Struggling Braves try to snap skid vs. Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of 14-game winners square off this evening at Turner Field, where the suddenly-slumping Atlanta Braves will host the NL East-rival Florida Marlins in the second portion of a three-game series.

Atlanta has lost four in a row and its lead atop the National League East Division has shriveled down to just two games ahead of Philadelphia. The Marlins aren't too far off at 7 1/2 games off the pace and posted a 7-1 victory over the Braves in Friday's series opener thanks to four home runs.

Cameron Maybin and Logan Morrison started the game with back-to-back blasts, while Dan Uggla and Gaby Sanchez began the sixth inning with consecutive homers to put the game away. Uggla ended with two RBI and both Chad Tracy and Emilio Bonifacio recorded a pair of hits for Florida.

"We're playing good ball, so we're not counting ourselves out until the season is over," Maybin said of the Marlins, who are 5 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the National League Wild Card race. "We have to continue to go out and play hard and try to make a run."

The Marlins got eight strong innings of one-run ball from starter Chris Volstad last night and hope Ricky Nolasco can record his 15th win of the season when he takes the hill Saturday.

Nolasco has won two straight starts and is 9-2 with a 3.45 earned run average in his last 11 outings. He has thrown six shutout innings in consecutive mound appearances, last taking the hill in a 6-0 win at Pittsburgh on August 17. He fanned nine batters that day to improve to 14-8 in 25 starts with a 4.22 ERA.

The right-hander is 1-1 in two starts against Atlanta this season and 4-5 in 14 career meetings (13 starts) with the Braves.

Atlanta has dropped six of eight games and hope Tim Hudson can right the ship when he makes his 27th start Saturday night. Hudson is 5-0 over his last seven starts and has posted two straight no-decisions. In a 5-4 setback at Colorado on Monday, the Rockies were able to post four runs and seven hits in six innings off of Hudson, who fell to 14-5 with a 2.28 ERA this season. The right-hander has won nine of 12 decisions at home.

Hudson is 0-1 in two starts against Florida this season, but owns an 8-3 mark overall in 17 career starts in this series.

The Braves didn't get much out of young hurler Tommy Hanson last night after he surrendered seven runs -- six earned -- and eight hits in five innings.

"I left some balls up to start the game," Hanson said. "I never got into a rhythm, never really got anything going."

Rookie sensation Jason Heyward provided the scoring with a home run and ended with a team-best two hits in defeat.

The Braves and Marlins have split 10 matchups so far this season.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.

Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.