O's dodge the brooms with big win over ChiSox

Baseball Betting Lines

08/27/2008 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff and Kevin Millar all homered as Baltimore avoided a sweep by routing Chicago, 11-3, in the finale of a three-game set at Camden Yards.

Brian Roberts was 2-for-5 with three RBI for the Orioles, who snapped a five- game skid. Juan Castro was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI while Luke Scott and Lou Montanez were also 2-for-3 with two runs scored each.

Radhames Liz (5-3), making his second start since returning from a stint in the minors, allowed two runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win.

Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye both homered for the White Sox, who lost for the first time in three games and saw their lead in the AL Central shrink to one game over Minnesota. The Twins edged Seattle, 6-5, earlier Wednesday.

John Danks (10-7) surrendered four runs on seven hits in four innings en route to the loss.

The O's jumped in front with a run in the first. Nick Markakis got on with a one-out single, moved to third on a Mora base hit and crossed the plate after Huff lofted a sacrifice fly to left.

The White Sox quickly deadlocked things in the second after Konerko belted a one-out, solo homer to left, his 13th of the year.

Baltimore made it a 3-1 game in the second. Montanez drew a two-out walk, moved to third on a Castro double before Roberts' slapped a two-run single to left.

Chicago closed to within a run in the third thanks to Thome's two-out RBI single to right.

The Orioles got that run back in the fourth. Scott singled to left, advanced to second when Castro drew a one-out walk and came around to score on Roberts' double to left.

Baltimore kept pulling away with two more runs in the fifth off Lance Broadway. Scott started things with a two-out walk and Montanez followed with a double before Castro came through with a two-run single up the middle.

The O's tacked on another run in the seventh. Scott doubled to center, advanced 90-feet on Montanez's infield single and scored when Castro grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Dye led off the eighth with his 32nd homer of the year to make it an 8-3 game.

The laugher was on in the home-half on the eighth when the Orioles showed off their power against Broadway. Mora slapped a one-out single to right and Huff followed by belting his 29th homer of the year. After Ramon Hernandez grounded out, Millar accounted for the final margin by lining his 19th homer of the year over the wall in left.

Game Notes

Mora's home run was his 23rd...Chicago has won five of its nine matchups with the O's this season...Attendance was just 15,736.

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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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