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07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves will attempt to wrap their 10-game homestand with a winning record tonight when they conclude a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at Turner Field.
Atlanta has taken two of the first three games of this set, including a 14-6 rout on Saturday, to improve to 5-4 on its current residency.
Willie Harris sparked yesterday's offensive explosion as he became just the second player in Atlanta history to have six hits in a game, matching Felix Millan, who turned the trick in 1970.
Harris went 6-for-6, including two triples, drove in a career-high six runs, and also scored four times for the Braves, who trail the New York Mets by 2 1/2 games for the lead in the National League East.
Chipper Jones added three hits, one a two-run homer, and knocked in four runs for the Braves. The run support was more than enough for starter Buddy Carlyle (5-2), who won his fourth straight decision after allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings.
Braden Looper (7-8) on the other hand, was victimized for seven runs and 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings for St. Louis, which has dropped two of three and fell to 4-5 on a 10-game road trip.
Chris Duncan had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Aaron Miles knocked in two runs in the setback.
Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen (shoulder) missed his fourth straight game due to a shoulder injury, but took batting practice yesterday and could be in the starting lineup tonight.
Brad Thompson earns the starting assignment this evening for the Cardinals. Thompson has jumped around this year as a starter and a reliever, but was on the hill to start St. Louis' game on Tuesday against Florida. The right- hander walked away with a loss, however, after allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings of a 4-0 loss.
Thompson is 4-3 with a 4.88 earned run average in 11 starts this season and 2-1 with a 5.55 ERA in 18 relief appearances.
The 25-year-old has faced the Braves just once in his career, coming out of the bullpen, and tossed two scoreless innings, yielding one hit in an 8-1 setback on August 6, 2005.
Atlanta's Jo-Jo Reyes will try again for his first major league win when he makes just his third career start tonight. Reyes earned a no-decision after a three inning debut on July 7 that saw him allow five runs in three innings at San Diego. However, his offense took him off the hook in the 8-5 loss.
He wasn't so lucky in his home debut against the Reds on Tuesday, as the left- hander was blitzed for four runs and eight hits over 6 1/3 innings of a 6-5 loss, his first in the big leagues.
This series marks the first 2007 meeting between these teams. Atlanta won four of six matchups with St. Louis last season and is 6-2 in its last seven games against the Cardinals at Turner Field.
<< Dodgers go for split with Mets in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers will try for a series split with
the New York Mets, and maintain their new lead in the National League West,
when the two clubs wrap their four-game series this afternoon at Dodger
Stadium.
Thanks
<< Peavy, Padres aim to get back on track against Phillies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jake Peavy will try for his first win in over a month when
his San Diego Padres conclude a four-game series with the Philadelphia
Phillies this afternoon at Petco Park.
Peavy's last victory came on June 19 against Baltimo
<< Unpack your bags: Rockies conclude road swing against Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies will try to end their road trip on a
positive note when they play the final contest of a four-game series this
afternoon with the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium.
The Rockies have lost two of three
<< Giants, Brewers wrap anticipated set in Milwaukee
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers will get one last look at Barry Bonds
at home this season when they try to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of
the San Francisco Giants this afternoon at Miller Park.
The Brewers came into this s
Darcis wins first ATP final at Dutch Open >>
Amersfoort, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis
upended unseeded Werner Eschauer of Austria in straight sets Sunday to win the
Dutch Open title.
It was the first career ATP championship for Darcis who came fr
Marlins' Ramirez leaves game with shoulder injury >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez left
the team's game against the Cincinnati Reds Sunday with an apparent left
shoulder injury.
Ramirez injured himself while swinging and missing at a pitch
Garcia and Harrington headed to British Open playoff >>
Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington
are headed to a four-hole playoff to decide the British Open Championship at
Carnoustie.
The duo, who finished regulation at seven-under-par 277, will play the
Chakvetadze tops Morigami in Cincinnati final >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze
downed Akiko Morigami of Japan in straight sets to capture the $175,000
Western & Southern Financial Open title.
Chakvetadze cruised to an easy first se
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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