Astros escape Pittsburgh with a win after holding off Pirates

Baseball Betting Lines

07/09/2008 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoff Blum hit a three-run home run, and the Houston Astros recovered from giving up a four-run lead to notch a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and avoid a three-game sweep at PNC Park.

Kaz Matsui, in his first game back after being placed on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, doubled twice and knocked in a run for the Astros, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ty Wigginton and Michael Bourn each went 2-for-5 and scored a run.

Brian Moehler (5-4) allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings to pick up the win, while Jose Valverde notched his 23rd save.

Nate McLouth doubled three times and scored twice for the Pirates, who had won two straight. Adam LaRoche, Jason Bay, Ryan Doumit and Freddy Sanchez each knocked in a run.

Sean Burnett (0-1) allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings to take the loss in relief of John Van Benschoten, who was tagged for four runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 frames, walking six and striking out six.

The Astros opened up a 4-0 lead in the first, but the Pirates rallied to tie the game heading into the seventh.

Bourn led off with a single against Burnett, and after Brad Ausmus bunted him to second, Tyler Yates got the call from the bullpen. Pinch-hitter Mark Loretta then reached on a fielder's choice when Bourn beat out Doumit's throw to third, and Hunter Pence grounded out to plate Bourn with the go-ahead run. Matsui followed with an RBI double to right-center that gave Houston a two-run gap.

Chris Sampson worked a pair of scoreless innings before Valverde shut the door in the ninth.

After retiring the first two batters of the game, Van Benschoten put himself in trouble by plunking Lance Berkman and walking Carlos Lee before Blum golfed a low fastball into the seats in right for his sixth homer of the year. Wigginton and Bourn followed with singles to put runners at the corners, and Ausmus dumped a single in front of McLouth in center for a 4-0 lead.

Xavier Nady smashed a triple to right-center to lead off the second, then scored on LaRoche's groundout.

The Pirates continued to chip away in the third, as McLouth doubled, then scored on Doumit's single before Bay drove in Doumit with a double to left.

The Astros had runners at second and third with nobody out in the fifth after doubles by Jack Wilson and McLouth, and while Wilson was retired trying to score on a wild pitch, McLouth came in with the tying run on Sanchez's sacrifice fly.

Game Notes

The Astros won despite leaving 14 men on base and going 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position...To make room for Matsui, the Astros optioned pitcher Chad Reineke to Triple-A Round Rock...The Astros are off on Thursday and open a three-game set in Washington on Friday...Pittsburgh hosts the Yankees in a rescheduled game on Thursday before starting a weekend series with the Cardinals.

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Betting Football

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.