Pence's homer pushes Astros past Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

08/22/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hunter Pence's solo homer in the top of the eighth inning proved to be the difference, as the Houston Astros edged the Florida Marlins, 2-1, in the finale of a three-game set at Sun Life Stadium.

Pence also added a sacrifice fly and Michael Bourn went 2-for-3 with a run scored for Houston, which was able to salvage a victory in the series and has split its last six overall.

Wilton Lopez (5-0) earned the win for tossing two scoreless innings in relief of Nelson Figueroa, who got the starting nod for Houston and yielded one run on four hits, struck out seven and walked one in six frames. Brandon Lyon notched his sixth save of the season by throwing a scoreless ninth.

Gaby Sanchez hit a solo homer for the Marlins, who had a five-game winning streak halted. Cody Ross chipped in with two hits in defeat.

Jose Veras (2-1) took the loss for allowing Pence's homer. Florida's Andrew Miller, making his first major league start of the 2010 campaign, worked five solid innings, allowing one run on three hits with three walks and struck out three.

With the game deadlocked at 1-1, Veras came on for the top of the eighth and retired the first batter before Pence hit a fastball that just cleared the left field wall to put Houston in front.

Brad Davis singled to start the home eighth and Wes Helms bunted into a fielder's choice. Lopez then retired Hanley Ramirez on a 6-4-3 double play to keep it a 2-1 game.

Lyon came in for Lopez in the top of the ninth and hit Sanchez with a pitch with one out. However, the closer struck out Dan Uggla for the second out. Ross then reached with an infield single to put runners on first and second, but pinch-hitter Mike Stanton flied out to left to end the game.

Houston stranded a runner in the first inning and two more in the second before opening the scoring in the third. Pence's sac fly chased in Bourn, who reached on a bunt single, stole second and went to third on a ground ball.

The Marlins had runners on first and third with nobody out in the fifth, but came up empty after Figueroa got Emilio Bonifacio and Brad Davis to pop out and fanned pinch-hitter Hector Luna.

Sanchez's two-out shot to left in the sixth evened things at 1-1. Bourn then struck out with men on first and second and two outs in the seventh.

Game Notes

Houston took two of three from the Marlins back in April...The Astros snapped a six-game road losing streak...Houston went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven, while Florida finished 0-for-4 with RISP and left five.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

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