Ready to rumble: Gabbard, Rangers take on M's and Hernandez

Baseball Betting Lines

05/13/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five days after their bench-clearing brawl in Seattle, two of the major figures in the fracas square off this evening when the Mariners and Texas Rangers play the second test of their three-game series at Rangers Ballpark.

Texas' Kason Gabbard, who is 1-0 with a 1.85 earned run average on the season, threw high to Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson, who promptly charged the mound and threw his helmet at the left-hander. Gabbard did not give up a run in his 3 2/3 innings of work, but had to leave the game shortly after the incident with a leg injury.

Replays showed that Sexson, who was suspended for five games for his actions, seemed to overreact after two Texas players were hit by Seattle starter Felix Hernandez.

Hernandez had to be restrained during the incident, but was not ejected. He was charged with the loss that night, as he allowed four runs and six hits in five innings of the 5-0 setback. He is 2-3 on the year with a 3.42 ERA.

The 22-year-old right-hander has faced the Rangers 12 times in his career and is 4-5 against them with a 4.32 ERA.

Gabbard, meanwhile, is 0-1 lifetime against the M's with a 4.05 ERA in four games, three of which have been starts.

In the opener of this set on Monday, Ramon Vazquez's solo home run in the 10th inning lifted Texas to a 13-12 win. The Rangers blew a four-run lead in the ninth, but came back to post their sixth win in seven contests.

With one out in the 10th, Vazquez jumped on Brandon Morrow's 1-0 fastball for his second home run of the season, a shot to right field. Morrow (0-1) threw the final 1 1/3 innings to get the loss.

Vicente Padilla, who had allowed just one earned run over his last three starts, gave up six runs -- three earned -- on seven hits in five-plus innings for Texas. C.J. Wilson allowed four runs on four hits in the ninth. Doug Mathis (1-0), brought up from Triple-A Oklahoma to replace starter Kevin Millwood, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday, tossed a scoreless inning to pick up the win in his major league debut.

Josh Hamilton went 2-for-4 with four RBI for the Rangers, and Ian Kinsler was 3-for-5 and scored twice. Michael Young knocked in a pair runs. Gerald Laird and Chris Shelton each had two hits, with Laird scoring three times.

Kenji Johjima's three-run homer in the ninth forced extra innings for the Mariners, who have dropped 11 of their last 13 games. Raul Ibanez and Wladimir Balentien also homered, while Jose Lopez finished 3-for-5 and scored two runs.

Texas has won five of its eight meetings with the Mariners this year, but lost six of nine at home to them last season.

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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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