Red Sox try to stop Twins at Metrodome

Baseball Betting Lines

05/10/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle between division leaders resumes tonight, as the Boston Red Sox will collide with the Minnesota Twins again in the second installment of a four-game set at the Metrodome.

The Red Sox currently lead the AL East with a 23-15 record and have won six of their last eight games. Meanwhile, the Twins have won seven of their last nine games and now have a one-game lead in the AL Central.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is currently 5-0 for the Red Sox, and is coming off a 6-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers. However, the righthander has struggled with control problems and has walked 27 batters in 40 2/3 innings of work.

Against the Tigers on Monday, the Japanese hurler struggled to find the plate, walking eight batters in just five innings. Fortunately Dice-K was able to limit Detroit to just two hits and only one run.

In three starts on the road this season, Matsuzaka has posted a 2-0 mark with an impressive 2.16 ERA.

As for the Twins, Glen Perkins will be making his first-career start. Over the two previous seasons, the southpaw has made 23 appearances for the Twins out of the bullpen. For his career, he has a 2.88 ERA and has surrendered 11 runs in 34 1/3 innings.

On Friday, Mike Lamb singled home the winning run in the ninth, as the Twins rallied to down the Red Sox, 7-6.

Jonathan Papelbon entered the game for Boston in the ninth and Delmon Young greeted the Red Sox closer with a single to center field. Matt Tolbert bunted him over to second and, after Adam Everett popped out in foul territory for out number two, Young stole third. Carlos Gomez worked a walk and swiped second to put the winning run in scoring position.

Lamb was buried in the count, but hit a soft fly ball off the end of the bat that fell in and won the game for Minnesota.

Boof Bonser gave up six runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts over four-plus innings, while the bullpen tossed five scoreless innings of relief. The comeback made a winner out of Jesse Crain (1-1).

Second baseman Brendan Harris was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI before exiting in the sixth inning due to a tight right hamstring. Tolbert moved over from third to take Harris' spot in the field, and Lamb took over at the hot corner.

Everett doubled twice and scored a run for the Twins, who have won seven of their last nine contests.

Jon Lester gave up five runs -- three earned -- on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, while Papelbon (2-2) blew his second save in as many chances.

Mike Lowell went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI for Boston, which has dropped two of three. Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek and Julio Lugo each had an RBI in defeat.

Boston won two of three games from the Twins at the Metrodome last May, but the Red Sox have gone just 3-7 as the visitor in this series since the beginning of the 2005 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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