Pirates blank Cubs, complete rare winning mark in June
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddy Sanchez doubled and knocked in two runs, and Ross Ohlendorf tossed seven shutout innings, as the Pittsburgh Pirates got by the Chicago Cubs, 3-0, in the second of a three-game set at PNC Park.
Brandon Moss finished 2-for-4 for Pittsburgh, which recovered from a 3-1 setback in the series opener on Monday. The Pirates have won five of seven overall.
Ohlendorf (7-6) was sensational, giving up only four hits and striking out a career-high eight batters without issuing a walk. Matt Capps picked up his 18th save of the season after pitching a hitless ninth inning.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Pirates traded outfielder Eric Hinske to the New York Yankees for minor league pitcher Casey Erickson and outfielder Eric Fryer. Pittsburgh then shipped outfielder Nyjer Morgan and left-handed pitcher Sean Burnett to Washington for outfielder Lastings Milledge and right-hander Joel Hanrahan. The club also recalled outfielder Garrett Jones from Triple-A Indianapolis.
The victory gave the Pirates a 14-13 mark for the month, their first winning record in June since going 15-12 in 1996.
Geovany Soto had a pair of hits for the Cubs, who have dropped three of four and seven of nine.
Ted Lilly (7-6) was the hard-luck loser after throwing seven innings. The veteran lefty allowed three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits, while striking out seven. He also walked a pair.
Sanchez led off the fourth inning with a single and Andy LaRoche served a base hit into left three batters later to put runners on first and second. Moss then struck out swinging, but a wild pitch allowed a hustling Sanchez to come into score after Lilly was unable to handle a toss from catcher Soto.
Sanchez's RBI single in the fifth brought in Jack Wilson, who reached on a bunt single and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Ohlendorf to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
Pittsburgh tacked on another run in the seventh when pinch-hitter Steve Pearce doubled down the left-field line and crossed the plate on Sanchez's two-bagger to center.
John Grabow pitched out of a Cubs' eighth inning threat, retiring Derrek Lee on a ground ball after Chicago put runners on second and third. Capps came on for the ninth and issued a two-out walk to Soto, but got Mike Fontenot to fly out to left to end the game.
Game Notes
Cubs reliever Jeff Samardzija was recalled from Triple-A Iowa earlier on Tuesday and pitched a scoreless eighth inning...Chicago finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven, while the Pirates went 2-for-9 with RISP and left seven...Despite the loss, the Cubs have won 20 of the last 26 meetings.
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames' gamble paid dividends on Tuesday, as the club signed defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to a multi-year contract just hours prior to the start of the NHL free agency period. Over the wee
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Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forward Carlos Boozer and center Mehmet
Okur both announced they will remain with the Utah Jazz for the 2009-10
campaign.
Boozer announced he will exercise his player option and remain with the
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Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns exercised the second-year team
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Signed by the Suns last August, Amundson saw action in a career-high 76 games
last season and averaged 4.2 poin
<< Utah C Okur to return next season
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur decided
to exercise his player option in his contract and return to the team next
season, the club announced on Tuesday.
Okur, who came to Utah as a free agent i
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Bozeman, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montana State University has agreed to
three-year contract extensions with head women's basketball coach Tricia
Binford and head men's coach Brad Huse.
Each coach was set to enter the 2009-10
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Haren threw seven innings of one-run ball and added a double and solo home run at the plate to help snap the Diamondbacks' five-game losing streak with a 6-2 decision over the Reds. Haren (7-
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part of a four-RBI evening, as Atlanta used the big bats from two unlikely
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St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edgar Renteria went 3-for-4 with two RBI and
Randy Johnson won the battle of former Cy Young Award winners, as the Giants
pulled out a 6-3 victory over Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals in the second
test of
Santana can't stop Mets' woes in loss to Brewers >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets threw the baseball all
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beat Johan Santana in a 6-3 victory at Miller Park.
Ryan Braun was right in the m
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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South
In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South. Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC. The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game. For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft. Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.
1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign? New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1. Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT. Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.
Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami
2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season. With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round. LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems. If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.
Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU
3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season. The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach. The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub. High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career. With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson.
Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season. The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age. It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot. This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.
Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas
It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season. On the clock: the NFC North
Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2
Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1
Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1
To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.