Zito hopes to get on track at Chavez Ravine

Baseball Betting Lines

09/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The door has been left open for the Giants to make a run at the National League West title. That means now would be a good time for Barry Zito to get back on track.

The struggling former Cy Young Award winner will try to snap a six-decision losing streak and pitch San Francisco to a fourth straight win over Los Angeles this evening in the opener of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium.

Though the Giants have won just three times in their last seven games overall, they are just three back of the first-place Padres in the division standings thanks to San Diego's current seven-game slide. San Francisco is also just two games back of NL Wild Card-leading Philadelphia.

The Giants kicked off a string of 16 straight games versus NL West opponents by losing two of three to the Diamondbacks, but rebounded to take two of three at home versus the Rockies. San Francisco now plays its next 10 on the road, a trek that concludes with four games at San Diego from Sept. 9-12.

San Francisco took Wednesday's rubber match of a three-game set with Colorado, 2-1, as Tim Lincecum outdueled Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez.

Lincecum gave up just a run and struck out nine over eight innings for his first victory since July 30.

The Giants scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Mike Fontenot worked a walk off Jimenez. Lincecum's sacrifice bunt then moved a pinch- running Darren Ford to second before Jimenez uncorked a wild pitch. Ford broke for third and the throw to the bag by Colorado catcher Miguel Olivo was high, allowing Ford to come home.

"It was a great game for both sides tonight," said Fontenot, who had a run- scoring single in the fifth. "Tim came out and really threw the ball well."

The Giants might need to supply some more offense tonight given that Zito has posted an 11.48 earned run average over his last four appearances, a span that includes three starts. Zito has picked up a loss in all four outings, yielding 17 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings.

The 32-year-old lefty hasn't won since July 16 and lasted just 3 2/3 innings versus Arizona on Saturday, yielding nine runs -- seven earned -- on six hits and five walks.

"I'm just not in a good rhythm. The pitches just aren't crisp right now," Zito said. "It requires working hard between starts."

Zito, who is 8-10 with a 4.07 ERA this year, has held the Dodgers to a pair of runs or fewer in all four starts versus them this year, but is just 0-1 despite the 1.95 ERA as the Giants have plated just five runs in his starts.

He got a no-decision versus the Dodgers on July 31 despite seven innings of one-run ball, as game won by the Giants as part of a three-game home sweep. By winning five of the last six meetings between the clubs, San Francisco and Los Angeles have split 12 overall meetings and six in LA so far this year.

Los Angeles has lost four of its last five and dropped the rubber match of a three-game set with Philadelphia, 5-1, on Wednesday. The Dodgers did not get their first hit off Phillies starter Roy Oswalt until there were two outs in the sixth inning and managed just James Loney's RBI hit in the eighth frame.

"We made Roy work for it. He's effective because he can throw a number of pitches for strikes. He keeps you guessing," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We need to be more productive in the middle of our lineup. We still have a six or seven-game winning streak in us, but we need to do it now."

Clayton Kershaw struck out 11 in six innings, but was touched for five hits and two runs in the loss.

Chad Billingsley will start tonight for the Dodgers and has lost three of his last four decisions. The righty is coming off a loss in Colorado on Saturday after giving up three runs on five hits and five walks over six innings without a strikeout, falling to 10-8 with a 3.73 ERA this year.

Billingsley, who has a 2.06 ERA over his last eight starts, is 1-0 in three games versus the Giants this year and hasn't allowed a run over his last two starts against them, spanning 15 2/3 innings. That includes a five-hit shutout for the 26-year-old at home on July 21.

The Giants have won six of seven over the Dodgers this season, but are just 6-6 in the season series.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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