Michaels lifts Astros over Cubs in 12 innings

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Michaels delivered a tie-breaking, two- run, pinch-hit double and scored in the 12th inning to lift Houston over the Chicago Cubs, 4-3, in the rubber match of a three-game set.

Brandon Lyon (6-4) worked his way out of jams in the 10th and 11th innings to grab the win for the Astros, who have captured each of the first three series between the teams this season. Gustavo Chacin served up a two-out, two-run home run to Geovany Soto and survived a very shaky 12th to earn his first career save.

Angel Sanchez had three hits and drove in a run for Houston, which has won back-to-back series at Wrigley Field for the first time since the 2002-03 seasons.

Bob Howry (1-3) took the loss after allowing two runs on a pair of hits while recording only one out for the Cubs, who have lost three straight series to Houston for the first time since June 5 - July 5, 2006.

Howry opened the 12th on the hill in a 1-1 game for the Cubs and allowed back-to-back singles to Jeff Keppinger and Chris Johnson to start the frame before Jason Castro bunted into a force at third.

James Russell came on to replace Howry and got Michael Bourn to ground out, which advanced the runners to second and third.

Jeff Stevens then took over and gave up Michaels' two-run double into the alley in left-center field. Sanchez followed with a base hit to right field to plate Michaels and give Houston a 4-1 edge.

Chacin retired the first two hitters in the home half of the inning before Kosuke Fukodome walked and scored when Soto blasted his long ball to left.

Ryan Theriot kept the rally going with a single and moved to second base when pinch-hitter Jeff Baker walked before Tyler Colvin lined out to right to end the game.

The Cubs missed out chances to end the game in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings. They put runners at the corners with one out in the ninth, but could not score after Alfonso Soriano flied out to shallow center and Colvin struck out against Tim Byrdak.

The hosts loaded the bases with one out in the tenth on a Starlin Castro double and a pair of walks, but Lyon navigated his way through the jam by striking out Fukodome and getting Soto to fly out.

Chicago left runners at second and third in the 11th after Derrek Lee flied out to end the frame.

The Cubs broke up a scoreless game in the fifth on a two-out, run-scoring double by Castro that plated starting pitcher Ted Lilly, who had singled to pick up his first hit of the year earlier in the inning.

Houston start Brett Myers tossed seven innings to extend his franchise-record to 20 consecutive starts to open the season lasting at least six innings. The right-hander yielded a lone run on five hits and two walks while striking out eight and left trailing, 1-0.

Lilly took a five-hit shutout into the eighth inning before Pedro Feliz led off with a pinch-hit home run to left to tie the game.

Sanchez singled with one out to chase the left-hander from the game and bring on Sean Marshall, who retired Lance Berkman and Hunter Pence to end the frame.

Lilly allowed seven hits while walking one and fanning six over 7 1/3 innings.

Game Notes

The Astros last back-to-back series wins at Wrigley came when they took three of four from August 12-15, 2002 and two out of three from May 30-June 1, 2003. Feliz snapped an 0-for-14 drought with his long ball and is just 2-for-23 during the month of July....Roy Oswalt was the last Houston pitcher to string together 20 straight starts of six innings or more when did it from May 11- August 22, 2005...Keppinger went 2-for-5 and has 30 multi-hit games this year... Houston right-hander Felipe Paulino was diagnosed with a mild rotator cuff strain after being examined by team doctors Tuesday. He is expected to be out for approximately another four weeks...The Cubs have been held to three runs or fewer in 17 of their last 29 games...Lilly is 7-0 in nine starts against Houston since July 14, 2007. He had thrown 26 2/3 consecutive scoreless frames against the Astros until Feliz's home run...The Cubs are 12-21 in one-run games.

Foorball365 Baseball Betting News

<< Chivas USA acquires Zizzo through lottery
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sal Zizzo, a 23-year-old U.S. youth international, is now a member of Chivas USA following a weighted lottery which took place on Wednesday. The Goats had the third best chance (16.28 percent)

<< Dodgers' Kershaw, Torre, Schaefer suspended for Tuesday's incident
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball has suspended Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw along with manager Joe Torre and bench coach Bob Schaefer as a result of incidents that occurred in Tuesday's game against the San Fra

<< Ottawa inks Foligno for two years
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators signed forward Nick Foligno to a two-year contract on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Buffalo native slumped in his second full NHL campaign, recording just nine goals and 26 poin

<< Report: Alabama DE Dareus declared ineligible
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus has reportedly been declared ineligible in the wake of alleged improper dealings with sports agents. According to the Tuscaloosa News, it is standard for a player

<< Twins to reinstate Casilla from DL
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will reinstate infielder Alexi Casilla from the 15-day disabled list prior to Thursday's game against Baltimore. Casilla has been on the DL since June 1 with bone chips in his r

Astros add Figueroa among host of moves >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have claimed pitcher Nelson Figueroa off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies. The team also claimed infielder Anderson Hernandez off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. To make r

Thunder sign G Ivey >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed free agent guard Royal Ivey. As per team policy, no details of the deal were announced. The 28-year-old Ivey split last season between Philadelphia and Milw

Ducks sign D Syvret >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Danny Syvret to a one-year contract on Wednesday. The 25-year-old Syvret has two goals and three assists in 49 career NHL games with Edmonton and Philadelphia. His

MacArthur a free agent after Thrashers reject contract decision >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forward Clarke MacArthur is reportedly a free agent after the Atlanta Thrashers walked away from an arbitrator's decision on Wednesday. According to TSN of Canada, the 25-year-old, a restricted free agen

Finger injury sidelines David Lee for world championships >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golden State Warriors forward David Lee will miss the upcoming world championships due to an injured middle finger on his right hand. Lee, who was acquired in a sign-and-trade deal from the New York Knicks

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.