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.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.

Football Betting Lines

The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.

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Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.

Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.

A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.

Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.

Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.

And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.

2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win

Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1

Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1

Donald Brown (IND) 5/1

Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1

Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1

Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1

Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1

Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1

Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1

Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1

Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1

Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1

Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1

Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1

Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1

Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1

LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1

Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2

Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1

Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1

Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1

Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1

Jason Smith (STL) 40/1

Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1

Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1

Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1

Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2

Pat White (MIA) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 9/1

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