Rangers continue slide, fall to Blue Jays
Baseball Betting Lines
09/07/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells went 3-for-3 with a pair of solo homers and Adam Lind clubbed a two-run shot, as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the American League West-leading Texas Rangers, 8-5, in the second of a four- game set at Rogers Centre.
John Buck added a solo homer, while Jose Bautista chipped in with a two-run double for Toronto, which has won three straight after dropping five of its previous six.
Shaun Marcum (12-7) threw seven solid innings, yielding three runs on six hits with a pair of walks and striking out eight in taking the win. Kevin Gregg retired the final two batters in the ninth to record his 31st save.
Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run homer and Andres Blanco went 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Rangers, who have lost eight of their last 10, but still lead the division by 6 1/2 games ahead of second-place Oakland. The Athletics host Seattle on Tuesday.
Scott Feldman (6-10), replacing left-hander Cliff Lee, who was scratched with a back ailment, allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk over 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander fanned four.
The Rangers, who have lost five in a row overall, have lost seven straight contests to the Blue Jays.
Buck opened the scoring with a two-out homer that just cleared the right-field wall. It was originally ruled a double, but after the umpires briefly reviewed the call, it was overturned.
Texas went ahead in the fourth when David Murphy led off with a ground-rule double and Guerrero followed by crushing a first-pitch fastball into the second deck in left for a 2-1 Rangers lead. However, Wells' long homer leading off the bottom portion evened things.
With runners on second and third, and two outs in the fifth, Bautista chased both in with a double into the right-center field gap.
DeWayne Wise's two-out double just inside the third base bag in the home sixth brought in Buck, who reached on a base hit. Blanco got a run back in the seventh on a broken bat RBI single to cut the Rangers' deficit to 5-3.
However, in the bottom half, Wells belted his second solo shot of the game and Hill drew a walk two batters later. Darren Oliver took over for Darren O'Day and Lind's two-run shot made it 8-3.
Jason Frasor tossed a scoreless eighth in relief of Marcum and Shawn Camp was summoned from the Jays' bullpen for the ninth. The right-hander gave up a two- run single to Blanco and Julio Borbon reached with a base hit. Gregg replaced Camp and got Ian Kinsler to ground into a fielder's choice for the second out before Michael Young lined out to center that ended the game.
Game Notes
Texas continued to play without the AL's best hitter in Josh Hamilton, who missed his third straight game with a rib cage injury...The Blue Jays have won seven of their eight matchups with the Rangers this season...Feldman dropped to 0-4 in nine career games -- six starts -- against Toronto.
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Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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