Cubs hold on to down Cards

Baseball Betting Lines

08/15/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marlon Byrd capped a six-run fourth inning with an RBI single, as the Chicago Cubs held off the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-7, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Derrek Lee hit a pair of solo homers for the Cubs, who won back-to-back contests for the first time since beating the Cardinals at Wrigley Field on July 23 and 24. The first baseman hit a homer in every game of this series.

Koyie Hill hit a two-run double for Chicago, which got an RBI apiece from Kosuke Fukudome, Aramis Ramirez, and Ryan Dempster.

Dempster (11-8) went 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He also struck out six and walked two to improve to 7-7 over 44 career appearances (18 starts) against St. Louis.

Albert Pujols and Steven Hill each hit solo homers for the Cardinals, who now trail the Reds by one game in the NL Central after Cincinnati beat Florida on Sunday.

Kyle Lohse (1-5), pitching for the first time since May 22, got rocked in three-plus innings, giving up seven runs on six hits. The right-hander had been on the 60-day disabled list due to forearm surgery.

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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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