Cubs grab early lead, top Pirates
Baseball Betting Lines
07/01/2009 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrek Lee belted a two-run home run and Randy Wells tossed seven innings of one-run ball to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-game set at PNC Park.
Wells (3-3) gave up six hits and fanned four batters to collect his third straight victory. Kevin Gregg retired the side in the ninth to pick up his 14th save of the year.
Kosuke Fukudome hit a solo homer and doubled for the Cubs, who had lost seven of nine coming into the tilt. Geovany Soto went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI single.
Virgil Vasquez (1-1) went six frames, allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts to take the loss. Vasquez got his first major- league victory against the Royals last Friday. He allowed two runs and four hits in six innings with two walks and seven strikeouts in that game.
Brandon Moss knocked in the lone run for the Pirates with a single. Andrew McCutchen and Jason Jaramillo each had two hits for Pittsburgh, which has won five of its last eight games despite the loss.
The Cubs used a two-run homer from Lee in the top of the first inning to take the early edge. Sam Fuld started things with his first-career MLB hit -- a double to right. Fuld crossed the plate two batters later when Lee drove a Vasquez offering over the wall in center.
Pittsburgh plated a run in the bottom half of the frame. McCutchen doubled and Adam LaRoche walked to put runners on the corners with two outs. Moss then knocked in McCutchen with a single to center.
Chicago put men on first and third with one out in the top of the fifth, but Lee grounded into a double play. In the home half of the inning, Jack Wilson was thrown out at the plate after Freddy Sanchez singled to left.
Fukudome smacked a two-out, home run over the wall in right field in the sixth to extend the Cubs' margin to 3-1.
Soto added an RBI single in the eighth.
Carlos Marmol and Gregg tossed a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, to secure the victory.
Game Notes
The Cubs finished a 10-game road trip with a 3-7 mark...Chicago manager Lou Piniella was ejected by first base umpire Chad Fairchild in the sixth inning for arguing a call at first base...The Cubs start an 11-game homestand with a four-game series versus the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday...Pittsburgh hosts a make-up game against the New York Mets on Thursday before beginning a nine- game road swing.
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Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
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