Bonds goes for history against Marlins, Willis

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Bonds will try and match Hank Aaron's all-time home run record this evening when the San Francisco Giants play the second game of their three-game series with the Florida Marlins at AT&T Park.

Bonds connected for home run No. 754 of his career in the first inning of a 12-10 San Francisco victory on Friday. The seven-time NL MVP struck a 2-1 pitch from Rick Vanden Hurk over the wall in left-center field to give the Giants an early lead in what turned out to be a wild slugfest.

It was Bonds' first homer since he hit two on July 19 in a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was also his first in San Francisco, where just about all of his milestone home runs have occurred, since he hit No. 750 back on June 29.

Bonds, who now has 20 home runs on the season, didn't have an official at-bat the rest of the night, walking in the third, fifth and sixth when the Giants scored six times to go in front for good. Bonds also came back from an 0-2 count to Taylor Tankersley to walk in the eighth.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig wasn't at AT&T Park as he prepares for Sunday's Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. Instead, MLB president and chief operation officer Bob DuPuy was there to witness Bonds' blast.

Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz both homered and drove in three runs, as the Giants won their third straight, but remained in last place in the NL West, 12 games behind the first place Los Angeles Dodgers, who San Francisco will visit after this series.

Vinnie Chulk (4-2) threw two-thirds of an inning to get the win, while Renyel Pinto (2-4) was hammered for three hits and four runs in the sixth inning uprising and absorbed the defeat.

Hanley Ramirez homered and had four RBI for Florida, which has lost five in a row. Cody Ross also homered for the Marlins.

Hoping to keep Bonds in the ballpark this evening will be 25-year-old left- hander Dontrelle Willis, who has lost his seven decisions. Willis' most recent setback came on Monday against Arizona, as he surrendered four runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings to fall to 7-10 on the year, while raising his earned run average to 5.15.

Willis, whose last win came back on May 29, is 1-3 lifetime against the Giants with a 5.91 ERA in six games.

Bonds is 1-for-3 with four walks lifetime against Willis.

San Francisco will counter with a struggling young hurler of its own in 22- year-old righty Matt Cain, who is 3-12 with a 4.02 ERA. Cain dropped his third straight start on Monday against Atlanta, as he allowed four runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Cain has never faced the Marlins.

San Francisco and Florida are playing their first series since splitting six matchups in 2006.

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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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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