Jones, Alvarez help Pirates rout Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

08/16/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez drove in three runs apiece, and the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 7-1 rout of the Florida Marlins.

Andrew McCutchen added two hits, including a solo homer, for the Pirates, who have beaten the Marlins five straight times at PNC Park. Chris Snyder also finished with two hits in the win.

New acquisition James McDonald (2-2) continued to flourish at home for the Pirates, throwing seven innings and yielding just one run on three hits and two walks while fanning six. In two home starts with the Pirates since coming over from the Dodgers in a trade, McDonald has given up one run in 13 innings.

Dan Uggla had three hits and drove in a run for the Marlins, who have lost four straight. Logan Morrison finished with a double and a run scored in defeat.

Chris Volstad (6-9) allowed five runs, five hits and two walks in five-plus innings to take the loss.

The Pirates scored all the runs they needed in the first inning.

Jose Tabata drew a one out walk and moved to third when Neil Walker followed with a double. Jones' sacrifice fly plated Tabata, and Walker came around to score on Alvarez's single to right for a 2-0 lead.

The Marlins got one back in the fourth when Morrison doubled and eventually scored on Uggla's groundout, but Pittsburgh struck for four runs in the sixth to end Volstad's outing.

McCutchen led off with a single, and Tabata worked another walk. Walker was hit by a pitch to load the bases, forcing the Marlins to turn to Taylor Tankersley out of the bullpen. Tankersley couldn't prevent Pittsburgh from scoring, as two runs scored on Jones' double to right. Alvarez followed with a two-run single for a 6-1 advantage before Brian Sanches finished the inning without any further damage.

McCutchen's leadoff blast in the seventh accounted for the final margin.

Game Notes

The Marlins went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and have now gone hitless in their last 35 times in that situation, a new club record. The old record was 31, set from June 16-20, 2009...The Pirates won last year's season series, 4-2. This was the first meeting...Alvarez finished with two hits.

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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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