Friars send Stauffer to hill to face Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/29/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Stauffer makes his first start of the season this afternoon when the San Diego Padres play the finale of their four-game series with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Stauffer will be starting in place of the major leagues' leader in earned run average, Chris Young, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday with an oblique strain.

The 25-year-old right-hander, who made one start for the Padres last season, was 5-4 with a 5.34 ERA in 20 games (15 starts) for Triple-A Portland.

Houston will counter with right-hander Jason Jennings, who is just 2-6 with a 4.74 ERA in his initial season with the Astros. Jennings, though, snapped a five-start losing streak in his last outing on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he allowed three runs and three hits in six innings to nail down his first home victory of the season.

Jennings has faced the Padres 21 times and is 9-5 against them with a 4.41 ERA.

In the third game of this set on Saturday, Roy Oswalt continued his dominance of San Diego, allowing just one run and fanning 10 over seven innings to help the Astros to a 3-1 win. Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer, his third long ball in four games for the Astros, who have won four of their last five.

Oswalt (10-6), who scattered just three hits and walked a batter, has faced the Padres ten times (eight starts) in his career and is 7-1 against them. The 29-year-old right-hander, who skipped his last outing due to an upper chest injury, also lowered his earned run average on the season to 3.63.

With his 108th career win (in his 200th career start), Oswalt passed J.R. Richard and moved into a tie for fourth place on the franchise's all-time wins list.

Greg Maddux (7-8) surrendered five hits, three runs and a pair of walks over six innings for the Padres. The future Hall-of-Famer is now winless in his last six starts dating back to July 3, going 0-4 in that span. His last win came in San Diego's 4-2 victory over San Francisco on June 27.

Adrian Gonzalez knocked in the lone run for the Padres, who have dropped seven of their last nine games.

Houston also made some off the field news on Saturday, as it acquired infielder Ty WIgginton from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for reliever Dan Wheeler. Wigginton hit .275 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs in 98 games for the Devil Rays this season.

San Diego and Houston are playing their first series since both ballclubs split six meetings in 2006. The Astros are 10-7, though, in the last 17 matchups.

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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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