Braves try to keep playoff hopes alive in finale with Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

09/19/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Chuck James looks for his third win against Florida in four decisions tonight when the Atlanta Braves close out a three-game series with the Marlins at Turner Field.

The Braves, who won 4-3 on Tuesday, are still clinging to faint playoff hopes. They trail San Diego by 5 1/2 games in the National League's wild card race, as the Padres beat Pittsburgh, 5-3, on Monday.

James, who'll be 26 in November, pulled himself to the .500 mark for the season with a 9-2 defeat of Washington on September 8 in Atlanta. He was roughed up in his last start, also against the Nationals, allowing six hits and three runs in 3 2/3 innings, getting a no-decision in an 8-5 Atlanta win on September 14.

He's faced the Marlins four times in his career - three starts - and is 2-1 with a 1.54 earned run average in 23 1/3 innings.

Florida goes with lefty Dontrelle Willis, who halted a five-start winless streak in his last outing.

The 25-year-old Oakland native scattered seven hits and allowed five runs over six innings on September 14 at Colorado, defeating the Rockies, 7-6, to snap a skid that had resulted in three losses and two no-decisions since August 14.

He dropped a 7-4 decision to the Braves on August 29 in Florida, allowing eight hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings. Willis is 6-5 in 18 lifetime starts against Atlanta with a 4.92 ERA.

On Tuesday, Brian McCann singled in the eventual winning run, as the Braves downed the Marlins, 4-3.

Jo-Jo Reyes (1-2) allowed one run on three hits, with seven strikeouts and three walks over five frames in his eighth big-league start for Atlanta. Yunel Escobar had three hits, and Matt Diaz notched a pair of hits and a pair of runs scored.

Rafael Soriano tossed a perfect ninth for his seventh save this season.

Florida lefty Chris Seddon (0-1) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings in the second start of his career. Miguel Cabrera ended 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs for the Marlins, who lost their third straight.

The Braves have won three in a row over the Marlins and now lead the season series 9-8.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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