Padres hope to get the brooms out in Pittsburgh

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres will try to complete a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon at PNC Park.

The Padres won for the sixth time in eight games since the All-Star break on Saturday, as Everth Cabrera and Oscar Salazar each drove in two runs and Mat Latos was solid in his return from the disabled list, helping San Diego to a 9-2 win.

Latos (11-4) lasted six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits to win his sixth straight decision. The right-hander also stuck out seven and walked two. Latos went on the DL on July 16 with a strained left oblique muscle.

"I thought he threw the ball well from the first inning on," Padres manager Bud Black said of Latos in his return. "Hopefully he'll do what he's done all year."

Nick Hundley, Chase Headley, Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Denorfia each knocked in a run for the Padres, who won 5-3 in the opener of this series and have beaten the Pirates 22 times in their last 31 visits to Pittsburgh.

Gonzalez now has 20 RBI in his last 18 games against the Pirates.

Jose Tabata and Delwyn Young hit solo homers for the Pirates, who have dropped three in a row overall and have not won a series at home from the Padres since 2001.

Jeff Karstens (2-6) went six frames in the start, giving up four runs -- two earned -- on seven hits to drop his fourth straight decision. He also struck out five and walked two.

"I feel like I'm close to getting over that hump," Karstens said. "But they gave me a 2-1 lead and I let it slip away."

Heading to the hill for the Padres this evening will be lefty Wade LeBlanc, who is winless in his last six starts. LeBlanc lost his fourth straight decision on Tuesday in Atlanta, despite a solid effort that saw him surrender two runs in six innings. However, he fell to 4-8 on the year to go along with a 3.28 earned run average.

LeBlanc is 0-1 in two games (one start) against the Pirates with a 3.52 ERA.

Pittsburgh will counter with 25-year-old righty Brad Lincoln, who will be trying to bounce back from the worst outing of his brief career. Lincoln could not get out of the third inning on Tuesday against Milwaukee, which ripped him for seven runs and nine hits in 2 1/3 frames.

Lincoln, who has never faced the Padres, is 1-3 on the year with a 6.29 ERA.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

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