Twins blast Royals, expand lead in AL Central
Baseball Betting Lines
09/07/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Liriano pitched seven solid innings and Delmon Young drove in four runs, as the Minnesota Twins cruised to a 10-3 win over the Kansas City Royals in the middle contest of a three-game series.
Liriano (13-7), who remained unbeaten in 10 starts since the All-Star break, yielded two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts for the Twins, who have won five straight and increased their lead atop the AL Central to 4 1/2 games over the White Sox. Chicago lost to Detroit earlier Tuesday. J.J. Hardy delivered three RBI while Jim Thome homered and scored three runs in the victory.
Josh Fields homered for the Royals, who have lost five of their last six overall.
Brian Bannister (7-12) started on the hill for KC and suffered the loss after he allowed seven runs on eight hits with two walks over 2 2/3 innings.
After Hardy's sacrifice fly in the second gave the Twins an early lead, they exploded for six runs in the third. Denard Span began the decisive bottom of the third with a single and stole second base before two straight outs ensued. Jason Kubel kept the inning alive with an RBI single before another base hit by Michael Cuddyer and a walk issued to Thome loaded the bases.
Young then stepped to the plate and ripped a two-run single to left field. Both Young and Thome advanced one base when Bannister uncorked a wild pitch and Hardy came through with the second two-run single of the inning. Matt Tolbert's triple brought home Hardy and capped the uprising.
Fields' two-out solo blast in the fourth got the Royals on the scoreboard.
In the bottom of the fourth, Young's two-run double gave the Twins a 9-1 advantage. Orlando Hudson and Mauer both singled and came home on the hit by Young, his 96th and 97th RBI of the season.
KC's other run came in the fifth when a Liriano wild pitch allowed Jai Miller to cross the plate.
Thome's 22nd home run of the season and 586th of his career, a solo shot to right field, increased the cushion to 10-2.
Gregor Blanco's RBI single in the top of the ninth capped the scoring.
Game Notes
Liriano has not lost at home since June 28 and improved to 7-3 at home this season...Minnesota has won 10 of its last 12 games overall...The Twins are now 47-23 at home in 2010...This was Bannister's first start since he returned from the DL (shoulder tendinitis)...It was Fields' first homer of the year...Royals first baseman Billy Butler left the game after being hit in the hand by a ground ball in the third inning.
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Teams that should be in: Stanford
Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds | |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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