Walker, Pirates shut down stumbling Braves

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Neil Walker's two-run homer in the sixth inning proved to be the difference, as the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, in the opener of a three-game set at PNC Park.

Jose Tabata added a single, RBI and scored a run for Pittsburgh, which had dropped seven of nine entering the contest.

Brian Burres (3-3), starting for Jeff Karstens, who was unable to go due to right shoulder soreness, gave his club a solid six-inning outing. The lefty yielded one run on five hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter in making his first start since May 29. Joel Hanrahan worked a scoreless ninth to record his fourth save of the season.

Derrek Lee went 2-for-3 with a run scored on his 35th birthday, while David Ross supplied the only offense with a sacrifice fly for the Braves, who have lost four of five, but still sit atop the National League East by one game over Philadelphia. The Phillies dropped the opener of a day/night doubleheader to Florida on Monday.

Tommy Hanson (9-11) suffered the loss after allowing three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and a pair of walks in six innings. The right-hander struck out four.

Tabata's RBI groundout in the first scored Andrew McCutchen, who led off with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on an error by catcher Ross, giving the Pirates an early lead.

The Braves loaded the bases with nobody out in the second and pulled even on Ross' sac fly. Burres worked out of further damage by retiring the next two hitters.

Starting pitching limited the offensive chances, but Lee and Matt Diaz reached on back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth. After a brief mound visit by Pirates manager John Russell, Burres stayed in and got Alex Gonzalez to bounce into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

In the home sixth, Tabata led off with a single and scored when Walker hammered a fastball over the fence in straightaway center to put the Pirates up 3-1. It gave Walker a 13-game hitting streak.

Chris Resop took over for Burress in the seventh and proceeded to load the bases with two outs on a single and two walks, but Martin Prado grounded out weakly to third to end the threat.

The Braves put runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth off Evan Meek, but again came up empty when Nate McLouth grounded out to first.

Hanrahan came on for the top of the ninth and gave up a two-out single to Jason Heyward before setting down Prado on a fly ball to right that ended the game.

Game Notes

Despite the loss, Atlanta has still won eight of the last 12 overall meetings between the teams...The Braves went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10, while Pittsburgh left only three men on base.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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