Mets, Astros go at it again in New York

Baseball Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets will attempt to make it two straight wins and improve to 15 games over .500 at home tonight, when they meet the Houston Astros in the middle test of a three-game series at Citi Field.

The Mets won Friday's opener, 2-1, after starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey worked eight scoreless frames on the mound.

Pelfrey (13-7) gave up just six hits and two walks, while striking out four for the Mets, who had dropped three of four coming in. Ruben Tejada and David Wright each drove in a run.

Nelson Figueroa (3-2) went seven frames and was charged with two runs -- one earned -- on three hits with five walks and two strikeouts for the Astros, who were coming off a four-game road sweep of the Phillies and had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Jason Michaels drove in the lone Houston run.

New York, which pulled back to .500 overall, is now 38-24 at home. The Astros, meanwhile, have won only 26 of 63 road games.

Lefty ace Johan Santana goes for the Mets in search of a first win in three starts tonight.

The 31-year-old Venezuelan was 10-6 after a 4-0 defeat of Colorado on Aug. 12 in New York, but has lost consecutive starts at Houston and Pittsburgh while allowing 13 hits and six runs in 16 innings.

The loss to the Astros dropped him to 2-2 in five career meetings with a 3.00 earned run average.

The former two-time American League Cy Young Award winner is 7-3 in 12 starts at home in 2010.

For the Astros, newly-minted 30-year-old Brett Myers aims for a 10th victory in his initial season with Houston.

The Jacksonville, Fla. native, who celebrated his birthday on Aug. 17, earned his ninth win with a 3-2 defeat of Philadelphia in the last start on Aug. 23.

Myers reached double-digit wins five times in eight seasons with the Phillies between 2002 and 2009, including a career-best 14 wins on 2003.

He is 9-6 with three saves in 28 meetings with the Mets, 21 starts.

These teams split a four-game series in Houston earlier this month. The Mets won five of six meetings with the Astros last season, including a three-game sweep at Citi Field.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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