05/14/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Cain allowed just two runs over eight innings and hit his second home run of the year as the San Francisco Giants edged the Houston Astros, 4-2, in the second of a four-game set at AT&T Park.
Cain (2-3) surrendered just seven hits while striking out four and walking five for the Giants, who have won three of four. Brian Wilson notched his National League-leading 12th save.
Fred Lewis, who hit for the cycle exactly one year ago, fell a homer short after a 3-for-4 performance. Omar Vizquel and Randy Winn each doubled and scored a run.
Carlos Lee homered and drove in both runs for the Astros, who had a four-game win streak snapped and lost for just the second time in their last 11. Brandon Backe (2-5) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits over six innings.
The Giants pounced on Backe in the first, as Lewis led off with a triple, then Vizquel and Winn laced back-to-back RBI doubles to right. Bengie Molina's fly ball to right moved Winn to third, and Winn came in to score and give the Giants a 3-0 lead on a passed ball.
Houston grabbed a run on three straight singles with one out in the top of the third, as Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman and Lee carved out consecutive base hits, with Lee's line drive plating Tejada.
Cain helped his own cause with a leadoff homer in the fifth, and while Lewis followed with a single up the middle, the Giants couldn't produce anything more.
Houston couldn't put anything else together against Cain until the eighth, when Lee launched a one-out fly ball to left that went just over the glove of a leaping Lewis for Lee's eighth homer of the season, cutting the lead to 4-2.
Cain issued a two-out walk to Hunter Pence, but recovered to strike out J.R. Towles to preserve the two-run edge. Wilson made short work of the Astros in the ninth for the save.
Game Notes
Molina played in his 1,000th career game...Berkman extended his hit streak to 12 games, but had a 15-game run-scoring streak snapped. The streak tied Carlos Beltran for the longest in franchise history...Pence went 1-for-3 to extend his hit streak to 10 games...Pence and second baseman Kaz Matsui collided on Molina's eighth inning single, but both players remained in the game...Brian Moehler (1-0) toes the rubber for the Astros on Wednesday against Pat Misch (0-0).
<< Hornets push Spurs closer to elimination with blowout win
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David West had career playoff-highs of 38
points and 14 rebounds, and the New Orleans Hornets continued their success at
home with a 101-79 win over San Antonio, pushing ahead after five games of
their W
<< Salas, Pirates outlast Cardinals
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marino Salas, a 27-year-old making his major
league debut the same day he was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, worked
out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and picked up his first career win in
Pittsbu
<< Litsch gets fifth win as Toronto beats Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jesse Litsch notched his fifth win and the
Toronto Blue Jays got their offense going with 10 hits to defeat the Minnesota
Twins, 5-3, in the opener of a three-game series at the Metrodome.
Litsch (5-1) wen
<< Rays climb to first in AL East; top Yankees in 11
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gabe Gross had the game-winning single
off Mariano Rivera in the 11th inning to lead the Tampa Bay Rays past the New
York Yankees, 2-1, and into first place in the AL East.
Akinori Iwamura went 2-fo
Hornets' Chandler hurts toe >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Hornets center Tyson Chandler
hurt a toe on his left foot in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's 101-79 playoff
win over San Antonio.
The Hornets, who grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven W
Report: Henin to retire >>
Brussels, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Belgian Justine Henin, the world's top-
ranked women's tennis player, will reportedly announce her retirement on
Wednesday.
The newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported that the 25-year-old Henin, who has a
16-
Knicks hope D'Antoni helps present and future >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Before giving Mike D'Antoni a job, Donnie Walsh gave him a warning.The Knicks president told D'Antoni and all the candidates he interviewed for his team's coaching position that his goal was a difficult one: Find a way to turn a loser
Tuesday NHL Playoff Summary >>
Pittsburgh 2 0 2-4Philadelphia 1 0 0-1First Period-1, Pittsburgh, Whitney 1 (Crosby, Gonchar), 5:03 (pp). 2, Pittsburgh, Hossa 7 (Crosby), 7:41. 3, Philadelphia, Umberger 10 (Prospal, Briere), 10:59. Penalties-Hatcher, Phi (hooking), 3:33; Kennedy
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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