Dodgers beat up Lilly, Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Martin clubbed a three-run homer, while Andre Ethier delivered three hits and two RBI as the Dodgers held off the Chicago Cubs, 9-7, in the second installment of a four-game series.

Casey Blake also knocked in two runs for Los Angeles, which won for the eighth time in 11 games.

Chad Billingsley (7-4) broke his five-start winless skid by fanning nine batters over seven-plus innings. He yielded seven hits, four runs and walked four batters, but managed to record his first victory since May 26 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

"I was aggressive in the strike zone tonight," Billingsley said. "I was able to get quick outs in the middle of the game, which allowed me to go back out there in the eighth. I was able to make pitches when I had to."

Marlon Byrd had four hits and knocked in three runs for the Cubs, who lost 3-2 in the opener Thursday after coming into the series off a three-game sweep of Arizona.

Ted Lilly (3-8) was pounded for a second straight start, giving up seven hits and seven runs -- five earned -- over 3 2/3 innings. The lefty has given up 18 hits and 14 earned runs over the last two appearances.

"Ted wasn't sharp at all. He's gotten the ball up in his last couple of starts," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "The key to the game was we had ample opportunities early and we didn't take advantage of it and they did."

The Cubs have fanned 26 times in the first two games of this series.

Chicago nearly rallied from a six-run deficit. Justin Miller's wild pitch scored Byrd in the eighth and Koyie Hill followed with a sacrifice fly for a 9-5 difference.

Kosuke Fukudome singled to start the ninth. The Dodgers then went to Jonathan Broxton, who retired the next two batters, but Aramis Ramirez tripled before scoring on a Byrd base hit. Byrd was in scoring position when Tyler Colvin struck out to end the game.

Chicago loaded the bases with nobody out in the second, but got just one run - on Mike Fontenot's groundout. Billingsley fanned Hill and Lilly to escape the inning.

James Loney singled and Blake walked in advance of Martin's homer to left in the bottom of the second.

After Byrd singled in a run in the third, the Dodgers added three more in the bottom of the frame. Ethier had an RBI single and Matt Kemp added a run- scoring double. Ethier came home on Blake's sacrifice fly.

Ethier's single to right scored Xavier Paul in the fourth for a 7-2 margin.

The teams traded runs in the fifth with Byrd's groundout plating Derrek Lee in the top half and Blake's two-bagger scoring Loney for the Dodgers. Loney's RBI double in the sixth made it 9-3.

Game Notes

LA has won seven of its last nine regular season meetings with the Cubs at Dodger Stadium...Ramirez had three hits...Blake went 1-for-2 at the plate. He entered Friday just 2-for-25 in July.

Wwgbrowser Baseball Betting News

<< Aybar's 10th-inning homer gets Halos past A's
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Erick Aybar's leadoff homer in the 10th proved to be the difference, and the Angels defeated the A's, 6-5, despite squandering three different leads in the opener of a three-game set. Torii Hunter

<< Yanks don't get their ace, but still record seventh straight win
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Yankees failed to acquire Cliff Lee from the Mariners on Friday, but New York still topped Seattle, 6-1, behind Phil Hughes' seven effective innings on the mound. The reigning World Series champions

<< Stewart's slam completes another winning rally for Rockies
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Stewart knocked in a career-high six runs and his grand slam was the big blow in a five-run seventh inning as Colorado rallied to down San Diego, 10-8, in the opener of a three-game set at Coors Field.

<< Marlins edge Diamondbacks behind Nolasco, Uggla
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Nolasco pitched seven strong innings to win his fourth straight start, and Florida edged Arizona, 3-2, in the second portion of a four-game series. Nolasco (9-6) allowed six hits and two runs, w

<< Orioles C Wieters leaves after injury
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters left Friday's game against the Texas Rangers after stumbling while running the bases. Wieters was seen limping to third on a Scott Moore double and was forced o

Reds C Hernandez on DL with knee injury >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday night due to left knee inflammation. It's the same knee Hernandez had surgery on last year, causing him t

Foxy win: Orioles rally in ninth, top Rangers in 10 >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jake Fox homered off Dustin Nippert in the 10th inning after Corey Patterson's grand slam tied it in the ninth, giving the Baltimore Orioles an improbable 7-6 come-from-behind win to spoil the Texas R

Bosh's decision pulled things together for Heat >>
MIAMI (AP) -Chris Bosh already has his first Miami Heat assist.Heat president Pat Riley pulled this team together, keeping Dwyane Wade in Miami and talking two-time reigning MVP LeBron James into joining the franchise.But it was Bosh who provided th

Argentina gains edge on Russia in Davis Cup quarterfinal >>
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos won their doubles match Saturday to give Argentina the advantage against host Russia in their best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal. The matchup was tied after

Red Sox seek to build off needed win over Blue Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox halted a four-game losing skid yesterday and will attempt to make it two wins in a row over the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon in American League East action from the Rogers Centre. Boston will give th

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.