Colorado rocks Hamels, Phils in home opener

Baseball Betting Lines

04/10/2009 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Atkins' first hit of the season -- a two-run homer -- highlighted a five-run third inning, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-3, in the home opener at Coors Field.

Ryan Spilborghs was 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored for Colorado, which took two of three in Arizona to begin the 2009 campaign. Clint Barmes had two hits and scored three times, while Todd Helton drove in three.

Jason Marquis (1-0), who was picked up from the Cubs in the offseason, continued his success at Coors Field, allowing two runs and five hits with two walks and as many strikeouts over seven solid innings. The veteran right- hander is now 4-0 in five starts in the Mile High City. Marquis also helped his cause at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run batted in.

Coming off a stellar postseason a year ago in which he emerged as an elite pitcher, punctuated by capturing MVP honors in both the NLCS and World Series, Cole Hamels struggled in his season debut for Philadelphia. The lefty was slated to start on Opening Day, but elbow issues during spring training delayed his start.

Hamels (0-1) was hit hard by Colorado, yielding seven runs on 11 hits with a walk and one strikeout in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss.

Jayson Werth went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer and three runs scored for the Phillies, who are off to a 1-3 start. Pedro Feliz knocked in the other two runs.

The Phillies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Werth led off with a double and later scored on a Feliz sacrifice fly.

Colorado then put up a crooked number in the third. Barmes doubled to lead off the frame and raced home after Marquis' grounder found a hole on the left side of the diamond. One out later, Spilborghs lined a double to right and Helton's ground out plated Marquis before Atkins stepped in and homered to left field. Brad Hawpe then hit a ground-rule double and Troy Tulowitzki followed with an RBI triple.

Philadelphia got a run back in the top of the fourth, as Werth, once again, smacked a double to begin the inning and scored following a pair of groundouts, the second one from Feliz.

The Rockies plated two more runs in the bottom half. Barmes had a leadoff single, advanced to second on a sac bunt, took third on a ground out and waltzed home on a double by Spilborghs. Helton then slapped a base hit past a diving Ryan Howard at first for a 7-2 lead.

Colorado added three more runs in the eighth off Chad Durbin on bloop singles by Dexter Fowler and Spilborghs and a sac fly from Helton.

Werth went deep to open the ninth inning.

Game Notes

Marquis became the first Rockies starter to earn a win in the home opener since Shawn Chacon in 2003...Colorado is 10-7 all-time in home openers... The Rockies have hit at least one home run in each of their first four games of the season...Philadelphia won all five of its matchups with Colorado last season after being swept (0-3) in the 2007 NLDS...Howard was hitless in four at-bats and grounded into three double plays...J.A. Happ tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames for the Phillies.

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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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