Redbirds avoid disaster, hold on to edge Bucs

Baseball Betting Lines

05/30/2008 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Wellemeyer tossed seven strong innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals survived a near-collapse in the ninth to down the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game set.

Wellemeyer (6-1) scattered six hits and allowed one run, fanning four and walking two. Albert Pujols went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who have won three straight and six of eight.

Zach Duke (2-4) let up three runs -- two earned -- on five hits, fanning two and walking one to take the loss for Pittsburgh. Nate McLouth's solo homer in the first was the only offense until Jason Michael's pinch-hit three-run double in the ninth for the Pirates, who have dropped three of four.

The Cards led 5-1 entering the ninth, but Randy Flores and Ryan Franklin almost coughed up the lead. Pinch-hitter Jose Bautista singled to center with one out, but Raul Chavez fanned for the second out of the inning. Flores beaned Chris Gomez, bringing Franklin out of the bullpen.

Freddy Sanchez greeted Franklin with a single to center, loading the bases with two outs. Michaels then lifted a fly ball deep into the corner in left that Ryan Ludwick wasn't able to reach, and the ball fell in for a bases- clearing double.

Now with the tying run on second, Franklin snared a McLouth grounder hit right back at him, and threw to first to finally nail down his fifth save of the season.

McLouth gave the Bucs the early lead when he hit his 13th homer of the season, a solo shot to right with two outs in the first.

However, Pujols put the Cards on top with his bomb in the home half. Brendan Ryan led off with a single to center, and Pujols ripped a one-out homer to center, giving St. Louis a 2-1 edge.

Yadier Molina led off the second with a single to left, and Brian Barton tried to bunt him over to second. Duke threw the ball away, though, allowing Barton to head to second with Molina advancing to third. Wellemeyer then hit a fly to right, deep enough to score Molina, but Barton was thrown out trying to move up to third.

The Cards added two insurance runs in the seventh. Rick Ankiel tripled to left to lead off the inning, but pinch-hitter Adam Kennedy grounded out to first, and Ankiel couldn't score. Cesar Izturis laced a single to right, however, plating Ankiel for a 4-1 lead. Izturis stole second and Chavez's throw sailed into center, allowing Izturis to head to third.

Ryan grounded out, but Joe Mather came through with a two-out single to left, his first career hit, handing the Cards a 5-1 lead.

Game Notes

St. Louis optioned struggling outfielder Chris Duncan to Triple- A Memphis on Friday, and recalled Mather from Memphis. Duncan, who hit .259 with 21 home runs and 70 runs batted in over 127 games last season, is hitting .252 with just four homers and 16 RBI in 47 games this year. The 27-year-old has been in a slump over the past several weeks. He is just 2-for-14 at the plate over his last five games and hasn't homered since May 16...Mather, the Cardinals third round selection in the 2001 draft, was hitting .315 with 12 homers and 24 RBI in 28 games with Memphis, including 10 homers in May. Last year, the 6-foot-4, 195 pound outfielder combined to hit 31 home runs while splitting time between Memphis and Double-A Springfield.

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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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