Lee, Norris help Astros take series against Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Lee slugged a pair of two-run home runs to back the solid pitching of Bud Norris in Houston's 8-1 win over Chicago to close a three-game set.

Lee had his 19th career multi-homer game for the Astros, who have taken two out of three in all four series between the teams this season.

Norris (3-7) yielded a lone unearned run on four hits while walking three and striking out seven over six innings for Houston, which has won four straight series over the Cubs for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Randy Wells (5-8) was charged with three runs on five hits and five walks, while fanning four, over 5 2/3 frames for Chicago, which has dropped three out of four.

Wwzdnet Baseball Betting News

<< McCourty signs with Patriots
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots have signed first-round draft pick Devin McCourty. Terms of the deal for the former Rutgers cornerback were not disclosed, but the Boston Globe reported it to be a five-ye

<< Young powers offense as Twins complete sweep of Royals
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young hit a three-run homer and Jason Repko added a solo shot, as the Twins completed a three-game sweep of the Royals with a 6-4 win. It wasn't the same result as the past two days, when M

<< Ducks sign first-round choice Fowler
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks have signed defenseman Cam Fowler, their first-round draft choice, to a three-year entry-level contract. Per team policy, no financial details of the deal were released. The 18-year-old

<< Bengals sign Dunlap
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals have reportedly signed rookie defensive end Carlos Dunlap. The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that Cincinnati's second round pick has signed for four years. Last season w

<< Cardinals option P Salas, promote P MacDougal
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have optioned pitcher Fernando Salas to Triple-A Memphis and recalled pitcher Mike MacDougal from the same club. Salas has bounced back and forth between the major and minor league

Hendrick Motorsports >>
Promoted Marshall Carlson to president and COO.

Formula One >>
Agreed on a 10-year contract to continue the Monaco Grand Prix.

Saints sign TE Graham, QB Ramsey >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints signed tight end Jimmy Graham and quarterback Patrick Ramsey on Wednesday. Graham, a third-round pick out of Miami-Florida, played in 13 games for the Hurricanes last season

Clippers re-sign Butler >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers have re-signed forward Rasual Butler, the team announced Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Butler, 31, averaged a career-best 11.9 points in 82 games for th

Raptors acquire C Andersen from Houston >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors have acquired center David Andersen and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets in exchange for a 2015 protected second-round draft choice. The Australian-born Andersen avera

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.