Pirates wrap set with Astros at PNC Park

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros conclude a nine-game road trip this afternoon when they play the rubber match of a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

On Saturday, Jason Bay and Adam LaRoche both drove in two runs, as the Pirates downed the Astros, 7-3.

Freddy Sanchez homered and scored three times for the Pirates, who ended a season-high seven-game losing streak, having been swept in three games at Atlanta and then in three games at home against Colorado before losing the first game of this series.

Paul Maholm (6-12) allowed two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks over 6 2/3 innings to get the win.

Mike Lamb homered for the Astros, who have split their last four games, but fell to 2-6 on their road swing. Eric Bruntlett finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the loss.

Southpaw Wandy Rodriguez (6-9) gave up six runs -- four earned -- on seven hits with six strikeouts and a walk over five-plus frames.

Woody Williams toes the rubber for Houston today just 1-8 in 12 road starts this season. That includes a setback in Washington for Williams last time out on Monday. The right-hander yielded four runs on six hits over six innings in the loss to fall to 4-11 with a 5.37 earned run average on the season.

Williams, though, is 7-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 15 lifetime starts against the Pirates, but lost to the club at PNC Park on April 24.

Youngster Shane Youman is set for his fourth start of the year for the Pirates. Youman posted wins in his first two outings before suffering the loss against Colorado on Tuesday, as the left-hander allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits over five innings.

He faced Houston for the first and only time of his career on September 27 of 2006, throwing two scoreless innings.

The Pirates got their season off to a promising start when they swept the Astros in Houston from April 2-4 to open the season. The club then hosted Houston from April 24-26 and took all three games of that set as well.

It was a quick turnaround for a Pirates team that lost 13 of the 16 games they played against the Astros last season. That included seven losses in 10 home games in 2006.

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LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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