08/28/2008 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ty Wigginton homered twice as Houston clipped Cincinnati, 3-2, in the rubber match of a three-game set from Minute Maid Park.
Humberto Quintero also homered for the Astros, who won the final two games in the series and three of five overall.
Brandon Backe (9-12) allowed six hits and a pair of runs over 6 2/3 innings to earn the win, his third in four starts. Jose Valverde notched his 35th save.
Jay Bruce and Corey Patterson drove in a run each for the Reds, who have dropped four of five.
Cincy starter Aaron Harang (4-14) dropped his fourth decision in five after yielding seven hits and three runs in seven full frames.
Down by three, the Reds finally dented Backe in the seventh. Brandon Phillips beat out an infield single near the mound and scored when Bruce followed with a triple to left-center. Adam Rosales walked and Patterson sliced a single to score Bruce for a 3-2 game.
LaTroy Hawkins shut down Cincinnati in the eighth, and Valverde struck out the side in the ninth.
Wigginton put Houston on the board in the first, with a one-out solo homer to left.
Quintero added a one-out solo shot in the fifth to make it 2-0 and a leadoff homer by Wigginton in the sixth boosted the Houston edge to three.
Game Notes
Houston has beaten Cincinnati 14 of the last 16 times, including 10 of 12 this season...For Wigginton it was his seventh multi-homer game of his career and first in 2008...Valverde moved within one of the NL save leader, Brian Wilson of the Giants...The Astros remain home to face St. Louis for a three-game set starting Friday, while the Reds return to Cincinnati to host San Francisco for three also starting Friday.
<< Art Official favored in Cane Pace
Freehold, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Art Official, Meadowlands Pace champ, is the
9-5 morning-line favorite for Monday's Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway. The
$392,850 one-mile event is the first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown.
Coming off a
<< Fiorentina signs Gamberini to five-year deal
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fiorentina defender Alessandro Gamberini has
signed a new five-year contract, the club announced Thursday.
Gamberini, 27, earned a call up to the Italy squad for Euro 2008 following his
impressive form in
<< Ferrer, Murray, Blake reach third round in Flushing
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Spaniard David
Ferrer, sixth-seeded Brit Andy Murray and ninth-seeded American favorite James
Blake were a trio of second-round winners Thursday at the 2008 U.S. Open, the
fourth and fina
<< Havret leads by two at Gleneagles
Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gregory Havret carded a five-under-par
68 Thursday to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the Johnnie
Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
Havret's fellow Frenchman Christian Cevaer is
Royals extend agreement with Omaha until 2010 >>
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals announced Thursday
that the franchise has extended its Triple-A affiliate agreement with Omaha
through the 2010 season.
Omaha, which currently plays in the Pacific Coast League,
Atletico signs Banega on loan from Valencia >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atletico Madrid signed Argentinian midfielder
Ever Banega on loan from La Liga rivals Valencia on Thursday.
The 20-year-old only joined Valencia in January but struggled to break into the
first-team picture
Bolton loses Elmander, Taylor to injuries >>
Bolton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bolton boss Gary Megson has confirmed his
worst fears that both Johan Elmander and Matty Taylor will be sidelined for the
foreseeable future.
Sweden international striker Elmander limped out of last we
Hornets add depth in Marks >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets strengthened their
bench on Thursday by signing free-agent forward/center Sean Marks.
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them last season
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
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