Astros roll past Pirates

Baseball Betting Lines

04/24/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wandy Rodriguez worked 7 1/3 effective innings and was backed by a season-high 13 hits, as Houston topped Pittsburgh, 5-2, at Minute Maid Park.

Rodriguez (1-2) struck out seven, walked one and limited Pittsburgh to five hits and two runs, only one of those earned, to gain his first win of the season.

Hunter Pence had two hits and two RBI and Pedro Feliz stroked a two-run homer for the Astros, who have won seven of nine since starting 0-8. Matt Lindstrom worked out of trouble in the ninth to post his sixth save this season.

Pittsburgh starter Chris Jakubauskas (0-1) faced only four batters in his first appearance of 2010 after being struck in the head by a Lance Berkman line drive. Jakubauskas needed to be carted off the field and was ultimately charged with a pair of hits and two runs in his abbreviated outing.

Jason Jaramillo hit a solo homer and Andrew McCutchen had an RBI single for Pittsburgh, which suffered its fourth consecutive loss.

Jakubauskas had given up a leadoff single to Michael Bourn and retired the next two batters before Berkman stepped to the plate. The unfortunate infield hit kept the inning alive, however, and the newly inserted D.J. Carrasco went on to allow a two-run double down the left-field line by Pence.

An error helped open the door for a Pittsburgh rally in the third. Feliz botched a grounder at third to put Ronny Cedeno aboard, Akinori Iwamura walked and Bobby Crosby singled to load the bases with one out.

McCutchen then ripped a single back through the middle, scoring Cedeno easily, but Bourn's throw in from center was on the money to nail Iwamura at the plate. Garrett Jones struck out to end the rally.

The Astros were back at it in the fourth, loading the bases with nobody out on three straight singles. Humberto Quintero took a base hit back up the middle to score one, but it was McCutchen this time who came up with a strong throw to nail Cory Sullivan at the plate.

Carrasco then fumbled a sacrifice bunt by Rodriguez to re-load the sacks and bring on Javier Lopez from the bullpen. However, the fleet of foot Bourn grounded into a rare double play to end the inning.

Jack Taschner entered for Pittsburgh in the fifth and promptly handed the 'Stros a 5-1 lead as Jeff Keppinger led off with a double and Feliz followed with a two-run homer to left.

Jaramillo got one back for the Bucs with a two-out longball in the seventh, but that would be as close as it got. Brandon Lyon came on for Houston with one out in the eighth and stranded a runner at second, and Lindstrom was able to work through a shaky ninth.

A pair of two-out hits left runners at the corners and Lindstrom walked pinch- hitter Delwyn Young to load the bases. But Lindstrom buckled down to get Cedeno on a fly out to end the game.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh's Andy Laroche had two of the seven Pirate hits...Pittsburgh is winless thus far (0-2) on a 10-game road trip, while Houston moved to 4-1 on its nine-game homestand...Sunday's finale to this three-game series will feature Brett Myers on the mound versus Charlie Morton of the Pirates...The Astros bullpen had retired 22 straight batters before Lindstrom encountered trouble in the ninth...Jakubauskas went to nearby Methodist Hospital and will remain there overnight for further evaluation...Following the game, Houston activated pitcher Sammy Gervacio from the 15-day disabled list and optioned pitcher Wilton Lopez to Triple-A Round Rock. The club also announced pitcher Yorman Bazardo has accepted his outright assignment to Round Rock.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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