First-place Reds aim to continue mastery of Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Cincinnati Reds can make it 12 wins in 15 games with the Chicago Cubs tonight, when the clubs meet for the second of three weekend games at Great American Ball Park.

On Friday, Jay Bruce slammed a career-best three home runs and Chris Valaika also went deep to back eight innings of one-run ball from starter Johnny Cueto as Cincinnati beat Chicago, 7-1.

Bruce tied a career-high with five runs batted in, while Drew Stubbs added two hits, a run scored, two stolen bases and a walk for the Reds, who have won two straight and 10 of 13 overall since being swept by the Cardinals over three games two weeks ago.

Cincinnati leads the Cardinals by four games for the top spot in the National League Central Division.

Cueto (12-4) allowed six hits, did not walk a batter and fanned eight. Sam LeCure retired the side in order in the ninth to preserve the Reds' 11th win in 14 meetings with Chicago.

Tom Gorzelanny (7-8) took the loss after allowing a season-high six earned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks with one strikeout in five innings for the Cubs, who had a three-game win streak halted.

Cincinnati right-hander Bronson Arroyo can reach 15 wins for the third straight season, matching his career-best victory output.

The 33-year-old Key West, Fla. native has won four of his last five to get to win No. 14, which came via a 5-2 decision over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 22 after he allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings.

He tossed seven scoreless innings in a 3-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Aug. 6, improving his career mark against them to 9-6 in 21 outings (19 starts).

Arroyo is 5-4 in 12 starts at home in 2010.

Illinois native Randy Wells celebrates his 28th birthday with a chance to end a six-start drought for Chicago.

The veteran of 57 major-league outings improved to 5-7 on the season with a 5-0 defeat of St. Louis on July 23 in Chicago, but is 0-5 with a no-decision since, including a 16-5 loss to Atlanta on Aug. 22 in which he was tagged for seven hits and seven runs in six innings.

He's 3-1 in six career starts against the Reds, including a 3-1 win on July 3, when he gave up five hits and a run in 7 2/3 innings.

Wells has won just twice in 11 road starts this season, allowing 72 hits and 38 runs in 63 1/3 innings while allowing an opposition batting average of .285.

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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.