Posey puts 20-game hit streak on the line as Giants battle Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Buster Posey tries to extend his 20-game hitting streak this evening when the San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins resume their four-game series at AT&T Park.

San Francisco stayed hot on Tuesday, as Juan Uribe led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a tie-breaking homer off Brian Sanches and Edgar Renteria added a two-run shot later in the frame, lifting the Giants to a 6-4 win.

Posey had an RBI single in the third inning to extend his streak, while Andres Torres went 3-for-4 and scored twice for the Giants, who won for the fifth time in six contests and moved within 2 1/2 games of San Diego for first place in the NL West.

Dan Uggla belted a pair of solo homers for the Marlins, who lost for just the third time in their last 11 games. Cody Ross added a two-run homer in defeat.

Both starting pitchers lasted seven innings with Florida's Josh Johnson allowing eight hits and three runs. Matt Cain gave up four hits and three runs, while logging six strikeouts.

"It was a nice win, especially who we were going against tonight," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

Johnson had gone 13 straight starts without allowing more than two earned runs, a streak dating back to May 8 when he surrendered three runs to the Washington Nationals. The only streak longer was Mike Scott's amazing 14-game run with the Houston Astros in 1986.

"When you allow only three runs and you call that an off day it is amazing," Marlins interim manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "We should have scored for him. He kept us in the game."

Posey, meanwhile, is batting .450 with 23 RBI during the majors' longest active hitting streak, and the second-longest ever by a San Francisco rookie since Hall of Famer Willie McCovey's 22-gamer in 1959.

Hoping to slow Posey down tonight will be righty Alex Sanabia, who is 1-1 with a 2.11. Sanabia did not get a decision on Friday against Atlanta, which managed just a run and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Sanabia has never faced the Giants, who will pin their hopes on Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez is 7-6 on the year, but has not received a decision in his last three starts. He gave up a run and four hits in five innings on Friday in Arizona, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 7-4 win.

Sanchez is 0-1 in three games (one start) with a 7.36 ERA.

San Francisco swept a three-game set from the Marlins earlier in the year and has won six of the last eight meetings in the series.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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