Giants capitalize on eighth-inning miscues by Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Ford scored on a crazy turn of events after a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth frame, as the Giants edged the Rockies, 2-1, at AT&T Park.

In a battle of marquee hurlers, Mike Fontenot worked a walk off Ubaldo Jimenez to start the home eighth then Tim Lincecum's sacrifice bunt moved the pinch- runner Ford to second. With Andres Torres at the plate, Jimenez bounced a pitch that was blocked by kicked away from Miguel Olivo. Ford took off for third and Olivo's throw sailed high and wide of Melvin Mora, as Ford raced home with the go-ahead run.

Brian Wilson slammed the door in the ninth for his 38th save. The Giants remained 1 1/2 games behind the wild card leaders, Philadelphia, with their third win in four games and moved within three games of the fading Padres in the National League West race. It was a welcome win for Lincecum (12-9), who had not won since July 30th and had lost five straight starts. He gave up one run on five hits with nine strikeouts and one walk over eight frames.

Jimenez (17-6) failed to become the first National League pitcher this season to reach 18 victories, giving up the two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks over eight frames.

The Rockies dropped 5 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the wild card race.

Colorado scored first in the fourth as Carlos Gonzalez stroked a home run over the wall in left-center field. It was one of three hits for Gonzalez off the right-hander on the game.

The Giants finally got to Jimenez in the fifth, starting with Jose Guillen's leadoff single. Buster Posey then walked, and after Pablo Sandoval struck out, Fontenot slapped a run-scoring single to center. Jimenez escaped further damage by getting Lincecum to bounce into a double play.

The Rockies put two runners on base in the top of the seventh, but Lincecum struck out Eric Young, Jr. to end the threat.

Wilson induced three consecutive fly outs in the ninth to record the save.

Game Notes

Jimenez is still tied with Adam Wainwright for the National League lead with 17 victories. Jimenez failed in his fifth attempt to become the first Rockies pitcher to win 18 games in a single season. Kevin Ritz (1996), Pedro Astacio (1999) and Jeff Francis (2007) all won 17 games for the Rockies...The two teams have battled it out this season with Colorado holding a slight 8-7 series lead...Gonzalez hit his 30th home run of the season...The Giants reinstated shortstoph Edgar Renteria and pitcher Dan Runzler from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday. The club also recalled Ford from Double-A Richmond prior the game, and he scored the winning run.

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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.

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