Pirates shoot for another series win over Cubs
Baseball Betting Lines
09/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates appear to be headed towards a fourth straight last-place finish in the National League Central, but you wouldn't know it given how they handled the Chicago Cubs this year.
The Pirates have already won their first four series with the Cubs and will try to make it a perfect five this afternoon, when the two clubs meet for the final time in 2010 with the finale of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.
The Pirates are 44 games under .500 (44-88) and have already clinched their 18th straight losing season, a record among professional sports in North America. They also sit 12 games behind the Cubs for fifth place in the division, but have bested Chicago in 10 of the teams' 14 meetings this year.
After getting routed by 12 runs in Monday's opener, Pittsburgh responded with a 14-7 victory last night, its largest run total since plating 15 on July 21.
Neil Walker had four hits -- one a two-run homer -- and drove in four runs, while Jose Tabata donated three hits, two RBI and three runs scored for the Pirates, who also got a two-run home run out of Garrett Jones to snap a four- game skid and a string of 14 consecutive setbacks on the road.
"Everything works well when you score a lot of runs," said Pirates manager John Russell after his team picked up its first road win since July 28. "We came out and jumped on them early and we kept the pressure on."
Jeff Karstens earned the win, his first since June 19, after he allowed two runs on four hits over six innings.
Koyie Hill connected on a two-run homer as part of a three-hit night for the Cubs, who have lost seven of their last nine at home and five at eight at Wrigley Field to the Pirates in 2010.
"It's always nice to contribute offensively, but first and foremost is the team and we didn't have enough tonight," said Hill.
Ryan Dempster didn't make it past the third inning for Chicago, yielding seven runs on seven hits in the loss.
Tom Gorzelanny will try to prevent his former mates from clinching another series win, and the Chicago left-hander is 1-0 with a 3.52 earned run average in four games (three starts) against a Pirates club that drafted him in the second round in 2005.
Gorzelanny, who was traded to the Cubs midseason last year, was drilled for five runs over five innings in a no-decision versus the Pirates on May 14, but limited them to just four hits over five scoreless innings on June 30 while again not factoring into the decision.
The 28-year-old has lot three of his last four decisions overall and has a 5.73 ERA over his last six starts. Gorzelanny has yielded four runs or more in four of those outings, including a loss to Cincinnati on Friday in which he was tagged for six runs and three homers over five frames of work. He fell to 7-8 on the season with a 3.98 ERA in 26 games, including 20 starts.
The Pirates go with a midseason pickup of their own in James McDonald, who is 2-3 with a 4.97 ERA in five starts since being acquired from the Dodgers. McDonald, though, has lost back-to-back starts and yielded 11 runs over 11 1/3 innings.
The 25-year-old righty is 2-4 with a 5.65 ERA overall in 2010, making nine appearances with six starts. McDonald has never before started against the Cubs, but did give up two hits and a walk over 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief against them.
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
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