Billingsley tosses shutout as Dodgers avoid sweep

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey Blake hit a solo homer and drove in another run with a single to back Chad Billingsley's second career shutout, as the Los Angeles Dodgers snuck past the San Francisco Giants, 2-0, in a pitchers' duel.

Billingsley (8-5) gave up five hits, walked two batters and struck out three to record his first shutout since July 30, 2008 against these same Giants.

The Dodgers avoided a three-game sweep and snapped a six-game skid.

Barry Zito (8-5) allowed two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings to suffer the hard-luck loss for the Giants, who went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven. Zito also fanned four and walked three in his first loss since June 23.

Wednesday's game had a much different feel compared to Tuesday's heated contest, which saw the Giants rally in the ninth for a 7-5 win. Three batters were hit by pitches in that game, leading to three ejections. Prior to Wednesday's game, Major League Baseball suspended Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw along with manager Joe Torre and bench coach Bob Schaefer. Kershaw was given a five-game suspension, while Torre and Schaefer got one-game bans.

Blake's homer inside the left foul pole in the second inning proved to be all the runs the Dodgers would need.

The Giants' inability to score with runners in scoring position started in the third. A pair of walks put runners on first and second with two outs, but Freddy Sanchez grounded into a fielder's choice to end the threat.

San Francisco got a leadoff double from Aubrey Huff during its next at-bat. Billingsley, though, retired the next three batters to keep the visitors off the board.

Nate Schierholtz hit a one-out double down the right-field line in the top of the fifth. However, Zito and Andres Torres grounded out to end the frame.

The Giants got a pair of singles in the top of the sixth to put men on first and second with one out. Billingsley, though, settled down once again to work out of the jam.

Zito retired 10 straight batters before giving up a two-out single to Matt Kemp in the bottom of the sixth.

San Francisco didn't advance a runner past first base the rest of the way.

Zito was replaced by Sergio Romo in the eighth after putting runners on first and second with one out. Romo struck out Kemp before Blake hit an RBI single.

Game Notes

The Dodgers lead the season series with the Giants, 6-3...San Francisco has still won 11 of its last 14 games...The Giants haven't swept the Dodgers in LA since April 24-26, 2007...Buster Posey of the Giants extended his hitting streak to 15 games...Torre served his suspension on Wednesday, as hitting coach Don Mattingly played the role of manager. Kershaw, who is appealing his suspension, intentionally threw at Giants outfielder Aaron Rowand in the seventh inning of Tuesday's game...Zito fell to 6-6 in 16 career starts against the Dodgers...Billingsley improved to 5-2 in 17 lifetime games (12 starts) versus the Giants.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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