Canadian MLB report: Francis impresses in big league return

Baseball Betting Lines

05/17/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies lefty Jeff Francis made his first major league start since Sept. 12, 2008 on Sunday, lasting seven innings in the Rockies' 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Francis did not factor into the decision but looked very sharp in his big league return. He surrendered seven hits, allowing one run and two walks, while striking out six.

With Jorge De La Rosa on the disabled list, Francis will add a much-needed left-handed arm to the Rockies' pitching staff.

The Vancouver, B.C. native missed the entire 2009 season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder.

Before the injury, Francis had the worst season of his career in 2008, finishing with a 4-10 record, despite allowing three runs or less in his final six starts of the year.

Just a few seasons ago, the lefty helped lead the Rockies to their first World Series appearance in franchise history, setting career-highs with 215 innings pitched, 165 strikeouts and 17 wins in '07.

From 2005-2007, Francis went an impressive 44-32 and solidified himself as a staple at the front of the team's rotation.

WARM WELCOMES

Michael Saunders - The Seattle Mariners promoted the 23-year-old Saunders from Triple-A Tacoma on May 6.

Since his arrival, Saunders has appeared in eight games, with three multi-hit efforts and two home runs along the way. The Vancouver, B.C. native is batting .296 with six RBI in 27 at bats this year. Saunders could see an extended look if he remains productive in the Mariners' slumping offense. If the Milton Bradley experiment proves to be a failure for Seattle, Saunders could very well become the everyday left fielder.

In his rookie season in '09, the outfielder appeared in 46 games, batting just .221 in 122 at bats. Saunders already has more RBI this season than he did all of last year.

Adam Stern - Stern, the 30-year-old from London, ON, made his first appearance in the big leagues this season on May 14, after being called up by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Stern hadn't played since the '07 season, where he appeared in two games with the Baltimore Orioles, never drawing an at bat. The outfielder has logged 49 games in the big leagues, spending most of his baseball career in the minors. He made his MLB debut in 2005 with the Boston Red Sox.

STREAKING

Russell Martin - The Dodgers backstop provided the lone run in the Dodgers 1-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, with an RBI single in the sixth, to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Despite the streak, Martin is batting .264 on the season with four home runs and 12 RBI.

He is coming off his worst season in the majors in '09, when the catcher batted .250. Before last year, Martin had hit at least .280 in each of his three MLB seasons.

Jason Bay - After starting the month of May 2-for-17 at the plate, Bay has put together a 10-game hitting streak, with four multi-hit games during that span. Since the beginning of his streak on May 7, Bay has raised his average from .238 to .277.

While the hitting is welcome after a slow start to the season, Bay has lacked in the power department, going deep just once this year.

Justin Morneau - There is no stopping Morneau right now, as the left-handed slugger was leading the American League at weekend's end in average, on-base percentage, OPS and is second in walks and slugging percentage. Morneau is batting .362 with 9 homers and 25 RBI.

The Twins first baseman has three home runs in his last eight games, a stretch that included four straight multi-hit games.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.