Dodgers' Billingsley, Broxton shut out Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

04/23/2009 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chad Billingsley tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a three-game sweep by edging the Houston Astros, 2-0, in the finale of a three-game series a Minute Maid Park.

Manny Ramirez went 2-for-4 with an run batted in, while Casey Blake knocked in the other run with an RBI double. The Dodgers, who despite losing two-of-three in the series, have won nine of 11 overall. Orlando Hudson had a pair of hits, including a double in the win.

Billingsley (4-0) was sensational in becoming the first four-game winner in Major League Baseball this season. The right-hander allowed only three hits and two walks, while striking out five. Jonathan Broxton registered his fifth save of the campaign, working 1 2/3 innings.

Miguel Tejada finished 2-for-4 for Houston, which was limited to four hits. The Astros have split their last six contests.

Wandy Rodriguez (1-2) was the hard-luck loser after pitching six solid frames. The lefty surrendered a run on five hits, with a pair of walks and struck out four.

The Dodgers put a run on the board in the first. Rafael Furcal led off the ballgame with a walk and Hudson followed with a single, putting runners on first and second. Ramirez then grounded a run-scoring base hit up the middle. The next three hitters were retired and it remained a 1-0 game.

Houston threatened in the six. Pinch-hitter Jason Michaels was hit by a pitch to start the inning and took second on a Kaz Matsui sacrifice bunt. Tejada reached on Furcal's error, but Lance Berkman grounded into a 4-6-3 double-play to end the inning.

In the seventh, Matt Kemp singled and came around to score when Blake ripped a double to right-center field to put the Dodgers up by a 2-0 margin.

Michael Bourn led off the home half of the eighth with a one-out infield single off Billingsley, which would mark the end for the Los Angeles starter. Broxton was brought in from the bullpen and Bourn stole second with pinch- hitter Hunter Pence at the plate, but Pence lined out to short for the second out. The runner was stranded when Matsui grounded out to third.

In the bottom of the ninth, with Broxton still on the mound, Tejada lined a single to right to lead off the inning, but the big right-hander settled down to strikeout Berkman and Carlos Lee, before hitting Geoff Blum with a pitch.

With runners on first and second, a wild pitch moved each up a base, but Broxton got Darin Erstad to bounce out to first to end the game.

Game Notes

Houston will resume its 10-game homestand against Milwaukee on Friday, while the Dodgers continue their nine-game road trip at Colorado...Houston took four of seven from the Dodgers last season, but LA won the final three meetings.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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