Cardinals try to end first half with needed win over Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The skidding St. Louis Cardinals can climb within a game of first place to end the season's unofficial first half today, when they visit Minute Maid Park for the finale of a three-game series with the Houston Astros.

The Cardinals fell, 4-1, to the Astros in Saturday's middle test and remained two games in back of the first-place Cincinnati Reds in the National League's Central Division. Cincinnati lost, 1-0, in 11 innings at Philadelphia - the third straight time they've lost to the Phillies in extra frames.

Houston's Jeff Keppinger had two hits, including a home run, to back another strong outing from Brett Myers in Houston's victory last night. Pedro Feliz chipped in with a two-run single for the Astros, who have won four of their last five.

Myers (6-6) went eight innings to grab the win, yielding just the lone run on five hits while fanning five. The right-hander is the only starting pitcher in the big leagues to have gone six innings or more in each of his starts (18) this year.

Houston closer Matt Lindstrom worked around a pair of walks in the ninth to register his 21st save of the season.

Jeff Suppan (0-5) took the loss in his 100th career start as a member of the Cardinals after giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings. St. Louis fell for a fourth time in their its five games.

Second-year righty Blake Hawksworth gets the start tonight for St. Louis, just the fifth time in his career he'll open a game on the mound.

The 27-year-old Canadian was used exclusively out of the bullpen last season, making 30 appearances, then began this season with 18 relief outings before a spot start June 7 at the Los Angeles Dodgers. He returned to the bullpen for three more stints before beginning a stretch of three starts with a win at Kansas City on June 26.

Hawksworth was touched for eight hits and two runs in five innings his last time out, getting a no-decision in the Cardinals' 12-9 loss at Colorado on Tuesday. He tossed an inning of scoreless relief against the Astros on May 12 and has allowed just one hit in four relief innings spanning four appearances versus Houston.

For Houston, lefty Wandy Rodriguez faces the Cardinals for the third time this season. The 31-year-old dropped a 5-0 decision on April 12 in St. Louis, then bounced back for a 9-6 win in a subsequent road matchup on May 12. In those outings, he's combined to give up 12 hits and eight earned runs in 10 1/3 innings.

Lifetime against St. Louis, Rodriguez is just 4-10 with a 4.29 earned run average in 17 appearances.

He's won three straight starts after beginning the season at 3-10, however, the most recent coming against Pittsburgh on Tuesday. In the three wins, Rodriguez has given up 15 hits and four runs in 20 innings.

With Saturday's win, the Astros have now taken five of eight matchups with St. Louis thus far this season.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

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