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Halladay aims for more Miami magic in Phils-Marlins tiltBaseball Betting Lines08/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Injuries and inconsistency have plagued the two-time defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies all season long. Tonight they return to the location of one of their brightest points of this year. Roy Halladay will step foot on the Sun Life Stadium mound for the first time since throwing the 20th perfect game in major league history as Philadelphia, likely without Ryan Howard, begins a three-game set with the Florida Marlins. Though nine games over .500 (57-48), the Phillies are three games back of the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East thanks to an offense that has gone ice cold at times. Injuries have also hurt the club, as Chase Utley (right thumb), Shane Victorino (abdominal strain) and Jamie Moyer (left elbow) are currently on the disabled list, while Jimmy Rollins has endured two DL stints this season and both Placido Polanco and Carlos Ruiz have also been hurt. Injuries also made Sunday's 6-4 extra-inning victory over Washington hard to enjoy, as left fielder Raul Ibanez was scratched before the game due to a sore left wrist and former MVP Howard exited in the first inning due to a sprained left ankle while running the bases. X-rays on the All-Star were negative, but he is scheduled to fly back to Philadelphia for further examination and a disabled list stint seems likely. Howard is hitting .292 with 23 homers and a NL-leading 81 RBI this season. Without their slugger, the Phillies got three hits from Polanco, including a go-ahead RBI single in the 11th inning. Jayson Werth followed with a run- scoring double to help Philadelphia avoid a three-game sweep by the Nationals and win for the ninth time in 11 games. Embattled closer Brad Lidge, who blew a save in Saturday's loss, bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning to record his 11th save. Philadelphia will try to inch closer to first place behind Halladay, who threw a perfect game in Florida on May 29 while striking out a season-high 11 batters. The outing was just one of his MLB-high eight complete games and three shutouts, though it didn't leave the Marlins shaking their heads. "Look who's pitching -- it's Roy Halladay, he's the best pitcher in baseball," said Florida's Cody Ross after the perfecto. "It's not embarrassing. He's a Cy Young Award winner, and he did exactly what he needed to do [that night]. He executed every single pitch it seemed like, and you just have to tip your hat. I'm not going to walk out of here with my head down." The 33-year-old Halladay will try to win a third straight start tonight and has allowed just one run in that span of 17 innings. He beat the Rockies with eight scoreless frames on July 23, then limited the Diamondbacks to one run and six hits over a complete-game victory on Wednesday, marking the fifth time in six starts Halladay has pitched at least eight innings. Halladay, who is 2-2 with a 2.12 earned run average in his career versus the Marlins, is 12-8 on the season and his 2.21 ERA is the third-best in baseball. Countering the right-handed Halladay tonight for the Marlins will be 6-foot-8 lefty Sean West, who makes his first big-league start of this year after going 4-3 with a 4.12 ERA with Triple-A New Orleans. West made 20 starts with Florida as a rookie a season ago and went 8-6 with a 4.79 ERA. One of those came versus the Phillies, and he got a no-decision after yielding three runs -- two earned -- over four frames of work. Florida had a three-game win streak end on Sunday in a 5-4 loss to San Diego. Marlins ace Josh Johnson gave up a season-high five runs over just 5 2/3 innings, snapping his string of quality starts at 19 in a row while lifting his MLB-leading ERA to 1.96. "I give them credit, but I didn't make my pitches [Sunday]," said Johnson. "I didn't make my pitches and I let them stay in there, that will hurt you all the time." Hanley Ramirez connected on a solo homer in the loss, while Wes Helms, Logan Morrison and Ronny Paulino each had an RBI for Florida. These two clubs have split 26 total meetings since 2009. The Phillies won two of three in Florida in late May and have won 11 of the last 14 meetings at Sun Life Stadium.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State 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.
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