San Diego Into Vizcaino Damage

Baseball Betting Lines

San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Rizzo had a two-run single and Tim Stauffer tossed seven innings of one-run ball to lift San Diego over Kansas City, 4-1, to complete a three-game sweep. The series sweep was the first of the year for the Padres and the first since they took three games from the Los Angeles Dodgers from September 6-8 last season.

 

Heath Bell worked himself out of a jam in the ninth to earn his 23rd save of the year.

 

The Royals threatened in the ninth after back-to-back singles to start the inning by Mike Moustakas and Brayan Pena. But Bell was able to get three straight fly balls, the final two on full counts, to end the game and earn his 16th consecutive save opportunity and the 57th in the last 58 attempts dating back to last year.

 

Rizzo then singled in Denorfia and Ludwick and advanced to second on Jeff Francoeur's throw to the plate as Ludwick slid home safely. Orlando Hudson came up next and, after Rizzo stole third, hit a high-bouncer to third that Moustakas charged, but he couldn't handle the short hop and the ball deflected off his glove and into foul territory, allowing Rizzo to score and giving San Diego a 4-1 lead.

 

Game Notes

 

New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball has suspended free agent pitcher Luis Vizcaino 50 games after he tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance. The 36-year-old Vizcaino won't start his suspension until he signs with a major league club.

 

Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Carpenter went the distance to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the middle contest of a three game interleague series at Camden Yards. Carpenter (3-7) gave up a run on seven hits, fanned three and walked one in his second complete game of the season and 31st of his career. He finished the game with 132 pitches -- 91 strikes -- the most he has thrown in a start since he tossed 134 back in 1998 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

Colby Rasmus belted a two-run homer and Skip Schumaker added a pair of hits, including an RBI single for St. Louis, which has won back-to-back games after being swept in its previous series against Toronto.

 

Nick Markakis accounted for the only run with an RBI double for the Orioles, who have lost seven of their past 11 games.

 

St. Louis extended its lead in the third on an RBI single by Schumaker. Jon Jay followed with a single to left and Matt Holliday was plunked by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Lance Berkman lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Schumaker and give the Cardinals a 4-0. Baltimore escaped a huge inning when Jakubauskas induced a 6-3 double play from David Freese to limit the damage to only a pair of runs.

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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.