Braves try to stop bleeding and extend season against 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.
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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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