Giants ace Lincecum puts focus on visiting Nats

Baseball Betting Lines

05/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though often a victim of a shaky bullpen this year, Giants ace Tim Lincecum knows the result of his last start is mainly on him. An extra-focused Lincecum is probably the last thing the Nationals want to see tonight.

Lincecum will try to bounce back from his shortest outing of the season this evening in the continuation of a three-game series between San Francisco and Washington at AT&T Park.

Lincecum is still undefeated on the season, going 5-0 with a 2.35 earned run average, but he could have another three victories had his bullpen not blown a trio of leads given to it by the right-hander. Though the 'pen technically gave away a lead in Lincecum's latest outing, the two-time defending National League Cy Young Award winner wasn't his sharpest either.

The 25-year-old lasted just five innings on Thursday versus Arizona, yielding a season-high five runs on five hits while also walking five batters for a second start in a row. He exited with his team down 5-2 and San Francisco scored five runs in the sixth inning before eventually dropping an 8-7 game and leaving Lincecum with a no-decision.

"I don't think it was the hits I gave up, it was the placement of my walks, and that's always going to kill you," Lincecum said.

The former 10th overall pick of the 2006 draft has a sparkling 1.77 ERA in three career starts versus Washington, but is just 1-0. He has also shined at home in four 2010 starts, going 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA.

While Lincecum is trying to recover from his worst start of the season, Washington's Luis Atilano will try to do something he has never done in his young career: bounce back from a loss.

The 25-year-old entered his sixth MLB start on Thursday versus the Mets 3-0 with a 3.90 ERA, but he gave up a career-high seven runs, six of those earned, over a season-low 4 1/3 innings in a 10-7 setback, the first of his career.

The right-handed Atilano saw his ERA jump to 5.06, but he is a solid 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA in three road starts and faces the Giants for the first time this evening.

San Francisco carried a 20-inning scoreless drought into Tuesday's opener but exploded for four runs in the fifth inning, the only frame the Giants would score in en route to a 4-2 victory.

Pablo Sandoval capped the burst with an RBI double, while Freddy Sanchez had a two-run double and Edgar Renteria added a run-scoring single in the frame to help the Giants snap a five-game losing streak.

Renteria, though, had to exit in the seventh inning due to strained right hamstring. He had just been reinstated from the disabled list on Saturday after missing time with a right groin strain.

"You're trying to get some consistency. That's what's frustrating," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said on his club's website. "Edgar had such a great game and he could be down for a little while."

Todd Wellemeyer gave up two runs on four hits in six-plus innings to earn the win, while former Giants hurler Livan Hernandez took the loss for Washington after his five-inning effort that was solid except for the one frame.

"He wanted to come here and pitch well. He pitched here for several years and I could see he wanted this one today," Nationals reliever Tyler Walker said. "He made good pitches, but they hit a couple of [soft hits] here and there and the floodgates opened."

Josh Willingham and Ian Desmond each knocked in run in the seventh inning for Washington, which has dropped eight of its last 11 and six straight on the road. The Nats opened a 10-game road trip on Tuesday.

After sweeping the seven-game series set in 2008, the Giants won four of six versus the Nationals a season ago.

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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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