Stammen strong, so are Nats' bats as Oswalt's Philly debut a dud

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Willingham and Roger Bernadina both stroked a two-run double to back a solid outing by Craig Stammen, as Washington cooled off the surging Phillies, 8-1, and, in doing so, spoiled Roy Oswalt's Philadelphia debut.

Stammen (3-4) gave up one run on five hits, walked one and struck out five over 6 1/3 innings to pick up his first win since June 29. He had given up a total of 11 runs in his two previous career starts against the Phillies, including a nightmarish outing in April, when he recorded just four outs.

Adam Kennedy collected four hits, scored twice and knocked in a run for the Nationals, who have won three of their last four games.

The story entering Friday's series opener was about the newly-acquired Oswalt (6-13) making his first start for the red-hot Phillies, winners of eight in a row. The right-hander allowed five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and walked two in six innings to absorb his third straight loss.

Philadelphia is hoping Oswalt, who opted to waive his no-trade clause to leave the languishing Astros and join the Phillies on Thursday, can be just as successful as last year's trade deadline pickup, Cliff Lee, in helping the club reach the World Series again.

Oswalt's first pitch in a Phillies uniform resulted in a leadoff triple for Nyjer Morgan, who scored on a Kennedy groundout to give Washington an early lead.

Stammen singled off the glove of first baseman Ryan Howard to begin the third. Oswalt then hit Morgan before Kennedy dropped down a bunt. Philadelphia catcher Carlos Ruiz fielded the bunt and threw to third with the intention of getting Stammen. However, nobody was covering third, which allowed Stammen to score with ease. Morgan took third on the play and came home on a Ryan Zimmerman sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Willingham's two-out double increased the advantage to 5-0 in the fifth.

The Phillies finally got on the board when Jayson Werth homered to leadoff the seventh, but the Nationals countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning off reliever Chad Durbin.

Willingham walked to load the bases with one out for Bernadina, who doubled to the right-field corner and two batters later Ian Desmond's sac fly pushed the lead to 8-1.

Game Notes

Houston received pitcher J.A. Happ and minor league prospects Jonathan Villar and Anthony Gose for Oswalt...Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins returned to the starting lineup after missing the last three games with a bruised left foot...Werth has 15 home runs this season...The Nationals were 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

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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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