Resurgent Phils to begin home set with Diamondbacks

Baseball Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies are starting to play like the team that won back-to-back National League titles. Tonight they shoot for a sixth straight win when they open a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia completed a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies on Monday, as Brian Schneider hit a two-run triple and Joe Blanton threw six solid innings in a 5-4 victory.

Blanton (4-6) struggled early and was pulled after throwing 85 pitches, but limited the Rockies to two runs to get the win, his first since June 24. He gave up six hits and walked three.

Brad Lidge recorded the save, but only after giving up a two-run homer to Seth Smith and working out of a bases-loaded jam for the second straight day.

"I wasn't thrilled today," Lidge said afterward. "I actually had a better fastball and better command today, and it just doesn't show. You just never know what's going to happen. But like I said, obviously when you have a three- run lead, you can't give up three runs. I feel great that we won the game, I feel great that I got my job done."

Placido Polanco and Greg Dobbs each had two hits for the Phillies, who took advantage of a variety of fielding mishaps by the Rockies to win their eighth straight at Citizens Bank Park.

It is Philadelphia's longest home winning streak since 1991, when it won 16 in a row.

Hoping to continue that streak tonight will be lefty Cole Hamels, who has been terrific in his last three starts. Hamels did not get a decision on Thursday in St. Louis, despite giving up just one hit in eight scoreless innings of his team's 2-0 win.

Hamels, who is 7-7 with a 3.40 ERA on the year, has allowed just one earned run in his last three starts, spanning 22 2/3 innings. He lost to the Diamondbacks earlier in the year, but is 2-1 lifetime against them with a 3.38 ERA in four starts.

Arizona, meanwhile, will counter with righty Rodrigo Lopez, who will move up a day to take the spot of departed ace Dan Haren. Lopez has lost his last two starts and is 5-9 with a 4.58 ERA on the year.

Lopez is 1-1 with a 6.27 ERA in three starts against the Phils.

Arizona enters tonight's tilt after getting swept in a four-game set by the San Francisco Giants over the weekend. The Diamondbacks have lost eight of their last 11 games.

The Diamondbacks took two of three from Philly earlier in the year.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.