Harrell wins MLB debut as White Sox extend home win streak

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Beckham had two hits and drove in two runs to support six solid innings from Lucas Harrell in his major league debut as Chicago downed Oakland, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game set.

Harrell (1-0), promoted from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day, yielded a lone run on four hits while working around five walks for the White Sox, who have won five in a row.

Paul Konerko chipped in with two hits, a run scored and a run batted in and Dayan Viciedo collected three hits and scored once for Chicago, which extended its winning streak at US Cellular Field to 12 in a row.

Brett Anderson (2-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in his first start since June 3 for the Athletics, who have dropped three out of four.

Juan Pierre opened the home first with a single, stole second base with one out and scored the game's first run when Alex Rios followed with a base hit.

Oakland tied the game in the fourth after Mark Ellis led off with a single, moved to third base on two groundouts and scored on an infield hit by Cliff Pennington off the glove of Harrell.

The White Sox regained the lead for good in the home half with a trio of runs. Konerko doubled and scored the go-ahead run on an A.J. Pierzynski base hit. Viciedo followed with a double and a ground out by Andruw Jones brought home Pierzynski to make it 3-1. Beckham then came through with a base hit to deliver Viciedo to complete the rally.

Pierzynski and Viciedo put together back-to-back singles with one out in the sixth to chase Anderson from the game.

Brad Ziegler took over and walked Jones to load the bases for Beckham, who singled to right to drive in Pierzynski to push the lead to four. Pierre then lined into an inning-ending double play.

Konerko's sacrifice fly off Henry Rodriguez in the seventh made it a 6-1 game.

Game Notes

The last time the White Sox claimed 12 straight games at home was July 1- August 5, 1989 when they won 13 in a row...Chicago has won 19 of its last 20 games on home soil...Harrell went 9-9 with 4.24 ERA in 22 starts at Charlotte. He became the first White Sox pitcher to win his first big league start since Kip Wells did it on August 2, 1999 at Detroit...Anderson was removed from his last outing against Boston due to left eblbow soreness and was placed on the disabled list the next day...He made four rehabilitation starts in the minor leagues before being activated to start Friday's game...Oakland also reinstated outfielder Travis Buck from the 60-day disabled list and transferred him to Triple-A Sacramento; placed pitcher Andrew Bailey on the 15-day DL and transferred outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the 60-day DL...The A's have used the disabled list 84 times since the start of the 2007 season, second only to Texas, which has used it 87 times, over that time span.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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