Berkman leads Astros over Pirates in Houston
Baseball Betting Lines
07/06/2010 -
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lance Berkman homered and drove in three runs
to back seven sturdy innings from Wandy Rodriguez in Houston's 6-2 win over
Pittsburgh in the opener of a three-game set.
Michael Bourn had two hits and scored twice and Jeff Keppinger added three
hits and drove in a run as the Astros snapped a three-game slide.
Rodriguez (6-10) struck out a season-high 10 and yielded just a single run on
four hits and a pair of walks for Houston, which has won all four meetings
between the teams this season.
Houston area-native Brad Lincoln (1-3) suffered the loss in his homecoming
after being charged with five runs on seven hits and a walk over five frames
for the Pirates, who lost for just the second time in their last six games.
Bourn used his speed to create the first of two runs in the first for the
Astros. He led off with an infield single off the glove of Lincoln, stole
second, moved to third on a fly out and scored on a Berkman ground out.
Carlos Lee then clubbed a solo home run to left-center to make it 2-0.
Bourn started a three-run rally in the third with a one-out single and came in
to score on a Keppinger double that was followed by Berkman's two-run blast to
left for a 5-0 game.
The Pirates dented the scoreboard in the next half inning when Ryan Doumit
singled home Andrew McCutchen, who started the frame with a base hit and went
to third on a one-out single by Pedro Alvarez. A base hit by Lastings Milledge
then loaded the bases but the Pirates could not produce any more runs after
Bobby Crosby fouled out and Lincoln struck out.
Hunter Pence doubled home Lee in the seventh off Javy Lopez to extend the lead
to 6-1.
Wilton Lopez took over for Rodriguez in the eighth and was lifted with one out
and a runner on second and followed by Tim Byrdak, who gave up a base hit to
Garrett Jones that cut the Astros' lead to 6-2. The veteran southpaw then
retired Alvarez and Doumit to end the threat.
Game Notes
Lincoln grew up in Clute, TX and lives in Pearland, TX...He was expecting
somewhere between 150-200 family and friends to be at the game...His first
career start for the University of Houston came in the College Classic at
Minute Maid Park on February 15, 2004 against nationally-ranked Texas...He
played in the same tournament a year later against then 10th-ranked Baylor
and had three hits and drove in a run...The Astros improved to 20-6 against
the Pirates since September 8, 2008...Keppinger extended his hitting streak to
eight games and has 26 multi-hit games on the season...Rodriguez is 6-4 in 13
career starts against the Buccos...Alvarez extended his hitting streak to
eight games...The Pirates fell to 12-42 when scoring fewer than four runs.
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Amidst the game wa
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NFL Football Betting Online
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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