Rockies extend San Diego's losing streak to eight

Baseball Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki each hit a two-run homer, as the Colorado Rockies dealt San Diego an eighth consecutive defeat, 4-3, in the opener of a three-game series.

Aaron Cook (5-8), who was activated off the disabled list to make the start, got the win after limiting the Padres to two runs on four hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings.

The Rockies, who snapped a three-game skid, entered the weekend trailing the NL West-leading Padres by 7 1/2 games.

Meanwhile, San Diego's worst losing streak of the season continued with Friday's loss, but it did not lose any ground in the division. The Padres still hold a three-game lead over San Francisco because the Giants lost to Los Angeles on Friday.

Cory Luebke (0-1) made his major league debut for San Diego and pitched five innings in taking the loss. He walked two and allowed five hits, two of which were Colorado's home runs.

Luebke gave up Giambi's homer in the second inning, following a leadoff triple by Melvin Mora. The Rockies repeated that pattern in the third, when Carlos Gonzalez led off with a single before scoring on Tulowitzki's blast to center.

Armed with a 4-0 lead, Cook didn't run into serious trouble until the sixth, when he walked the bases loaded with one out. However, the Padres got only one run out of the situation, on a Chase Headley groundout. Will Venable popped out to end the threat.

But in the seventh, Chris Denorfia doubled with one away, prompting a pitching change. Samuel Deduno entered, but pinch-hitter Nick Hundley greeted him by blasting a homer to left field to bring the Padres within a run.

Deduno then walked David Eckstein before getting the second out of the inning before Franklin Morales was brought in to face Adrian Gonzalez, who singled. However, Rafael Betancourt entered and got the final out, then pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

Huston Street pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save.

Game Notes

Carlos Gonzalez went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games...Colorado leads the season series, 9-4...The Padres fell to 23-19 in one-run games...The losing streak is San Diego's longest since 2008, when it lost eight in a row from June 21-29.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

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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