D'Backs open four-game set in Chicago

Baseball Betting Lines

04/29/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Cubs have been unable to back solid starting pitching with offense, the Diamondbacks continue to ride an unlikely power source.

Kelly Johnson, the current National League home run leader, will try to push Arizona to a win over Chicago and Ted Lilly this afternoon in the opener of a four-game series at Wrigley Field.

Johnson connected on his eighth homer of the season in yesterday's 12-11 extra-inning victory over the Rockies, lifting the Diamondbacks to their third win in four games. Johnson, tied with the White Sox's Paul Konerko for most long balls in the majors, had been hitless in his last nine at-bats before his 10th inning blast.

"You have to expect a fastball at some point," said Johnson, who has five homers in his last six games and is batting .286 (10-for-35) with 10 RBI over his last nine games. "I had a pretty good hunch about a fastball, looked for it in the right spot and it was there."

Johnson's shot capped a wild game that saw Arizona plate six runs in the first inning, three on a homer by Chris Young, before falling behind 11-6 after four innings. Arizona starter Kris Benson lasted just two-plus innings due to shoulder soreness and reliever Leo Rosales allowed seven runs in 1 1/3 innings after his exit.

However, Esmerling Vasquez, Aaron Heilman, Bob Howry and Juan Gutierrez combined for 6 2/3 innings of scoreless relief after that, with Howry getting the win and Gutierrez notching his first save of the season.

Today, the Diamondbacks take their swings against Lilly, who is set to make his second start of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason. Lilly was also slowed in the spring by back issues that surfaced again in his first start and prevented him from going deeper in his winning debut on Saturday, when he limited the Brewers to three hits and two walks over six scoreless innings.

"Pitch-count wise, we could've left him in the game, but his back stiffened up, and we weren't going to take any chances," Cubs manager Lou Piniella told Chicago's website.

The 34-year-old lefty was drilled for five runs over five innings in a loss to the Diamondbacks last year in his only start against them, falling to 2-3 with a 3.97 earned run average in seven games (five starts) versus the club.

Johnson is 3-for-8 lifetime versus Lilly, while Young is 5-for-12 with four doubles, a homer and three RBI.

The Cubs will try to give Lilly some run support today, something they failed to do for Ryan Dempster in Wednesday's finale with the Nationals. Dempster took the loss despite giving up just three runs over eight innings.

"We didn't get the big hit. We gave ourselves a couple opportunities but didn't pull through," said Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee.

Ryan Theriot had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run while Aramis Ramirez also plated a run with a sacrifice fly for the Cubs, who have lost two straight since a four-game winning streak.

A shaky bullpen has cost Ian Kennedy over his last two starts, so the Arizona right-hander must try again for his first victory of the season.

Kennedy is 0-1 with a 4.43 ERA and could have won his last two outings, but instead drew a pair of no-decisions. He threw five scoreless innings versus the Padres on April 18, a game his team lost 5-3, and then limited the Phillies to two runs over a career-high eight frames on Saturday. However, the Diamondbacks lost a 3-2 decision.

Still, Arizona manager A.J. Hinch has been impressed with Kennedy, who is set to face the Cubs for the first time.

"He's a pretty cool customer on the mound," Hinch said of Kennedy. "I was very happy with how he pitched."

The Diamondbacks won four of six versus the Cubs last year, winning two of three in Chicago.

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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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