Giants capitalize on eighth-inning miscues by Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Ford scored on a crazy turn of events after a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth frame, as the Giants edged the Rockies, 2-1, at AT&T Park.

In a battle of marquee hurlers, Mike Fontenot worked a walk off Ubaldo Jimenez to start the home eighth then Tim Lincecum's sacrifice bunt moved the pinch- runner Ford to second. With Andres Torres at the plate, Jimenez bounced a pitch that was blocked by kicked away from Miguel Olivo. Ford took off for third and Olivo's throw sailed high and wide of Melvin Mora, as Ford raced home with the go-ahead run.

Brian Wilson slammed the door in the ninth for his 38th save. The Giants remained 1 1/2 games behind the wild card leaders, Philadelphia, with their third win in four games and moved within three games of the fading Padres in the National League West race. It was a welcome win for Lincecum (12-9), who had not won since July 30th and had lost five straight starts. He gave up one run on five hits with nine strikeouts and one walk over eight frames.

Jimenez (17-6) failed to become the first National League pitcher this season to reach 18 victories, giving up the two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks over eight frames.

The Rockies dropped 5 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the wild card race.

Colorado scored first in the fourth as Carlos Gonzalez stroked a home run over the wall in left-center field. It was one of three hits for Gonzalez off the right-hander on the game.

The Giants finally got to Jimenez in the fifth, starting with Jose Guillen's leadoff single. Buster Posey then walked, and after Pablo Sandoval struck out, Fontenot slapped a run-scoring single to center. Jimenez escaped further damage by getting Lincecum to bounce into a double play.

The Rockies put two runners on base in the top of the seventh, but Lincecum struck out Eric Young, Jr. to end the threat.

Wilson induced three consecutive fly outs in the ninth to record the save.

Game Notes

Jimenez is still tied with Adam Wainwright for the National League lead with 17 victories. Jimenez failed in his fifth attempt to become the first Rockies pitcher to win 18 games in a single season. Kevin Ritz (1996), Pedro Astacio (1999) and Jeff Francis (2007) all won 17 games for the Rockies...The two teams have battled it out this season with Colorado holding a slight 8-7 series lead...Gonzalez hit his 30th home run of the season...The Giants reinstated shortstoph Edgar Renteria and pitcher Dan Runzler from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday. The club also recalled Ford from Double-A Richmond prior the game, and he scored the winning run.

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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.