Braves try to carry momentum into series vs. Nats

Baseball Betting Lines

09/07/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After rallying for a big win two days ago, the Atlanta Braves will hope for an easier time tonight when they begin a three-game series with the Washington Nationals at Turner Field.

The Braves trailed 8-2 on Wednesday against the Phillies before plating four runs in the eighth. Matt Diaz then sent the club home winners as he hit a bases-clearing double in the ninth with two outs to lift Atlanta to a 9-8 victory.

Willie Harris homered for the Braves, who improved to just 2-4 on their current nine-game homestand. The club is 7 1/2 games behind the Mets for the top spot in the NL East and 5 1/2 games off the pace in the wild card race.

Atlanta starting pitcher Tim Hudson surrendered five runs on a season-high 11 hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five frames. Rafael Soriano (3-3) earned the win with a scoreless ninth.

Brian McCann, though, left the game in the eighth with a bruised left ankle and is questionable for tonight's game.

The Braves are set to send John Smoltz to the hill tonight. Smoltz is 12-7 this year with a 3.09 earned run average and is coming off a loss last time out on Sunday versus the Mets. He allowed three runs on nine hits over seven innings in that one.

Smoltz has faced the Washington franchise 65 times in his career, 38 of them starts, and is 19-11 with 17 saves and four complete games. The right-hander also has a stellar 2.63 ERA against the Expos/Nationals after besting the club on June 27 behind five shutout frames.

Washington comes into Friday's game red hot, as the club has won five straight games. The Nationals just completed a three-game sweep of the Florida Marlins with a 6-4 victory on Wednesday.

Austin Kearns homered and scored three times in the win, while Brian Schneider drove in a pair of runs.

Tim Redding started but left in the third inning after getting hit on his right elbow by a sharp grounder. Jonathan Albaladejo made his major-league debut in relief of Redding and tossed 1 2/3 hitless frames, while Luis Ayala (1-2) picked up the win after working a flawless seventh. Chad Cordero took care of the ninth for his 31st save of the campaign.

Joel Hanrahan will try to turn in his second solid outing when he toes the rubber for the Nationals tonight. Hanrahan picked up a win Saturday over the Giants behind six innings of one-hit, one-run ball. He also walked just one batter to improve to 4-2 with a 5.14 ERA.

The right-hander will be making just his eighth career start tonight and first against the Braves.

Atlanta holds a 7-5 edge over Washington this season and has won five of six at Turner Field.

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With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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