Brewers hope to get closer to NL Central crown in Cincinnati

Baseball Betting Lines

09/18/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The power surge of Ryan Braun is pushing Milwaukee closer to its first division championship since 1982.

Braun finished 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and four RBI, while Mark Kotsay ripped a three-run double as the Milwaukee Brewers thumped the Cincinnati Reds, 10-1, last night. The victory, combined with St. Louis' loss at Philadelphia, reduced Milwaukee's magic number to five for winning the NL Central.

The last time Milwaukee celebrated a baseball division championship, the Brewers were playing in the American League. They captured the AL East in 1982 before losing in seven games in the World Series to the Cardinals.

Braun is a big reason why the Brewers are atop the standings. He has homered four times in his last four games and has eight RBI in his last five contests.

Yuniesky Betancourt also cracked a solo home run for the Brewers, winners in four of their last five games.

Yovani Gallardo (17-10) worked six spectacular innings, giving up one run on two hits, while fanning a career-high 13 batters.

"He got after it," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "He had a good fastball, good location and a really nice curveball. He really threw the ball well."

Yonder Alonso homered for the Reds, losers of two straight and six of 10.

Edinson Volquez (5-6) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked three.

Zack Greinke has allowed two earned runs or less in 12 of his last 13 starts and hopes to keep the pressure on the Reds this afternoon. The righty is 0-1 over his last two starts thanks to poor offensive support, as the Brewers have posted two runs in that span. He's 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in three career games vs. Cincinnati.

Dontrelle Willis will try to avoid a dubious feat today for Cincinnati. The left-hander is already the first Reds pitcher to begin a season 0-6 since Homer Bailey finished the 2008 season winless in six decisions and the first southpaw to do it since Jim Merritt began 0-11 in 1971 before ending 1-11. No Reds pitcher has started a season 0-7 since righty Brian Reith in 2001, when at 0-7 he established the club record for the most losses to begin a Reds career.

On the positive side for Willis, lefties are hitting just .137 against him, and he has given up just two extra-base hits to lefty batters, both on July 24 against Atlanta. He's 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA in six games vs. Milwaukee.

Dusty Baker's next win will be the 1,480th of his managerial career, tying him with Hall of Famer Earl Weaver for 21st on the all-time list.

Cincinnati has won eight of its 15 meetings with the Brewers this 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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