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06/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves winless starter Kenshin Kawakami will try to get in on the action when he takes the mound for Friday's second portion of a four-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.
Kawakami hasn't won since August 31 of last season and is 0-7 with a 4.66 earned run average in 10 starts this year. The National League East-leading Braves are 3-7 when Kawakami takes the hill this season, but won his last outing with a 5-2 verdict over Pittsburgh on Sunday. Kawakami limited the Pirates to two runs in 6 2/3 frames, marking the third straight time he has lasted at least six innings.
The Japanese right-hander, who is 0-6 with a 5.29 ERA in six road starts, faced the Dodgers for the first time in a 2-1 win at Chavez Ravine back on August 8, 2009. Kawakami did not record a decision despite hurling seven shutout innings and allowing four hits with four strikeouts.
Another performance like that tonight would most likely send the Braves to their 10th straight win. They made it nine in a row with last night's 4-3 victory over Los Angeles in the opener of this series, as Troy Glaus hit his 10th home run of the season and Yunel Escobar finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The Braves are riding their longest winning streak since a team-best 15-game run from April 16-May 2, 2000 and sit three games ahead of Philadelphia in the division.
Glaus, the NL's Player of the Month for May, is riding a nine-game hitting streak in which he's clubbed four homers and driven in 15 runs.
Braves starter Kris Medlen earned the win, his third of the season, by holding the Dodgers to three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. Peter Moylan, Eric O'Flaherty, Takashi Saito and Jonny Venters went the rest of the way to preserve the win, with Venters getting the last out of the game to post his first save of the season.
"I started jumping ahead with my fastball because you can't throw a changeup the entire time," Medlen said. "I located real well, went in and out. It worked for me. It's a tough lineup, but I seemed to get through it."
Atlanta has won 24 of its last 32 contests and is a season-best 10 games over the .500 mark. It will also visit Arizona and Minnesota on the season-long 11- game road trip.
Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday and fell 1 1/2 games behind San Diego for the top spot in the NL West. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Dodgers and fell to 5-4 on the season after he was reached for four runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits and four walks over six innings.
Andre Ethier and James Loney both had two hits and Ronnie Belliard knocked in a run for the Dodgers, who rallied for three runs in the eighth before suffering the loss. Los Angeles was coming off a three-game sweep of the rival Arizona Diamondbacks and is 3-1 on a 13-game homestand.
"We're not really having real good at-bats," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said on the team's site. "The opposing pitchers' pitch counts have been really low. We're not having quality at-bats we had a week or so ago. We have to fight our way out. I hope those runs in the eighth got us started. We've been trying to do too much."
The Dodgers will also host the Cardinals and Angels on their season-long homestand. They are 18-9 in Hollywood this season and will send Clayton Kershaw to the mound Friday night. He is 4-1 with a 1.08 earned run average in his last five starts and recently beat the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Sunday. Kershaw tossed five innings of two-run ball and struck out nine batters in a 4-3 win.
Kershaw, who lost his previous start at the Cubs despite giving up one unearned run in a 3-0 setback, pushed his overall mark to 5-3 to go along with a 2.95 earned run average.
The left-hander is 3-2 in six home starts this season and will face Atlanta for the second time in his career. Kershaw squared off with Kawakami last August and delivered seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball with 10 strikeouts.
Los Angeles lost four of seven meetings with Atlanta a year ago, while the Braves have won the last four matchups between the clubs -- all at Dodger Stadium.
<< Trio of FBS transfers joins Georgia State
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Georgia State football program continues to
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coach Bill
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball's latest, and perhaps most
compelling, argument for more instant replay came during the ninth inning of
Detroit's 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians Wednesday night.
Tigers' right-hander Armando Galar
<< Cavaliers GM Ferry resigns
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny
Ferry has resigned, the team announced.
Ferry had been the team's GM since June 2005, and the Cavaliers, led by LeBron
James, made the playoffs in every season durin
<< NL West: There's no need to freak out on Lincecum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum loses back-to-back starts and the entire city
of San Francisco goes into a panic.
Oh my word, the two-time defending National League Cy Young honoree is mired
in a slump and may need Life Alert for the rest
Giants bring up Burrell >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants recalled outfielder
Pat Burrell from Fresno on Friday and optioned outfielder John Bowker to their
Triple-A affiliate.
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Mass. gov raising funds with Lakers' Magic Johnson >>
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick is taking advantage of the NBA Finals being played in Boston to hold a re-election campaign fundraiser featuring Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson.The hoops legend and
Back sidelines Shockey from start of minicamp >>
METAIRIE, La. (AP) -Saints coach Sean Payton says Jeremy Shockey unexpectedly sat out the first practice of minicamp because of a recent onset of back spasms.Payton says Shockey's absence from practice had nothing to do with the star tight end's hos
Rays activate catcher Shoppach >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays have reinstated catcher
Kelly Shoppach from the 15-day disabled list.
Shoppach had been sidelined since April 11, undergoing surgery April 19 to
repair the meniscus in his right knee
The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.
Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.
The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.
Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.
Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.
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