Braves, Brewers conclude set at Turner Field

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves are shooting for a split of a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday afternoon, when the two ballclubs wrap up a lengthy set from Turner Field.

The Braves have dropped two in a row and three of four games since a four-game winning streak and were beaten, 6-3, in Saturday's contest. Tim Hudson was aiming for his 10th win of the season, but was rocked for six runs, including five in the seventh inning, in 6 2/3 innings to fall to 9-5 on the year.

"I wasn't nearly as crisp as I would have liked to be in the seventh," Hudson said after the game.

Matt Diaz hit a two-run homer and Eric Hinske added a solo blast for the Braves, whose lead in the NL East slipped to 4 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia. The New York Mets are five games behind the Braves.

Struggling Braves starter Derek Lowe gets the nod this afternoon and has lost three straight trips to the hill. He is only 1-4 with a 4.22 earned run average in his last seven starts, with the Braves going 2-5 over that period.

Lowe last pitched in Sunday's 3-0 loss against the Mets and allowed two runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings, falling to 9-8 in 19 starts to go along with a 4.35 earned run average.

The right-hander, who is 6-3 in nine home starts this season, beat Milwaukee back on May 12 at Miller Park with six innings of two-run ball in his team's 9-2 win. He is 4-1 in 10 career games (8 starts) against the Brewers.

Milwaukee is playing good baseball right now and will try to win its second straight series today after sweeping Pittsburgh in three games prior to taking two of three matchups so far with the Braves.

Chris Narveson threw six innings of two-run ball and John Axford struck out two batters over 1 1/3 innings of relief for his 11th save. Prince Fielder homered to lead off the decisive seventh inning and Corey Hart stroked a three-run double to highlight the frame.

The game got a little heated as Fielder led off the eighth. The first pitch from Atlanta reliever Jonny Venters sailed over the head of the All-Star first baseman. Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez immediately issued a warning to both benches, but the lefty's next pitch drilled Fielder in the back, resulting in an ejection for him and Braves manager Bobby Cox.

"I was just trying to go right at him," Venters said. "The first one was a breaking ball and it got away from me a little bit. The second pitch was a sinker and it just ran away from me. Unfortunately, it hit him. There was nothing intentional about it. It was a three-run game."

Milwaukee will visit the Pirates for four games after this set and will hand the ball to Manny Parra on Sunday. Parra is just 3-6 with a 4.65 earned run average in 26 games, nine of which have been starts, this season. He was 2-0 in three outings before losing to San Francisco the previous time out on July 8 at Miller Park.

Parra was shelled for six runs -- four earned -- and 10 hits in five innings and has now lost three of his last five decisions. The lefty is 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA in two relief appearances against the Braves this season and is 0-1 in four career games (2 starts) in this series.

The Braves had won five straight and seven of their last eight versus the Brewers before losing on Friday.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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