Braves try to move closer to playoff spot against Nationals

Baseball Betting Lines

09/24/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Braves are hoping Brandon Beachy can extend his incredible unbeaten string this afternoon and move Atlanta closer to clinching the wild card berth.

Atlanta used a big offensive showing last night in the opener of a three-game series with Washington and got help elsewhere to expand the lead in the chase for the National League's final playoff position.

Dan Uggla accounted for four runs and the Braves scored three times against Stephen Strasburg in the first inning, holding on for a 7-4 victory.

The Braves won for just the fifth time in 13 games, pushing their NL wild Card lead over St. Louis to three games with just five to play. The Cardinals lost to the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

"We don't have many games left and we have to take care of our business over here and then worry about whatever happens with them," said Uggla.

Strasburg (0-1) got his first decision in four major league starts since coming back from Tommy John surgery, but it was a losing one.

He settled down after a shaky first inning but came out of the game after four innings -- the fourth straight time since his return that he pitched six innings or fewer.

"That was not typical him," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "He was throwing more than he was pitching and his location isn't as good when that happens."

Tim Hudson (16-10) improved to 14-3 lifetime against the Nationals franchise despite lasting just 5 2/3 innings and giving up three runs on nine hits.

Jayson Werth hit a solo home run for the Nationals, who were coming off a four-game sweep of the NL East-champion Phillies.

Atlanta has won each of the last four times Beachy has taken the mound, but the rookie right-hander hasn't received a decision in that span. During that time, Beachy has recorded 32 strikeouts. In fact, he's fanned at least seven in each of his last eight outings and is 4-0 over his last 11 appearances and hasn't lost since July 19 at Colorado.

Beachy fanned eight Mets batters Sunday and established the Braves' modern-day franchise record for strikeouts by a rookie pitcher. He now has 160 in 135 2/3 innings and broke the mark of 156 set by Irv Young in 1905.

This will be Beachy's third career start vs. Washington. He gave up seven hits and four runs over five frames in a 6-4 victory at Nationals Park on Aug. 3.

Chien-Ming Wang enters Saturday winless in his four career starts (0-3) vs. Atlanta and has a 4.18 ERA lifetime against the Braves. Wang has just one loss (3-1) over his last eight outings, and that came in Atlanta on Sept. 1 when he yielded seven hits and four runs over 5 2/3 frames.

Atlanta owns a slim 9-7 lead over Washington in the season series.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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