Astros vie to continue mastery of Buccos

Baseball Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros can continue a season's worth of success against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight, when the teams get together for the middle game of a three-game series at PNC Park.

Houston made it seven in a row against the Pirates in Friday's series opener, as Jeff Keppinger homered and drove in three runs to support 7 2/3 sturdy innings from Brett Myers in a 5-2 win.

Hunter Pence singled twice, scored two runs and walked, while Jason Bourgeois scored a pair of runs and swiped two bases for the Astros.

Myers (7-6) allowed two runs on five hits for Houston, which has won five of its last seven games.

He walked one and struck out four in extending his franchise record to 19 straight starts of six innings or more to open the season. Matt Lindstrom retired the side in order in the ninth to nail down his 22nd save of the season.

Zach Duke (3-9) suffered the loss in his first start since June 16, yielding a pair of runs on five hits over five frames, while fanning five for the Pirates, who have dropped seven straight overall.

Right-hander Bud Norris, who beat the Pirates in his lone matchup against them as a rookie last season, gets the call for the Astros Saturday.

The 25-year-old former sixth-round draft pick allowed six hits and a run in six innings against Pittsburgh in 2009, but has gone without a win this season since a 4-1 triumph in St. Louis on May 13.

In five starts since, he's 0-2 with three no-decisions, including an 8-0 loss to the Cardinals in his most recent outing on July 9.

In that game, Norris was touched for seven hits and five runs in 7 2/3 innings.

He is 2-2 in six road starts with a 4.76 earned run average.

For Pittsburgh, righty Ross Ohlendorf makes his ninth career appearance against the Astros while still searching for his first victory.

The 27-year-old Austin, Texas native was a hard-luck 2-0 loser to Houston in his last start on July 8, scattering seven hits and striking out five while his lifetime mark against the team fell to 0-6.

Ohlendorf scored his lone win of 2010 one start earlier, tossing seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over Philadelphia on July 2.

The Princeton University product is 1-3 in seven starts at home, where he sports a 4.15 ERA in 39 innings.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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