Braves try to stop bleeding and extend season in Philadelphia
Baseball Betting Lines
09/28/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This is not where the Atlanta Braves wanted to be.
Once proud owners of a 10 1/2-game lead in the National League wild card standings, the Braves are mired in a four-game losing streak, but can still clinch a playoff spot tonight in the finale of a three-game series versus the rival Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field.
The Braves are now tied with St. Louis for the final postseason berth in the National League and can wrap up the wild card with a win and a Cardinals loss. If both teams are tied at the end of the day, St. Louis will host Atlanta for a one-game playoff Thursday evening at Busch Stadium.
In Tuesday's 7-1 loss to the Phillies in the second portion of this set, Braves starter Derek Lowe was ripped for five runs and six hits in four innings to suffer the loss. Martin Prado homered in the bottom of the ninth and Brian McCann finished with two hits for Atlanta, which has lost seven of its last nine contests. Atlanta has a 9-17 mark in September.
"It's just been a long year, my worst year by far. But with that being said, this isn't about me, it's about our team. We still have a chance," Lowe said.
It will be up to Tim Hudson to pitch the Braves into the win column when he takes the mound Wednesday. Hudson has won two straight starts and survived a 7-4 win at Washington the last time out on Friday, when he was reached for three runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. He improved to 16-10 in 32 starts to go along with a 3.23 earned run average.
Hudson has pitched well at home this season, going 10-4 in 18 appearances, and is 7-8 in 21 career starts against the Phillies. The righty lost at Philadelphia on Sept. 6 and gave up four runs in six innings of a 6-3 defeat.
Philadelphia has picked up its act with three straight wins since a season- worst eight-game losing streak. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Hunter Pence all homered last night for the five-time NL East champions, while starter Roy Oswalt hurled six scoreless innings for the win.
"It's always nice to put some runs on the board, especially early. Lately our pitchers have been having to go eight innings just to see one run get on the board," Rollins said.
The Phillies matched a club record with 101 wins, set a franchise mark with 49 road victories and saw manager Charlie Manuel match Gene Mauch for first place on the club's all-time wins list. The Phils won 101 games in 1976 and '77 and had 48 road wins in 1976 and 2009, while Manuel and Mauch each have 645 wins.
Joe Blanton gets the nod for the Phillies and will make his second straight start and fifth appearance since missing almost four months with shoulder inflammation. Blanton threw two scoreless innings in a 6-3 loss against the New York Mets on Saturday and is 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in 10 games (7 starts).
Blanton lost to the Braves back on May 14 and is 1-4 with a 5.47 ERA in 10 career games, nine of which have been starts, against them.
Philadelphia leads the season series with Atlanta by an 11-6 count and has won the last six meetings between the two clubs.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks will close out the regular season tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game series at Chase Field. The NL West-champion Diamondbacks are coming off an improbable win las
<< Bucs place S Grimm on IR
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Grimm started in the first three games this season for the Buccaneers,
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Morrow tries to cap his campaign with a flourish
this afternoon when the Toronto Blue Jays wrap up their season against the
Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
After holding the New York Yankees scoreless for
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Consider that a year ago Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee had to beat out a returning senior quarterback for the starting job. Or that Delaware had two returning running backs who could have block
Patriots bring back DL Gerard Warren >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots have re-signed veteran
defensive lineman Gerard Warren.
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in 2010.
The 6-foot-4, 325-pounder was a firs
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The 30-year-old is being held for questioning by police after an incident in
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Huddlestone set for ankle operation >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone is set
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City
Top two teams in East meet on Friday night in Winnipeg >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle for supremacy in the East Division
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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