Braves avoid sweep in Pittsburgh

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Prado, Derrek Lee, and Alex Gonzalez each drove in two runs to back Derek Lowe's solid performance on the mound, as the Atlanta Braves handled the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, to avoid a three-game sweep at PNC Park.

Omar Infante and Matt Diaz had an RBI apiece for the Braves, who snapped a three-game skid. Atlanta remained a half-game behind Philadelphia in the NL East standings after the Phillies beat the Marlins. The Braves still lead the wild card race by 1 1/2 games over San Francisco, which is in action against Arizona.

Lowe (12-12) gave up one run on eight hits over six innings to improve to 10-0 over 10 career starts versus Pittsburgh. The 37-year-old righty was pitching for the first time since August 29 due to lingering soreness in his pitching elbow.

Pedro Ciriaco, Brandon Moss, and Jose Tabata each drove in a run for the Pirates, who were trying to sweep the Braves for the first time since April 29-May 1, 1994. Pedro Alvarez had three hits in defeat.

Zach Duke (7-13) lasted just one-plus frame, giving up four runs on six hits. Daniel McCutchen came on in relief and was charged with four runs -- three earned -- on five hits over 1 1/3 innings.

The Braves dominated the game from the start. With one out in the first inning, Jason Heyward, Prado, and Lee hit consecutive singles to plate the game's first run. Diaz walked two batters later to load the bases. Gonzalez followed with a two-run single to center to make it 3-0.

Pittsburgh loaded the bases with two outs in the home first, but Ryan Doumit struck out.

Atlanta scored another run in the second. Lowe doubled, Infante singled, and Heyward walked to load the bases with nobody out. Duke was removed from the contest in favor of McCutchen. Prado popped out before Lee walked to force in a run. The next two batters were retired to keep it a 4-0 game.

The visitors put a four-spot on the board in the third to open things up. Gonzalez and Melky Cabrera started the frame with back-to-back singles. Lowe put down a bunt that went right back to McCutchen, whose throw to third was way off the mark. Gonzalez scored on the play. Infante's infield single plated another run. After Heyward grounded out, Prado hit a two-run single to give the Braves an 8-0 lead.

Diaz's sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth made it a nine-run game. The Pirates, though, got the run back in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, pinch-hitter Lastings Milledge, Andrew McCutchen, and Tabata hit consecutive singles to plate a run.

The Pirates scored two runs off Christian Martinez in the ninth. Alvarez led off with a double and scored on pinch-hitter Ciriaco's double. Jason Jaramillo walked and Alex Presley singled to load the bases. Moss' infield single scored a run. Billy Wagner came in from the bullpen to record the final out of the game.

Game Notes

The Braves won the season series with the Pirates, 6-3...Pittsburgh finished a six-game homestand with a 3-3 mark...Atlanta ended a six-game road trip with a 2-4 record...Pirates rookie Neil Walker extended his hitting streak to 15 games...Pittsburgh had homered in a season-high seven straight games...Ciriaco and Presley each recorded their first hit in the big leagues.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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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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