Tigers pin hopes on Galarraga in finale with Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

09/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Streaking righty Armando Galarraga can stay perfect for his career against Kansas City today when the Detroit Tigers visit the Royals in the finale of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Tigers won Friday's opener and moved within a game of a sweep on Saturday when Austin Jackson went 3-for-4 and singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for a 6-4 win.

Jackson also hit a home run in the fifth inning for Detroit, which has won three in a row. Miguel Cabrera, who did not play Friday because of biceps tendinitis, added a two-run double in the victory.

Rick Porcello (8-11) took the victory after pitching seven innings, in which he allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk. Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless ninth to get his 25th save and spared the Tigers from playing a fourth consecutive extra-inning game.

They lost to Minnesota in 10 innings Wednesday before beating the Twins in 13 the following day. Detroit then won the opener of this series in the 11th inning Friday.

Billy Butler had three hits, while Kila Ka'aihue added a two-run homer and drove in three to lead the Royals' offense. Ka'aihue has three homers this season, all against Detroit.

Bruce Chen got the start for Kansas City, which has lost three in a row, and allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Galarraga, best known for his near perfect game earlier this season against Cleveland, has pitched particularly well in his last three starts - allowing just three runs in 16 hits in 19 1/3 innings.

He defeated the Indians, 6-0, on Aug. 20 and has picked up no-decisions in his last starts against Kansas City and Minnesota, both Tigers losses.

Against the Royals on Aug. 25, he gave up a run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He is 2-0 against them in seven lifetime games with a 2.56 earned run average.

Galarraga is 1-2 in seven road starts in 2010.

For Kansas City, righty Kyle Davies gets the start four days before his 27th birthday. The Georgia native is seeking a first win since Aug. 13 against the New York Yankees, when he allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings of a 4-3 triumph.

In three starts since, he's allowed 29 hits and 13 runs in 20 1/3 innings against Cleveland, Detroit and Texas.

The Tigers drilled him for 12 hits and seven runs in a 9-1 rout on Aug. 24 at Comerica Park, lowering his career record against them to 2-7 with a 6.09 ERA in 10 starts.

He is 2-5 in 12 home starts this season.

The Tigers have won eight of 14 meetings with the Royals so far this season.

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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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