Angels hoping to rebound in second test with Jays

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are grasping for straws at this point in the season, as they are quickly falling out of the race in the American League West.

The Angels, who are currently 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Texas Rangers, will try to bounce back in the win column this evening in the second matchup of a three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays at Angel Stadium.

Trying to keep the Angels close with Texas will be Ervin Santana, who has won three of his last four starts. The last time Santana was on the hill, he led Anaheim to a solid win over Kansas City on Monday.

In that victory, the hard-throwing right-hander allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings. Santana scattered six hits in the game, but walked one batter and struck out three.

Earlier this season Santana defeated the Blue Jays, with the veteran hurler going the distance and allowing three runs on four hits, three of which were home runs. Despite his problems with the long ball, Santana still struck out 10 batters in the win.

Santana is 4-3 with a 4.61 earned run average in eight lifetime starts against Toronto.

As for the Blue Jays, they will turn to Brett Cecil, who snapped a three-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay in his last start on August 6. The southpaw tossed seven strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits. Cecil also walked two in the contest, but struck out nine batters as well.

Earlier this season the Maryland native made his first career start against the Angels, and in that meeting with the AL West squad, the former Terrapin held the Anaheim scoreless through 7 1/3 innings. Cecil surrendered just two hits in the game and finished with three punchouts.

In last night's opener, Marc Rzepczynski was nearly unhittable over seven innings as the Blue Jays blanked the Angels, 3-0.

Summoned from Triple-A Las Vegas to make Friday's start, Rzepczynski (1-1) scattered two hits to record his first win since beating these same Angels on August 21 of last season. The left-hander collected six strikeouts and did not issue a walk, but did hit consecutive batters in the third inning. He lowered his earned run average from 7.15 to 4.42.

Rzepczynski started in place of Brandon Morrow, who had his turn in the rotation skipped to give him extra rest after his last outing. Morrow set career highs with 17 strikeouts and 137 pitches Sunday, when he came within one out of a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay.

The Angels' Scott Kazmir (8-10) absorbed the loss after he allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in six innings. Los Angeles had a three-game win streak snapped.

Anaheim has taken five of seven matchups with Toronto this season and won twice against the Blue Jays in a three-game series at home from May 24-26.

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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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