Phils, Myers close series at Chavez Ravine

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Brett Myers took the hill he had a fantastic outing spoiled by his behavior. Tonight, Myers will try to keep his cool and put the Philadelphia Phillies back in the win column in the finale of a four- game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.

The fiery Myers last took the hill on Saturday versus the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of the Philly faithful at Citizens Bank Park. After tossing 7 2/3 solid innings of one-run, five-hit ball, manager Charlie Manuel decided he had seen enough from the right-hander and went to the bullpen. Myers and Manuel exchanged sentiments on the mound before the Phillies' skipper stormed back into the dugout to have a word with Myers.

A perturbed Myers and Manuel were then face-to-face before pitching coach Rich Dubee escorted the right-hander into the clubhouse. Manuel and Myers have apparently patched things up, while Myers seems to have corrected his approach on the mound. Myers is unbeaten over his last five starts (2-0), with the Phillies going 3-2 over that span.

Myers, who is just 1-6 with a 6.61 ERA in 12 away starts, has compiled an overall mark of 5-9 in 21 starts this season. He is 3-1 with a 2.76 earned run average in 10 career games, nine of which have been starts, against Los Angeles.

The Phillies are relying on Myers to help prevent a sweep and end a three-game losing streak that has left the ballclub tied with the New York Mets atop the NL East standings. The Florida Marlins are right behind at 1 1/2 games off the pace. Philadelphia blew a 6-1 lead in Wednesday's 7-6 loss thanks Nomar Garciaparra's game-winning homer off of Clay Condrey in the home ninth.

Ryan Howard, Greg Dobbs and Jayson Werth each belted two-run homers in the loss. Starter Joe Blanton went five innings and allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks for the no-decision. Philadelphia is winless so far on a seven-game road trip and 32-29 as the guest this season.

While the Phillies have slumped into a tie atop their respective division, the Dodgers have surged to the apex of the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Los Angeles is perfect so far on its 10-game homestand and improved to 35-27 at Chavez Ravine this season after another late-inning rally on Wednesday.

Andre Ethier was the hero in Tuesday's 4-3 victory, while Garciaparra provided the fireworks in last night's 7-6 win with a walk-off blast. Manny Ramirez continued to shine in his new digs by belting a two-run homer and Ethier added a solo shot. Jeff Kent was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI for LA.

Jonathan Broxton worked a scoreless ninth to collect the victory and starter Brad Penny was touched for six runs on six hits in only three innings of work for the no-decision. Penny was making just his second start since a nearly two-month stint on the disabled list.

Taking the hill for the Dodgers on Thursday will be rookie Hiroki Kuroda, who is 6-8 with a 4.02 earned run average in 22 starts this season. Kuroda is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA over the past two starts.

Kuroda last took the hill on August 9 at San Francisco, hurling eight solid innings of one-run ball in a 3-2 loss for the no-decision. In his previous start before the Giants, Kuroda yielded only one run in 7 1/3 innings of a 4-2 victory versus Arizona.

The right-hander will get his first taste of Philadelphia tonight.

Los Angeles has won five in a row against the Phillies.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.