Phillies pound Pirates in rain-shortened game

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Jamie Moyer got his second straight win since ending a three-start slide, as the Philadelphia Phillies pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-1, in a rain-shortened opener of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

Moyer (9-8), who had dropped consecutive starts to Houston, Colorado and the Los Angeles Dodgers from July 2-16 before rebounding with a 12-4 defeat of San Diego on July 21, gave up one unearned run on six hits with four strikeouts over seven innings.

Pat Burrell homered and knocked in three runs for the Phillies, who have won six of their last seven. Michael Bourn, playing for Aaron Rowand who hurt his left shoulder playing tag with children, finished 4-for-4 and scored twice in the win.

In other injury news for the Phils, second baseman Chase Utley had successful surgery on Friday to repair a broken bone in his right hand. Utley, hit by a pitch from Washington's John Lannan on Thursday, had a pin inserted into his hand during a 20-minute procedure and could miss up to four weeks. They did receive some good news on Friday when pitcher Brett Myers, who suffered a right shoulder strain after throwing a wild pitch in Philadelphia's win over Florida on May 23, was activated from the 15-day disabled list.

Right-hander John Van Benschoten (0-5), returning to the Pittsburgh rotation after having his last turn skipped, gave up seven runs on six hits with four walks and two strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old San Diego native has failed to get through the third inning in three straight outings, having given up six hits and nine runs in a 10-8 loss to Colorado on July 16 and seven hits and five runs in 2 2/3 innings while losing to the Chicago Cubs on July 7.

Ronny Paulino went 3-for-3 with an RBI for the Pirates, who have dropped four of five and are at the bottom of the National League.

Philadelphia plated a pair of runs in the first. Bourn lined a lead- off single, Shane Victorino got hit by a pitch, and Jimmy Rollins walked. Ryan Howard and Burrell struck out, but Greg Dobbs singled home two runs.

The Phillies got six more runs in the third. Howard walked before Burrell's two-run shot to left field on the first pitch he saw. Dobbs walked and came home on Carlos Ruiz's double. Moyer then helped himself, singling home Ruiz, as Tony Armas replaced Van Benschoten on the mound.

Bourn, Victorino and Rollins followed with three straight singles to score another run. After Howard struck out swinging, Burrell then walked in another run to put the game away.

Pittsburgh got on the board with a run in the fifth. Josh Phelps reached on a throwing error by Dobbs, advanced to third on Jose Castillo's double, and made it home on a Paulino single.

Game Notes

To fill the hole in the lineup and on the diamond vacated by Utley, the Phillies acquired second baseman Tadahito Iguchi from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for minor league pitcher Michael Dubee. Philadelphia also purchased the contract of infielder/outfielder Joe Thurston from Triple-A Ottawa, designated infielder Danny Sandoval for assignment, and optioned pitcher Mike Zagurski to Ottawa...This was the first meeting between the two clubs this season after they split six games in 2006.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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