Billingsley goes the distance as Dodgers down Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2007 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chad Billingsley's night on the mound epitomized his season, throwing an almost flawless complete game in the Dodgers' 10-2 pounding of Houston in the opening contest of a three-game set at Minute Maid Park.

Billingsley (7-0) went the distance with ease, scattering two runs and five hits with three walks and six strikeouts. He improved to 5-0 away from Dodger Stadium, denying an Astros club that had won 10 of 14 at home.

The right-hander continued to climb the charts in Dodgers pitching lure, becoming the first pitcher to begin the season 7-0 since Matt Herges started 8-0 in 2000.

The bats gave him plenty of support. James Loney put the exclamation point on proceedings with a three-run homer in the ninth, but Luis Gonzalez and Jeff Kent did the damage to break open the contest. Kent finished 4-for-4 with two RBI and Gonzalez drove in three runs for Los Angeles, which had lost three of four entering play Monday.

Chris Sampson (7-7) took the loss, surrendering four runs on eight hits over five frames.

The Astros managed just four singles, two from Mike Lamb, before Luke Scott's two-out, two-run homer just over the wall in right. The floundering Astros have alternated wins and losses over the last seven games.

The Dodgers took the quick edge in their first at-bat, as Rafael Furcal singled to right, moved to second on Juan Pierre's sacrifice bunt and rounded third and crossed the plate on Kent's single.

Los Angeles added to its advantage in the fourth, scoring courtesy of a Sampson wild pitch. Kent doubled and moved to third on Gonzalez's grounder to second before Sampson uncorked a pitch low and right of Eric Munson behind the plate.

Two more runs crossed the plate in the fifth. Furcal reached on an infield single, Pierre singled to right and Kent drove a single to left. Gonzalez then drove two home on a base hit that just leaked past Craig Biggio at second and into center field.

The game turned into a rout in the seventh, just as Billingsley continued to mow down the Houston lineup. Russell Martin doubled in front of Kent's double and Gonzalez's two-bagger drove in pinch-runner Ramon Martinez.

Nomar Garciaparra's base hit into right-center scored Gonzalez for the 7-0 lead. Garciaparra finished 3-for-5 on the night.

Loney's three-run shot in the ninth preceded Scott's two-run homer in the bottom of the frame.

Game Notes

Kent has reached safely in 34 consecutive games dating back to June 8...Kent's four-hit game was his first since September 18, 2006 versus San Diego...Loney has been on base in 28 straight contests going back to June 22...Billingsley threw 70 of his 109 pitches for strikes...Furcal finished 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored...Houston outfielder Hunter Pence underwent an MRI on Monday and was diagnosed with a sprain and chip fracture in his right wrist and will be sidelined four-to-six weeks...Attendance was 38,245.

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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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