Milledge saves Pirates in win over Giants

Baseball Betting Lines

06/06/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrew McCutchen went 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and three runs scored, and Lastings Milledge made a diving catch on the final play to preserve Pittsburgh's 6-3 decision over the San Francisco Giants in the second contest of a three-game set.

Ryan Doumit hit a two-run homer and drove in four, while Neil Walker had two hits, an RBI and scored twice for the Pirates, who have won three of their last four. Paul Maholm (4-4) got the win as he gave up just two runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Andres Torres was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, Freddy Sanchez went 2- for-5 with an RBI and a run scored and Matt Downs added an RBI for the Giants, who came into the game having won six of their last eight. Todd Wellemeyer (3-5) was tagged for six runs on nine hits over just three-plus innings.

Joel Hanrahan worked a scoreless eighth inning, but Octavio Dotel got into trouble in the ninth for the Pirates.

After a walk to Aubrey Huff to lead off the inning, Pat Burrell and Sergio Romo struck out. Pablo Sandoval kept things going with a single and Nate Schierholtz walked to load the bases. Torres then punched a single to right to bring one home and make it a three-run game. Sanchez then hit a fly ball to deep left, but Milledge made a diving catch at the track to end the game.

"It was an exciting way to end it, but you'd rather not end it that way," Pirates manager John Russell said. "It was a great play and I'm sure Octavio is going to buy him dinner probably."

"It saved them," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Torres definitely would have scored. Sanchez, he smoked it. That's all you can do. He just made a great catch and saved the game there."

Pittsburgh worked a run across in the first as McCutchen led off with a double, moved to third on Walker's single and crossed the plate on Doumit's sac fly.

The Pirates brought home three more in the third for a 4-0 lead. McCutchen again led off with a double and came home when Walker followed with a triple. Doumit then crushed a 2-2 pitch into the right field seats for his sixth homer of the campaign.

Pittsburgh continued to pour it on in the fourth. McCutchen led off the inning with his seventh home run of the season. Walker followed with a walk, and after Denny Bautista took the mound, moved to second on a wild pitch. Doumit then smacked a double to left for a 6-0 lead.

The Giants got on the board in the sixth with a pair of runs. Torres led off with a double and came home when Sanchez followed with a two-bagger. Juan Uribe then grounded out to move Sanchez to third and Downs' groundout plated Sanchez to make it a 6-2 game.

After Buster Posey hit a one-out double in the seventh, Evan Meek took the hill and got the next two batters out to keep it a four-run game.

Game Notes

San Francisco had won seven of eight against Pittsburgh coming into the game...Wellemeyer fell to 5-4 in 22 career matchups against the Pirates, including 10 starts. He is 0-4 in five road starts this season...Maholm improved to 2-1 in eight career meetings against the Giants...Ross Ohlendorf takes the mound for Pittsburgh in the series finale on Sunday and will be opposed by Tim Lincecum.

Wwnytimes Baseball Betting News

<< Seattle dominates New England, 3-0
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC scored three first-half goals then held strong for a 3-0 win over the New England Revolution in a Major League Soccer fixture in front of over 36,000 fans at Qwest Field on Saturda

<< Briscoe rebounds with Texas win
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six days after crashing in the Indianapolis 500, Ryan Briscoe from Team Penske bounced back in the IZOD IndyCar Series with an impressive win in Saturday's Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway. Brisco

<< Willis pitches Diamondbacks to second straight win
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dontrelle Willis pitched six shutout innings in his return to the National League, helping the Diamondbacks to a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. Willis (1-0), who was traded from Detroit on Tuesday

<< Tolbert's single in ninth sends Twins over A's
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Tolbert drove in the game-winning run in the ninth to help the Minnesota Twins take a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the second of a three-game set. Delmon Young finished the game with th

<< Moor goal propels Rapids to win over Crew
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night. Drew Moor scored the game's only goal in the 85th

Braves use big seventh inning to beat Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Glaus' two-run homer and a two-run double by Brian McCann keyed a seven-run seventh inning, as the Braves came away with a 9-3 win over the Dodgers in the third of four games from Chavez Ravine.

Katsumasa Miyamoto wins Japan's Tour Championship >>
Kasama, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Japan's Katsumasa Miyamoto closed with a four-over 75 Sunday, but it was enough for him to win the Japan Golf Tour Championship by three strokes. Miyamoto finished his eighth Japan Tour victory at f

Yankees try to stave off sweep attempt from Blue Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a pivotal American League East battle, the Toronto Blue Jays will try to complete a sweep of the New York Yankees in today's final matchup of a three-game set at the Rogers Centre. If the Blue Jays are going to finish o

Mets vie for more home success, sweep of Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Left-handed Japanese import Hisanori Takahashi can atone for a poor last start when the New York Mets go for a sweep of a three-game home series with the visiting Florida Marlins today at Citi Field. The Mets have won seve

Boston sets sights on another battering of hapless Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even with Juan Samuel now leading the way, the Baltimore Orioles are still finding themselves in the loss column. The team will try to crack its 10-game losing skid when the Boston Red Sox take the field at Camden Yards th

Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards