Braves vie for more home success against road-challenged Mets
Baseball Betting Lines
08/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A return home for the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves was enough to get their offense back on track. For the visiting New York Mets, not so much.
Atlanta hopes to pick up its second straight victory on its seven-game homestand while dealing New York a third straight loss in this evening's middle portion of a three-game series at Turner Field.
The Braves batted just .190 over a recently-completed 3-6 road trip, but broke out for 11 hits in last night's 4-1 victory. Starting pitcher Tim Hudson then did his job, holding the Mets to a run over six innings.
Rick Ankiel, acquired from the Royals before the trade deadline, notched his first hit with the Braves -- a two-run single in the first inning -- and Chipper Jones homered in the seventh inning for his first long ball since July 15.
"I don't care how old you are, you can use a confidence boost," said Jones of his eighth homer of the season. "It was a good feeling."
The victory pushed Atlanta's lead over idle Philadelphia in the division to three games, while the Mets fell 7 1/2 games back of the Braves. Atlanta also improved its MLB-best home record to 35-13, while New York lost on the road for the 16th time in 21 games.
The Braves were without All-Star second baseman Martin Prado, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a broken right pinkie on Friday.
Carlos Beltran drove in New York's lone run with a fifth-inning double, while Johan Santana allowed four runs with a season-high 11 strikeouts over seven innings.
"It was a tough one," said Santana about the loss. "I came here and I knew that I had to step up. I didn't do my job, because to get a win here would put us closer to these guys. Instead it is the opposite. I tried to do my best but it didn't work out."
New York has lost three of its last four overall and has been outscored 18-2 over its last two games.
The Mets might like their chances tonight as long as knuckleballer R.A. Dickey can continue his surprising run. The 35-year-old is 7-4 with an excellent 2.32 earned run average on the season and snapped a four-decision losing streak on Thursday versus St. Louis.
Dickey allowed just four hits over 8 1/3 scoreless innings in that game and hasn't allowed a run in his last two starts. He picked up his first victory since June 23.
The right-hander faced the Braves for the first time as a starter on July 9 following a pair of previous relief outings. Dickey took the loss, however, yielding four runs -- three earned -- over 6 2/3 frames.
The Braves counter with Derek Lowe, who is just 1-4 with a 5.03 ERA over his last six starts. He lost to Washington on Thursday after getting charged with four runs on five hits over five innings of work.
The right-hander is 10-9 with a 4.58 ERA this year and 3-5 with a pair of saves and 6.61 ERA in 15 lifetime meetings with the Mets, nine of those starts. Lowe, 27, has lost both starts to New York in 2010 despite a 3.65 ERA.
The Braves have beaten the Mets in 12 of the last 17 overall meetings and are 16-5 at home versus them since the 2008 season.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will tonight be the night? Alex Rodriguez's quest to become the youngest player to 600 home runs continues this evening when the New York Yankees resume a three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadi
<< Rays, Twins resume four-game set at the Trop
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to move into sole possession of
first place in the American League East this evening when they continue their
four-game series with the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay is now ti
<< Nats seek to extend strong play in test with Diamondbacks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting their current West Coast trip off to a
successful start, the Washington Nationals will try to maintain their strong
play of late when the club continues a four-game series with the Arizona
Diamondbacks tonight a
<< A's shoot for another win over KC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics try to beat the Kansas City Royals
for the sixth straight time this evening when the two ballclubs continue their
three-game series at the Coliseum.
Trevor Cahill was absolutely brilliant for t
<< Dodgers hope to get lift from Lilly versus Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- With their backs squarely against the wall, the Los
Angeles Dodgers hope to receive an immediate boost from one of their new
acquisitions in tonight's showdown with the visiting San Diego Padres.
The two-time defending Na
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Injuries and inconsistency have plagued the two-time defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies all season long. Tonight they return to the location of one of their brightest points of this year. Roy Hallada
Cubs rookie to face potent Brewers offense in debut >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs' Thomas Diamond has waited a long time to
pitch in the major leagues. Luck might not be on his side tonight, given how
the Milwaukee Brewers swung the bats on Monday.
Diamond will make his major league deb
Report: Favre set to retire >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Favre has reportedly decided to
retire for a third time.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the future Hall of Fame quarterback
has informed Minnesota Vikings officials that he won't
Wolves waive Delonte West >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves have waived
guard Delonte West, who had just been acquired from Cleveland in a trade last
week.
West played the past 2 1/2 seasons with Cleveland and last year averaged 8.
Sim re-ups with Isles >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders have agreed to terms
on a one-year, two-way contract with forward Jon Sim.
Sim, 32, appeared in 77 games with the Islanders last season, posting 13 goals
and nine assists.
"Jon br
Teams that should be in: Stanford
Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds | |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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