Happ beats Halladay as Astros edge struggling Phillies

Baseball Betting Lines

08/25/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Humberto Quintero's RBI single in the seventh inning helped J.A. Happ upend his former teammates, as Houston took another slim 3-2 victory over Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park.

Happ (4-2), who was traded by the Phillies along with two prospects to Houston in exchange for Roy Oswalt prior to the trade deadline, yielded just two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Astros, who have won the first three meetings in the four-game set.

Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn each hit a solo homer for the victors.

Roy Halladay (16-9) had a personal six-start win streak snapped, as the right- handed ace was touched for three runs in seven frames for the Phils, who stayed 2 1/2 games behind the Braves in the National League East race.

Both starters pitched into the seventh, a much-needed rest for both bullpens after Tuesday's grueling 16-inning marathon that Houston pulled out, 4-2.

Neither team recorded a hit until Pence crushed a 2-0 fastball into the seats in left-center with two outs in the fourth, breaking Halladay's scoreless stretch at 19 innings.

The Phillies' first hit was also a solo blast, as Jayson Werth took Happ deep over the wall in left leading off the fifth.

Bourn got into the act in the sixth with a solo shot to right for just his second home run of the year and first since June 28.

Halladay made up for the mistake with a leadoff single in the bottom half and went to second on a one-out single by Shane Victorino. Placido Polanco then lined a double over Carlos Lee's head in left to plate Halladay.

Both Victorino and Polanco were stranded, though, and the Astros took the lead again in the seventh, as Chris Johnson doubled with one away and came in two batters later on Quintero's bloop single to left.

Philadelphia threatened in the bottom half, but with two on and one out, Raul Ibanez, pinch-hitting for Halladay, flew out to center against Tim Byrdak. Then, with Mark Melancon on the hill, Quintero threw behind Ben Francisco at third. The runner stepped on Johnson's foot at the bag then stepped off and was tagged out for the unorthodox pickoff.

Brandon Lyon hurled a 1-2-3 eighth, then struck out the side in the ninth around Ryan Howard's two-out, pinch-hit single to pick up his eighth save of the season.

Despite the loss, the Phillies stayed atop the NL Wild Card race with the Giants, who lost an extra-inning game to Cincinnati earlier Wednesday.

Game Notes

The Astros announced pitcher Brian Moehler, sidelined since early July, will have surgery to repair a muscle in his lower abdomen that will end his 2010 season...Halladay had pitched to a 1.37 earned run average over his win streak.

Wwwthomsoninvest Baseball Betting News

<< Wells powers Blue Jays past Yankees
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle and drove in four runs to power Toronto to a 6-3 win over New York in the last of a three-game set. Wells finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs s

<< Pirates beat Cardinals again behind McCutchen
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel McCutchen threw six strong innings and Neil Walker hit a three-run triple as the Pittsburgh Pirates took a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of a three-game set from PNC Park.

<< Cahill continues Oakland's pitching prowess in win over Tribe
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Cahill pitched Oakland's 17th straight quality start, and the Athletics shut down the Indians in a 6-1 win at Progressive Field. Cahill (14-5) continued his sensational season by pitching s

<< Ramirez, Marlins edge Mets
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez went 4-for-5 and drove in a run, as the Florida Marlins held on to edge the New York Mets, 5-4, in the middle contest of a three-game series. Logan Morrison added three hits, includin

<< Lopez helps M's earn doubleheader split with BoSox
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Lopez went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI, while Felix Hernandez pitched into the eighth inning, as the Seattle Mariners edged Boston, 4-2, to earn a split in their doubleheader with the Red Sox. Hernande

Nats' Willingham has season-ending knee surgery >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham had successful knee surgery on Wednesday, which will effectively end his 2010 season. Willingham, who is expected to be ready for spring training,

Langley, An win in first-round match play at U.S. Amateur >>
University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Byeong-Hun An and current NCAA champion Scott Langley were both winners in first round match play at the U.S. Amateur. Langely, the low amateur at the U.S. Open, defeated Tim J

Wozniacki, Dementieva land in New Haven quarters >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and former U.S. Open runner-up Elena Dementieva were each second-round winners Wednesday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up. Denmark's

Wieters, Matusz lead Orioles past White Sox >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Wieters collected two hits and drove in two runs in support of seven strong innings from Brian Matusz, as Baltimore slowed down Chicago, 4-2, in the middle session of a three-game set. Brian Roberts

Morehead State men's hoops placed on probation >>
Morehead, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morehead State University announced on Wednesday its men's basketball program has been placed on probation for two years due to major violations in recruiting. The violation, which is related to

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