Braves' Hudson aims to shut down Mets in series finale

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Offense has been tough to come by for the Mets in their current series with the Braves. It should be even tougher tonight with Tim Hudson, the National League's earned run average leader, set to take the hill.

Hudson will try to win his fifth straight start over New York and pitch Atlanta to its second four-game sweep of the Mets in two seasons tonight at Turner Field.

The Mets have plated just six runs over the first three games of this set, dropping last night's contest 4-1. Luis Hernandez drove in the lone run and Mike Pelfrey yielded four runs on nine hits over five innings to take the loss, New York's sixth in eight games.

"Obviously I have to get back to executing pitches," said Pelfrey. "That is the name of the game. I didn't execute very many pitches tonight. That's a good team over there."

Atlanta, meanwhile, plated nine runs in each of the first two games before getting two RBI last night out of Martin Prado and another from Jason Heyward, who finished with four hits to lift his batting average to .536 (15-for-28) over a seven-game hitting streak with a pair of homers and eight RBI.

Tommy Hanson allowed just one hit and a walk over seven scoreless innings to pick up his first victory since July 3.

"My pitches felt really good," said Hanson. "I worked really hard in between starts trying to get my fastball command going. I felt like I did that today."

Atlanta, which maintained a three-game lead over Philadelphia for first place in the NL East, won a fifth straight game for the first time since June 16-20 and will try to post its first six-game winning streak since a season-best nine-game run from May 26-June 3.

The Braves, who swept a four-game home set over the Mets on May 20-22 in 2008, have a good chance of doing so tonight given that they have won 16 of their last 22 overall versus the Mets and 12 of the past 15 meetings at Turner Field.

Having Hudson on the mound will also help.

The 35-year-old is 6-0 over his last eight starts with a 1.43 ERA, lowering his season ERA to a league-best 2.24 to go along with a 15-5 mark. After posting consecutive no-decisions, Hudson bested the Marlins on Saturday after giving up just a run on six hits over seven innings with a career-high 13 strikeouts.

His performance caused manager Bobby Cox to throw out some high praise afterwards.

"Reminded us of old [Tom] Glavine and [Greg] Maddux and Smoltzie [John Smoltz]," Cox told Atlanta's website.

"He had such great stuff that he wasn't going to give up much no matter what the score was."

Hudson has beat the Mets both times he has faced them this year, posting a 0.69 ERA. The righty held them to a run over six innings on Aug. 2 to win his fourth straight start over the club, improving to 12-5 with a 3.43 ERA lifetime against New York.

The Mets will throw out their best in hopes of avoiding the sweep as Johan Santana takes the mound. The southpaw has lost each of his last three starts though despite a respectable 3.91 ERA as the Mets have scored just five runs in that time.

Santana did allow four runs on eight hits over seven innings of his last setback, a 4-1 loss to the Astros on Saturday. He fell to 10-9 this year with a 3.02 ERA.

The 31-year-old lost to Hudson and the Braves on Aug. 2 after allowing four runs over seven innings with nine strikeouts, falling to 2-6 in 11 career starts against Atlanta despite a 2.31 ERA.

Wlucky7 Baseball Betting News

<< Phillies make a quick stop at Colorado
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Given how well the Phillies have played out west over the last week, they certainly won't mind staying there for an extra game. It doesn't hurt that its a matchup against the Rockies either. Philadelphia will try

<< Mound Presence: A's lefty Braden faces Yankees again
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics starter Dallas Braden won't have to worry about Alex Rodriguez running across his pitching mound this afternoon due to the slugging third baseman currently being on the disabled list. Braden, making hi

<< LPGA Taiwan to start in 2011
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The LPGA Tour announced Thursday that the LPGA Taiwan has been scheduled for October 2011 at Sunrise Golf & Country Club. The LPGA-sanctioned event will be co-sponsored by the Golf Associati

<< Skidding Indians head out west to battle Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians will take their four-game losing streak out west for seven straight games starting with tonight's opener of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. The Indians are coming off

<< Twins seek to sweep Tigers out of Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins will continue their homestand tonight and try for a second sweep of the Detroit Tigers this season in the finale of a three-game series at Target Field. The Twins have wo

USA finishes unbeaten in FIBA preliminary round >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Gordon scored a game-high 21 points, leading the United States in a 92-57 rout of Tunisia to finish up an unblemished record in the preliminary round of the 2010 FIBA World Champio

Golf Course Review - TPC Jasna Polana >>
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS AND STATS: Course Architect: Gary Player (1998). Year Opened: June, 1998. Location: Princeton, New Jersey. Slope: 144. Rating: 74.8. Par: 72. Yardage: 7,098. Hole-by-Hole: 1 - Par 4 396 Yds 10 - P

Temple Owls hope to rule MAC roost >>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Here's a first: Temple is picked to win the MAC.Gone are the days when it seemed like a winless season for the Owls was a real possibility. Coach Al Golden says fans approach him asking for a bowl game in a warmer climate and coun

Saluki Stadium opens tonight >>
Carbondale, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Football Championship Subdivision's newest stadium will debut tonight when Southern Illinois christens $25.3 million Saluki Stadium against NAIA program Quincy University. Saluki Stadium, which sits 15,0

Padres extend affiliation with Single-A Fort Wayne >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres announced Thursday that they have extended their player development contract with the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Fort Wayne is San Diego's Single-A affiliate in the Midwest League, and

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Sheets

NFL Office Pool Sheets

MySportsbook.com is considered one of the finest online sportsbook according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is offering a free printable NFL football office pool sheets. Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury. Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football pool sheets needs.

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.