Braves hope to break out the brooms against Phils
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves are gradually working their way up the NL East standings and will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high four straight games tonight in the finale of a three-game series versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field.
Atlanta and Florida are the hottest teams in the division right now, as the Braves sit three games off Philadelphia's pace in the East and the Marlins are currently just a half-game behind the Phillies. The Braves posted their third win in a row with Wednesday's 11-1 bashing of 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels and the Phillies with a 14-hit attack.
Matt Diaz clubbed a two-run homer and finished with three hits, while Diory Hernandez belted a solo shot for the Braves, who got two hits and three RBI out of veteran Chipper Jones. Brian McCann and Martin Prado both had two hits in Atlanta's third win since a four-game losing streak.
Braves starter Jair Jurrjens had his no-hit bid broken up in the seventh inning by Paul Bako and allowed one run on just the one hit to go along with six strikeouts and four walks in seven frames for the win.
"I wasn't thinking (of the no-hitter). I was just trying to throw strikes early in the count, make them get themselves out," said Jurrjens.
Kris Medlen and Manny Acosta completed the two-hitter with a combined two innings of scoreless relief.
The Braves are 1-6 in Javier Vazquez's last seven starts and will roll the rice with him again this evening versus the Phillies. Vazquez is 1-4 over his last seven trips to the mound and lost his most recent outing on June 27 versus Boston. He held the Red Sox to a run and six hits over 7 2/3 decent innings, but fell to 2-5 in nine home starts this season.
Vazquez, who is 5-7 with a 3.04 ERA in 16 total starts, will face the Phillies for the third time this season. He is 1-0 in two appearances so far and 11-7 with a 4.45 ERA in 25 career games. The righty beat the Phils on May 9 at Citizens Bank Park with 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball.
Philadelphia is rapidly falling from grace and has dropped 13 of its last 17 games to watch its division lead shrink to just a half-game ahead of the suddenly-surging Marlins. The despised New York Mets are only two games in back of the Phillies, who would like to put last night's loss behind them.
Bako and Shane Victorino recorded the only hits for Philly, and Jimmy Rollins finished 0-for-3 at the plate to run his hitless streak to a career-worst 27 official at-bats. Rollins' previous career high had been a 25 at-bat hitless streak from June 18-24, 2002.
Hamels was rocked for seven runs and nine hits in only four innings of work to fall to 4-5 on the season.
"It's a challenging year," Hamels said on the team's site. "Not every time you got there, every season is going to be great. You have the years where you really have to learn who you are. You have to take what you did last year, kind of the ups, downs and really battle through it. I think that's where you learn who you are and what you're going to be capable of in the future. Things aren't going to be easy. You're put on a big pedestal when you win and win awards. You expect a lot out of yourself. And I expect a lot out of myself."
Philadelphia, which opens a three-game home series versus the Mets on Friday, will expect a lot from tonight's starter J.A. Happ. Happ will bring his unbeaten record to the mound for the Phillies and is 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 19 games (7 starts) this season. Happ is coming off the first shutout of his career, as he twirled nine innings of five-hit ball in a 10-0 victory at Toronto on June 27.
Happ struck out four and did not walk a batter at Rogers Centre, improving to 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in nine road games (4 starts) this season. The young lefty will face Atlanta for the second time in 2009, as he tossed two innings of relief in a 12-11 win back on April 8. Happ allowed a two-run homer in that game.
Philadelphia went 14-4 against Atlanta a year ago, but the Braves have won six of eight meetings with the Phils so far in 2009. The Phils have dropped the first two tests at Turner Field after going 9-0 there a year ago.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Chicago Cubs are going to win a third straight National League Central title, they are going to have to pick it up offensively. This weekend would be a good time to get it going, as they return home for the start of a
<< Astros go for series win at Petco
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros shoot for a series win this afternoon
over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, where the two ballclubs will wrap up
a four-game set.
Houston has won five of its last seven games, including two of the fir
<< Mets head to Pittsburgh for makeup with Bucs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before the New York Mets begin a critical three-game set in
Philadelphia this weekend, they must first play a makeup game in the Keystone
State against the Pittsburgh Pirates today at PNC Park.
Today's contest was original
<< Judge lifts Mayfield's suspension
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A federal judge lifted the NASCAR-imposed
suspension on driver Jeremy Mayfield Wednesday, allowing him to race again,
possibly as soon as this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
"This is huge for us.
<< Sedin twins headline first day of NHL free agency
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wednesday marked the beginning of the
NHL's free agency period, and two of the biggest players on the open market
opted to stay put.
The Vancouver Canucks re-signed forwards Daniel and Henrik
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez is starting to heat up. Not coincidentally, so are the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers will be shooting for an eighth consecutive victory and a series sweep of Rodriguez's original team, the Seattl
Reds, D-Backs close series in Cincy >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds hope that Aaron Harang can have the
same type of outing Johnny Cueto had last night, as they wrap up a three-game
series Thursday afternoon from Great American Ball Park.
Cueto tossed six shutout inning
Cardinals try to even up Giants in series finale >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Zito tries to slow down Albert Pujols this evening
when the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals conclude a four-game set
at Busch Stadium.
St. Louis won in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, as Colby Rasmus bel
White Sox take win streak to Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox will be putting a season-high win
streak on the line when the resurgent club heads to Kansas City's Kauffman
Stadium tonight for the opener of a four-game series with the Royals.
Chicago comes
Angels return home to host Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels return home from a six-day road
trip in first place in the American League West. The two-time defending
division champions will try to stay on top when they start up a four-game
series
Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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