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Surging Reds ready brooms for visiting BrewersBaseball Betting Lines09/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati is already getting playoff fever, but the city now has to deal with "Chapmania" as well. The highly-regarded Aroldis Chapman is coming off an electric debut and could get a chance tonight to help the first-place Reds notch their first home sweep of at least three games over the Milwaukee Brewers since 2002. The Reds have taken the first two contests of this three-game series at Great American Ball Park, giving them a victory in all four home meetings this year versus the Brewers and six of seven overall between the teams. Cincinnati swept a quick two-game set with Milwaukee at home from May 17-18, but tonight can record its first three-game home sweep of the Brewers since May 6-8, 2002. Thanks in part to three runs batted in by Joey Votto in last night's 8-4 triumph, as well as a 19-8 mark in August, the Reds upped their season-high lead over the second-place Cardinals in the National League Central to seven games. Votto, who is on a 10-game hitting streak, improved his league-leading average (.327) and RBI (97) totals, and the Triple Crown threat is tied for third in the NL with 32 homers. Jonny Gomes added a two-run homer in the Reds' third straight win and fifth in their last six games, but all eyes were on the 22-year-old Chapman in the eighth inning. The flame-thrower retired all three batters he faced, including Jonathan Lucroy by a strikeout to begin the frame, and topped out at 102 mph. "I'm sure it's very exciting for his teammates to see the electric stuff that he has," Cincinnati general manager Walt Jocketty said of Chapman. Cincinnati's Jay Bruce, who has five homers over his last four games, did not play last night due to pain in his right side, and it is unknown if he will return tonight. The Brewers, meanwhile, have lost four straight to the Reds as well as six of their last nine overall. They got a solo homer out of Rickie Weeks and an early RBI hit by Prince Fielder last night, but starter Yovani Gallardo was rocked for eight runs over five innings. "In order for us to beat these guys, we've got to play great ball," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. Milwaukee will need to be on its game tonight against Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto, who bested the Brewers on May 17 with seven innings of one-run ball and is 2-1 with a 2.97 earned run average against them lifetime. The 24-year-old hit a bit of a rough patch over consecutive starts prior to Friday's outing against the Cubs. Cueto had allowed nine earned runs over his brief skid, but gave up just a run and six hits over eight innings in beating Chicago. "He had good tempo, good rhythm," Reds manager Dusty Baker told his team's website of his right-hander. "He was throwing strikes. He mixed up his slider and changeups." Cueto set a new career high for single-season wins after improving to 12-4 with a 3.49 ERA this year and brings an excellent 6-2 mark at home into this start. Milwaukee's Chris Narveson is also coming off a solid outing, as he beat Pittsburgh on Friday after giving up just two runs over seven innings while striking out eight in a 7-2 triumph. The lefty upped his season record to 10-7 with a 5.52 ERA in 31 games (22 starts). Narveson, 28, has made just one career start versus the Reds, and that outing came back on July 28. He was dealt a loss, yielding three runs over five innings.
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana 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. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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