Manny set to return as Dodgers visit Padres

Baseball Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - He won't have the home crowd on his side until after the All-Star break, but Los Angeles Dodgers star left fielder Manny Ramirez probably doesn't mind, since he is finally done serving his 50-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs.

Ramirez will lead the Dodgers into Petco Park Friday night for the first of three straight matchups against the NL West-rival San Diego Padres.

Ramirez was slapped with the suspension back on May 7 after testing positive for a banned substance, and the Dodgers played to a solid 29-21 mark without the slugger in the lineup. Ramirez, whose bobblehead giveaway is scheduled for July 22 at Chavez Ravine, made a few rehab stints in the minor leagues to get back into shape.

"Hopefully, Manny will give us a more consistent offense," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said on the team's site. "We've been lucky to win a lot of close games. We've made the most out of the runs we've scored. But I think the presence he brings to the lineup is a security blanket for the rest of the guys."

The Dodgers didn't really miss a beat without Ramirez in the lineup and still sit atop the NL West with a comfortable 7 1/2-game lead over San Francisco. They were 6 1/2 games ahead of the Giants and 21-8 when the All-Star was suspended in early May. Ramirez was hitting .348 with six homers and 20 RBI at the time.

LA still has the best record in baseball and got a huge lift from Juan Pierre in Ramirez's absence. Pierre started all 50 games in left field and did a fine job for Torre, going 68-for-214 for a .318 average and compiling 14 doubles, 21 RBI, 31 runs, 15 walks and 20 steals in those games. Pierre had a hit in Wednesday's 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies in the finale of a three- game series in Los Angeles.

Rafael Furcal drove in the lone run with a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning and Brad Ausmus delivered the lone multi-hit performance for the victors, going 2-for-3 at the plate.

Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw tossed five shutout innings in the no-decision, while Ramon Troncoso earned the win with a scoreless eighth and Jonathan Broxton posted two strikeouts in the ninth for his 19th save for Los Angeles, which became the first team in the majors to reach 50 wins (50-29). Ronald Belisario also helped the cause by hurling two shutout innings of relief.

The Dodgers won two of three meetings versus Colorado and will kick off a nine-game road trip against the Padres, Mets and Brewers on Friday.

Los Angeles will hand the ball to Hiroki Kuroda for tonight's game, and he is just 1-4 in six starts since beating San Diego on Opening Day. Kuroda lost his most recent outing on Sunday versus Seattle, as he yielded four runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-2 loss.

Kuroda, who is 2-4 with a 3.77 ERA in seven starts this season, will face the Padres for the second time in 2009. The right-hander allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings of a 4-1 triumph at Petco Park on April 6, improving to 3-1 with a 4.78 ERA in five career starts against San Diego.

Meanwhile, the Padres just dropped three of four to the Houston Astros and are coming off Thursday's 7-2 setback at Petco Park. Scott Hairston and Everth Cabrera each drove in a run, while starting pitcher Kevin Correia allowed six runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts over five innings to suffer the loss.

"I made a couple of mistakes and they took advantage," said Correia. "It wasn't my day today. Especially that last inning, that's what killed me and the game."

Correia permitted three runs in the fifth for the Padres, who have dropped six of their last nine games.

Taking the hill for the Friars tonight will be Chad Gaudin, who has won two straight starts since going 0-3 through his previous four outings. Gaudin started the streak with seven innings of two-run ball and struck out 11 in a 9-7 victory at Seattle on June 23, then tossed eight shutout innings and recorded nine strikeouts five days later in a 2-0 win at Texas.

Gaudin is 4-6 in 13 games (12 starts) this season and lowered his earned run average from 5.60 to 4.97 the last time out. The righty will face the Dodgers for the second time this season after losing to them on May 3 at Chavez Ravine. Gaudin was tagged for six runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 7-3 setback.

He is 0-1 with a 9.45 ERA in two career games (1 start) against Los Angeles.

The Dodgers have won seven of 10 matchups with the Padres this season and 11 of the last 15 contests between the clubs.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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