Walker leads 17-hit attack, Pirates finally beat Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Neil Walker collected three hits, scored three times and knocked in a pair of runs as Pittsburgh pounded out 17 hits in a 12-6 win over Houston in the middle meeting of a three-game set.

Jose Tabata and Lastings Milledge each had two hits and knocked in a pair of runs, while Garrett Jones, Pedro Alvarez, Erik Kratz and Ronny Cedeno also had a pair of hits apiece to help the Pirates snap a seven-game losing streak.

Javier Lopez (2-1) earned the win by recording the final out in the fifth inning. Brendan Donnelly, Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan and Octavio Dotel then combined to retire the final 12 Houston hitters in succession to sew up Pittsburgh's first win over Houston in eight tries this season.

Bud Norris (2-7) took the loss after being charged with seven runs -- four earned -- on nine hits while walking two and striking out four over 4 2/3 innings for Houston, which has dropped three out of five.

The Pirates, who had been scored on in the first inning in six of their last seven games, turned the tables on Houston in the first to take the early lead.

Tabata reached on a Chris Johnson throwing error with one out, moved to third base on a Walker single and scored on Jones' double to right field. Alvarez struck out before Milledge lashed a two-run single to center to cap off the three-run rally.

The lead didn't last long, as Hunter Pence led off the second inning by belting Ross Ohlendorf's second pitch of the second inning over the wall in left-center field for his 13th home run of the year.

Johnson was then hit by a pitch, moved to second on a Jason Castro single and came in to score on a double by Angel Sanchez. Norris legged out a bunt base hit to load the bases for Michael Bourn, who doubled to left to plate two runs to give the visitors their first lead at 4-3. Lance Berkman walked to reload the bases with one out and spell the end of the night for Ohlendorf.

D.J. Carrasco took over and got Carlos Lee to ground into an inning-ending double play. Ohlendorf was charged with four runs on five hits and a pair of walks, while striking out one, in the shortest start of his career.

The Buccos responded in their half of the frame with a two-run double by Tabata to center that put them back in the lead by one.

Carrasco retired the first eight batters he faced before Berkman walked with one out in the fifth and advanced to second base on a two-out single by Pence that chased the right-hander from the hill.

Lopez was called on by skipper John Russell but the move backfired when Johnson doubled into the alley in left-center to drive in both runners and put the Astros back in front, 6-5. Castro then lined out to end the inning.

The see-saw affair tilted back in favor of the Pirates for good in the bottom of the inning, as Cedeno singled in the tying run with two outs and knocked Norris out of the game. Chris Sampson took over and gave up a pinch-hit single to Ryan Church that plated Erik Kratz to move the home team back on top, 7-6.

Gustavo Chacin assumed the hill for the Astros in the home sixth and gave up a one-out double to Tabata that was followed by Walker's run-scoring single. Pence misplayed the ball in right field, allowing Walker to advance to third, from where he scored on a wild pitch to push the Pirates lead to 9-6.

The home side dashed any hopes of a comeback with three runs in the eighth off Casey Daigle on RBI hits by Walker, Alvarez and Kratz, who drove in the first run of his career.

Game Notes

The Astros had held the Pirates to 15 runs in the first seven meetings before Saturday...Houston right-hander Felipe Paulino, who was scheduled to start Tuesday at Wrigley Field, instead will return to Houston to undergo an MRI on Sunday and then be examined by the Astros medical staff on Monday...He has been on the disabled list since June 21 with right shoulder tendinitis, which flared up again during a Friday workout in Pittsburgh...The Pirates, who drew better than 36,000 Saturday night, improved to 6-1 playing in front of home crowds of 30,000 or more...Kratz picked up the first two hits of his career. Alvarez has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games...Pence extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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