Braves shoot for series win over visiting Giants

Baseball Betting Lines

08/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves shoot for a series victory over the San Francisco Giants this afternoon, when the two playoff-hopeful clubs collide in the finale of a four-game set from Turner Field.

The National League East-leading Braves have won two of the first three meetings of this series and are coming off Saturday's 3-0 victory behind eight shutout innings from starter Tim Hudson. Hudson improved to 13-5 this season and struck out six batters, while Billy Wagner was able to record his 27th save. Wagner blew the save in Friday's 3-2 loss in 11 innings.

"Any time you bounce back from a loss is huge. Any starter, when you can get a nice lead in the game, it makes your job a lot easier. You can be aggressive and pound the zone and that's pretty much what I did," said Hudson.

Troy Glaus drove in two runs and Rick Ankiel had the other RBI for the Braves, who have won four of six games and lead the division by two games over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils lost to the New York Mets last night.

Atlanta will hand the ball to Derek Lowe this afternoon and he's 1-4 with a 4.50 earned run average in his last seven starts. Lowe did not record a decision in Tuesday's 3-2 loss versus the Mets, as he allowed just one run in six innings of work.

Lowe, who is 10-9 with a 4.44 ERA in 23 starts this season, has pitched well at home this season, going 7-3 in 11 trips to the Turner Field mound. He is 6-5 with a 3.00 ERA in 16 career starts against San Francisco and defeated the Giants back on April 10 this season at AT&T Park, where he fired six innings of one-run ball in his team's 7-2 victory.

San Francisco is still fighting for the top spot in the NL West, but Saturday's loss certainly spoiled any chances of pulling even with San Diego atop the division. The Padres also lost yesterday to maintain a one-game edge over the wild card-leading Giants, who have dropped three of four contests.

The Giants are 1 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia and St. Louis in the NL Wild Card standings.

Matt Cain started for San Francisco last night and was dealt the loss for surrendering all three runs and six hits in five innings. Pat Burrell had the only extra-base hit with a double in defeat.

"I made a couple bad pitches. I left that pitch a little over the plate to (Jason) Heyward and Chipper (Jones) did a good job of fighting the ball off inside. It came down to one pitch at the end and I made the pitch I wanted to and he (Glaus) beat me with a ground ball up the middle," said Cain.

Jonathan Sanchez will try to build off a solid outing when he takes the ball Sunday for the visitors. Sanchez threw six shutout innings and scattered three hits with nine strikeouts in Tuesday's 10-0 destruction of Colorado.

Sanchez, a left-hander, evened his road mark at 3-3 in 11 tries and is 8-6 overall in 23 games (22 starts) in 2010. He faced Atlanta in a 5-4 win on April 9 this season and was reached for three runs over 4 1/3 innings for the no-decision. Sanchez is 1-2 with a 5.48 ERA in six career games, four of which have been starts, against the Braves.

The Giants took two of three at home from the Braves in April and have won nine of the last 15 meetings, though they did lose three of four at Turner Field a season ago.

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American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.