashion, as it was swept in a four-game set by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tigers have now lost six of their last seven and have fallen six games back of the Chicago White Sox in the division.

"We got three out of four really good starts here," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "That's what you're looking for, some silver lining, but we obviously have to get more offense."

The 10-game road slide is now just three shy of the franchise-record 13-game drought set back in 1902. A trip to Boston could add to the misery, as the Tigers have lost 22 of their last 30 at Fenway.

Hoping to buck that trend for the Tigers tonight will be righty Armando Galarraga, who is 3-3 with a 4.43 earned run average. Galarraga did not get a decision on Sunday against Toronto, as he allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings of his team's 5-3 loss.

Galarraga, who will be making his first-ever start at Fenway, beat the Red Sox the last time he faced them and is 1-1 in three starts against them with a 4.50 ERA.

Boston, meanwhile, is at the other end of the spectrum, entering this series on the heels of a three-game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim that culminated with a 7-3 win at Angel Stadium.

Marco Scutaro's eighth-inning grand slam was the difference, while Josh Beckett (2-1) went seven innings in the start and was charged with three runs on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

"I had to manifest some energy today," said Beckett. "I felt better today than last time out. I did some good things and made some good adjustments. The most important thing is for our team to win now."

Boston has won five of its last seven.

Heading to the hill for the Red Sox this evening will be lefty Jon Lester, who is 11-5 with a 2.92 ERA, but has lost his last two starts.

Lester was perfect for 5 1/3 frames on Saturday in Seattle before Eric Patterson dropped a fly ball in center field. Lester then served up a two-run homer and he lost his perfect game, his shutout and the game all in short order.

He was charged with five runs (four earned) and four hits in 7 2/3 innings, while striking out 13 batters, absorbing the loss nonetheless.

"That's as good as stuff as we've seen all year," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona of Lester's start. "The outcome is a shame. He pitched better than the linescore will show, for sure. He had a perfect game going for half the game. Then we drop a fly ball and then he hung a breaking ball -- probably the first bad pitch he threw all night."

The last time Lester lost two in a row was in April, and he responded with eight consecutive wins over his next 11 starts.

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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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