Young makes second homer a game-winner for D'Backs

Baseball Betting Lines

06/13/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Young's second homer of the game, a two- run blast in the bottom of the ninth inning, rescued the Arizona bullpen and lifted the Diamondbacks to a 7-5 win over St. Louis in the rubber match of a three-game series at Chase Field.

Arizona closer Chad Qualls, who began the day sporting an inflated 7.77 ERA, was called on to protect a three-run lead in the ninth and promptly allowed a double to the leadoff batter, Felipe Lopez. Colby Rasmus then hit a chopper to first and was safe after Qualls bobbled the toss from Adam LaRoche.

Albert Pujols then grounded an RBI single to left field. Rasmus advanced to third on a Matt Holliday flyout and came home on a base hit to center by Randy Winn.

Esmerling Vasquez (1-2) replaced an ineffective Qualls on the mound and uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Pujols to score, tying the game at 5-5. Vasquez retired the next two batters to end the frame.

Kyle McClellan (0-2) took the hill for St. Louis in the bottom of the ninth and quickly set down the first two batters. Miguel Montero lined a single to left before Young crushed an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left-center for his third career walk-off home run.

"He gave me a good pitch to hit. I knew it had a chance," Young said.

LaRoche joined Young with three runs batted in for the Diamondbacks, who posted a 6-4 record on their 10-game homestand. Edwin Jackson was tagged for two runs on eight hits and four walks in 6 2/3 innings.

Pujols also stroked a two-run double for St. Louis, which has dropped six of seven. Chris Carpenter gave up three runs on six hits over six innings. The 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner recorded eight strikeouts but did walk a season- high five batters.

"They put good at-bats on me the whole game, fouling some tough pitches off," Carpenter said. "But I was able to continue to make pitches and keep my team in the game."

The Diamondbacks got to Carpenter for a pair of runs in the first inning. Kelly Johnson led off with a single and consecutive two-out doubles by Mark Reynolds and LaRoche, the latter ripped down the right-field line, gave Arizona an early 2-0 edge.

Young homered to left field off Carpenter to give the Diamondbacks a three-run lead in the fourth.

St. Louis came up empty with the bases loaded in the fifth and stranded a runner on third the next inning before finally breaking through in the seventh when Pujols doubled home Lopez and Rasmus with two outs.

Arizona got the two runs back off Cardinals reliever Dennys Reyes in the home half of the inning. Stephen Drew led off with a double and scored on LaRoche's one-out single. Montero followed with an RBI double to make it 5-2.

Game Notes

Johnson extended his hitting streak to 10 games...St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina went 3-for-4 with a walk...Carpenter had two hits...Pujols has 47 RBI this season.

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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.