The Houston Astros defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 last night. They picked up another game in their division race thanks to St. Louis losing 7-5 to the Padres. That makes 7 games the Astros have made up in as many games. They are on the verge of completing a great comeback. The Astros are 1.5 games out in the NL Central with just a handful of games left.

The Pittsburgh Pirates chalked up another loss to their great record this season. This time it was at the hands of the Florida Marlins. The game started off on the wrong foot. The Marlins scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and it was basically over. They added insurance runs in the fifth and eighth innings, but they proved to be not needed. The Pirates never mounted any offensive threat. Four Pirates players decided to get one hit each as a parting gift to fans. It was a lackluster performance.

Last night the Pirates and Dodgers opened up a series. It is currently the only non-Interleague series being played. As expected, the Dodgers wasted no time jumping on Pirates pitching and making a ten game loser out of Perez. The Pirates have now lost 9 straight and tonight might make it ten. Despite winning last night, the Dodgers remain one full game back of the Padres. The Padres managed to outlast the Mariners in ten innings last night.

Minutes from now the Pirates will take on the Giants in San Francisco. Tonight is game two in the series. The Giants took game one yesterday 5-4. Benitez got the win and Marte the loss. The Pirates are sending Victor Santos to the hill and they are a +123 underdog. The Giants are a -133 favorite and Matt Morris will be going for them tonight. The under/over is set at 9 with the under being -130 and the over being +110.