Dodgers to host Rockies in key divisional set

Baseball Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will bring his Triple Crown numbers and late-game heroics into Friday's opener of a three- game series versus the NL West-rival Colorado Rockies at Chavez Ravine.

Ethier was at it again in last night's 7-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, helping the Dodgers salvage the finale of a three-game set. After Los Angeles closer Jonathan Broxton blew his second save and spoil John Ely's bid for his first major league win, Ethier clubbed a LaTroy Hawkins offering over the wall in center field for a grand slam and the 11th walkoff hit of his young career.

"I want to go up there in that situation, I want to end the game right there," said Ethier, who cracked four game-winning homers a year ago. "[Hawkins] threw me a fastball right down the middle. I just put an easy swing on it and it just kept going."

The lefty is tied with Arizona's Kelly Johnson for the National League lead in homers (10) and leads the NL in average (.371) and RBI (30).

Ethier's hit made a winner out of Broxton, while Ely tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and struck out seven batters.

James Loney knocked in a run in his sixth straight game and Xavier Paul ended with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI for Los Angeles, which has won four of six and improved to 4-3 on a 10-game homestand.

Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda hopes to build off an impressive outing his last time out when he toes the rubber this evening. Kuroda beat Pittsburgh on Sunday with eight innings of one-run ball and lowered his earned run average from 2.36 to 2.08. The Japanese right-hander is 3-1 in five starts but winless in his career against the Rockies, having gone 0-2 with a 7.00 earned run average in three starts.

Los Angeles is 4-1 when Kuroda takes the mound this season.

Colorado, meanwhile, will continue a nine-game road trip Friday and has won three of its last four games. It took two of three matchups with San Diego and is coming off Wednesday's 6-5 victory in 12 innings thanks to Ian Stewart's solo home run in the top of the 12th.

Manuel Corpas tossed 2 2/3 scoreless frames of relief to post the win for the Rockies, who recorded their first road series victory of the season. Starter Aaron Cook lasted five innings, allowing five runs on six hits.

"We've had a couple of rough series on the road, so to get this win was big for us, (especially) against a really good team playing good baseball right now," Rockies second baseman Clint Barmes said on the team's website. "Hopefully this will boost us to play the way we know we're capable of playing."

Barmes went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and a run scored for Colorado, which is 3-3 on the trek and got an RBI apiece from Seth Smith and Melvin Mora.

Esmil Rogers is scheduled to make his third career start tonight for the Rockies and lost his most recent outing in a 6-1 setback at San Francisco on Saturday. The Giants pounded Rogers for five runs, four of which were earned, and five hits in four innings.

The Dominican right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in four games (1 start) this season and has never faced the Dodgers.

Los Angeles owned Colorado last season to the tune of a 14-4 record, including victories in seven of nine games held in Hollywood. The Dodgers have also won four of the last five encounters in this series and are 24-12 in the past 36 meetings between the NL West inhabitants.

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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.


Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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