Braves' trip continues with stop in Arizona

Baseball Betting Lines

06/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves cooled off a bit out West at the start of their 11-game road trip. A trip to Arizona to facing the struggling Diamondbacks should be enough to get them rolling again.

National League East-leading Atlanta kicks off a four-game series tonight at Chase Field against Arizona, which hopes it has turned the corner since its horrid 10-game losing streak.

The Braves kicked off their road trip with four games versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and took Thursday's opener to stretch their winning streak to nine games. However, they then lost two of the next three versus Los Angeles, including Sunday's 5-4, 11-inning defeat.

Atlanta's Martin Prado went 3-for-6 with a homer to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, while Brian McCann also went deep for the Braves. Prado is hitting .404 (21-for-52) with seven RBI and 12 runs scored over his run.

Tim Hudson gave up four runs -- three earned -- over seven-plus frames, while Jesse Chavez allowed the winning run in the 11th inning after the Braves, who are still 20-6 since May 10, left 11 men on base.

"We had the lead but couldn't keep it," said Braves manager Bobby Cox. "We had 100 opportunities to win the game, a lot more than they did, but we couldn't get the big hit."

Atlanta owns a two-game edge over second-place Philadelphia in the NL East standings and is likely to be without Chipper Jones for a fifth straight contest tonight due to a right finger injury.

The Braves might not need Jones, considering the way they have played against Arizona as of late. They have won five of their last seven overall meetings with Arizona and six of the last nine played between the teams at Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks notched an 11-1 win at Atlanta on May 15 in the middle set of a three-game set, but the Braves responded with a 13-1 rout the following day to take the series victory.

Dan Haren suffered the loss on that day for Arizona, allowing seven runs -- six earned -- over a season-low 4 1/3 innings. He fell to 3-2 with a 6.44 earned run average lifetime against the Braves and will seek some revenge tonight.

Haren is just 5-4 with a 4.83 ERA this year, but he might have turned a corner last time out. After going 1-3 over his previous four starts with a 7.92 ERA and 10 homers allowed, he pitched eight shutout innings on Tuesday versus the Dodgers, working around seven hits without a walk and seven strikeouts.

"Every pitch I threw was 100 percent effort. I felt good. I'm starting to feel like I did in the past," said Haren after tossing a career-high 126 pitches.

The 29-year-old righty did not factor into the decision versus Los Angeles, a game his club lost 1-0 in extra innings, and he faces a Braves starter tonight in Derek Lowe that has won three straight times.

Lowe, who turned 37 last Tuesday, is 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA over his last five starts since allowing seven runs in a loss to the Phillies on May 7. He got his revenge on Philadelphia Wednesday, limiting the club to a run on six hits over a season-high eight innings while striking out a season-best seven batters.

The right-hander improved to 8-4 with a 4.44 ERA on the season and is 6-8 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 career starts versus Arizona.

The Diamondbacks will try to snap Lowe's win streak one day after a tough 3-2 loss to Colorado and Ubaldo Jimenez in the finale of a three-game series. Arizona managed just Conor Jackson's two-run homer in the eighth inning, snapping a 21-inning scoreless drought versus Jimenez while ending the hurler's personal consecutive scoreless-innings run at 33.

Arizona nearly got to Jimenez in the first inning, loading the bases on an error, walk and single. However, Chris Young hit into an inning-ending double play.

"We made a run at the end, but we missed a few opportunities early, especially in the first," Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said. "We were a foot away from not only scoring first, but also making Jimenez get to maybe 40 pitches in the first inning, which changes the entire complexion of the game."

Arizona, which had won the first two contests of the series to snap its losing streak at 10 straight, set a club record with its seventh one-run game in a row as it opened a 10-game homestand.

Shortstop Stephen Drew did not play for Arizona on Sunday after suffering a right finger injury the previous night and is day-to-day.

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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

MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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