Arroyo and Votto lead surging Reds past Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/22/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bronson Arroyo twirled seven strong innings to help the Cincinnati Reds take a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game set.

Arroyo (14-7) gave up just two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts for the Reds, who have won eight of their last nine. Joey Votto went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, three RBI and two runs scored while Ryan Hanigan drove in a pair in the win.

"I didn't have overwhelming command today," said Arroyo. "But I did get them to hit the ball where our guys were at. In the sixth, I still had some gas in the tank but I told them to watch me. It's nice to win here."

With the win, the Reds maintained their 3 1/2 games lead over the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.

A.J. Ellis went 3-for-3 with an RBI while Matt Kemp added a solo home run for the Dodgers, who were looking for their first series win since taking two of three against Washington from August 6-8.

Clayton Kershaw (11-8) was saddled with the loss as he was charged with three runs on five hits with five walks and 11 strikeouts over seven innings.

"Clayton settled down after the first inning," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "But when you don't put up runs it puts a lot of stress on our pitchers. We struggled against a pretty good pitcher today."

The Reds jumped on top in the first inning. Brandon Phillips led off with a single and, after Miguel Cairo struck out, back-to-back walks to Votto and Jonny Gomes loaded the bases. Chris Heisey then struck out, but Hanigan punched a two-run single to center for a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers got one back in the second when Kemp led off the frame with a blast over the center field wall, his 21st home run of the season.

The score remained that way until the fifth when Los Angeles tied the game. With one out, Casey Blake singled and Jamey Carroll followed with a base hit. Ellis then stroked a single to center to make it a 2-2 game.

Cincinnati, though, took the lead right back as Votto led off the sixth with a shot to left, his 29th homer of the season, for a 3-2 advantage.

Arroyo worked around a leadoff single in the sixth then threw a scoreless seventh before handing the ball to Nick Masset, who tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

The Reds gave themselves some insurance in the ninth as Votto's two-run single off Jonathan Broxton with the bases loaded made it a 5-2 game.

Francisco Cordero set the Dodgers down in order in the ninth to pick up his 34th save of the season.

Game Notes

Cincinnati continues its nine-game road trip in San Francisco on Monday...The Reds won the season series, 5-4...The Dodgers hit the road and begin a three- game series in Milwaukee on Tuesday...It was Cincinnati's first series win in Los Angeles since May 14-16, 2004...Arroyo is 3-4 against the Dodgers in his career.

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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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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.