Giants' Torres caps big game with winning hit in 10th

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andres Torres capped his four-hit day with a deep bases-loaded single in the 10th inning, lifting the Giants to a 10-9 win over the Florida Marlins at AT&T Park.

Torres added a two-run homer and Juan Uribe had three hits and drove in four runs for San Francisco, which is putting pressure on NL West-leading San Diego by winning six of its last seven games. Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 21 games for the Giants, who won despite blowing a 9-2 lead after six innings.

Dan Uggla homered for the sixth time in as many games and tied the contest with an RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning. He has 143 homers for his career, tying the Marlins team record set by Mike Lowell. Pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy added a three-run homer and Ronny Paulino clubbed a solo shot for the Marlins.

Hanley Ramirez singled and Logan Morrison doubled with one out in the ninth inning. A groundout by Gaby Sanchez scored Ramirez with two outs. Uggla, facing a 3-2 count against closer Brian Wilson, slugged a ground-rule double to the gap in left-center field. Pinch-hitter Wes Helms struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Giants had a rally thwarted in the bottom of the ninth after putting two men on base, but capitalized in the 10th against Clay Hensley (1-4). Aaron Rowand singled to left field and Edgar Renteria followed by hitting a ball that bounced off the chest of third baseman Murphy. Nate Schierholtz singled sharply to right field and Torres followed by taking the first pitch deep to left-center field to end the game.

Jonathan Sanchez was charged with seven hits and five runs over six-plus innings, but fanned seven batters in the start for the Giants. Chris Ray (2-0) picked up the victory by retiring the side in order in the top of the 10th.

Florida's Alex Sanabia was shelled for nine hits and seven runs over two-plus innings.

The Giants totaled six hits in the first inning, including RBI singles from Aubrey Huff and Rowand, and a two-run base hit from Uribe.

Morrison doubled in Ramirez in the third, but the Giants got a two-run triple from Uribe in the bottom of the frame, and he then scored on a Jorge Sosa wild pitch.

Paulino homered in the fourth, but Torres went deep in the sixth to provide the 9-2 margin.

Murphy homered off Sanchez in the seventh, and Uggla went deep against Denny Bautista later in the inning to get the visitors within 9-7.

Game Notes

The Giants have won 18 games so far this month and with two more victories, they'll have their first 20-win month since September 2000...Posey's streak is the second-longest by a rookie in San Francisco-era history behind Hall of Famer Willie McCovey's 22-gamer in 1959. Benito Santiago holds the major league rookie record for hitting safely in 34 straight games in 1987. The longest consecutive game hitting streak in San Francisco era history (since 1958) is held by Jack Clark, who hit safely in 26 games in 1978...San Francisco swept a three-game set from the Marlins earlier in the year and has won seven of the last nine meetings in the series.

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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.

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