Braves' Hanson hopes to end winless drought versus Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

09/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A matchup at home versus the struggling New York Mets should translate into Tommy Hanson's first victory in nearly two months, but things just haven't gone the right-hander's way as of late.

Hanson will look to halt his winless stretch at 10 straight starts this evening, when the Atlanta Braves try to make it five straight victories overall in the third contest of a four-game set with New York at Turner Field.

Hanson has several factors working in his favor tonight. First is the fact that the Mets have lost 15 of their last 21 meetings with the Braves, as well as 11 of the past 14 played between the teams at Turner Field.

Run support has also been an issue when Hanson has been on the mound, but the Braves have plated 18 runs in the first two games of this set and have scored at least seven runs in six of their last nine contests.

Still, the fact remains that Hanson hasn't won since July 3, having gone 0-5 with a 3.08 earned run average in 10 starts since. He has also lost in each of his last two starts and served up four homers and seven runs -- six earned -- in a 7-1 loss to the Marlins on Friday.

"I left some balls up to start the game," said Hanson, who is 8-10 with a 3.76 ERA this year. "I never got into a rhythm, never really got anything going."

Luck hasn't been on his side when facing the Mets this year. He is 0-1 in two starts against the club, despite a 1.69 ERA.

Hopefully Atlanta can keep swinging a hot bat for Hanson in this contest. The club certainly did that on Tuesday, when David Ross capped a seven-run fifth inning with his first career grand slam to help the Braves to a 9-2 victory.

"That was a fun game," said Ross. "Any time I can succeed and contribute to a win feels good. It's just nice that I had a good game. I have to do my part whenever I get in there."

Derrek Lee added three hits and an RBI and Jason Hayward smacked a two-run double for the Braves, who have won four straight and maintained a three-game edge over Philadelphia for first place in the National League East. Atlanta will try to win five games in a row for the first time since June 16-20.

The Braves are expected to add more offense to the lineup today as rosters expand. The team is expected to promote first baseman Freddie Freeman, the International League's Rookie of the Year who hit .319 with 18 homers and 87 RBI for Triple-A Gwinnett this year.

Jeff Francoeur and Henry Blanco each drove in a run for the Mets, who have dropped five of their last seven. Francoeur was then traded to the Rangers for infielder Joaquin Arias after the game .

Jon Niese took the loss, though five of the eight runs he allowed over 4 2/3 innings were unearned.

"It's a combination of things," said David Wright. "Obviously we don't want to make errors and you hope that when you do make an error that the pitcher can pick you up. Unfortunately, neither one of those things happened. We made the errors and couldn't stop the bleeding. When you're facing a team this good, you can't give them extra outs."

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes missed his fifth game in a row due to a right oblique injury, while teammate Angel Pagan also sat out last night due to a right wrist injury that has him day-to-day.

The good news for the Mets is that Mike Pelfrey has seemed to regain his early season form that saw him start the year 10-2. The right-hander then went winless over seven straight starts and four consecutive decisions between June 30-Aug. 4, but is 3-1 with a 1.20 ERA over his last four starts.

Pelfrey has won each of his last two starts, going eight innings in both. He held Houston to just six hits without a run on Friday, improving to 13-7 with a 3.61 ERA this year.

"Henry [Blanco] and I have gone back to the four-seam fastball," Pelfrey said in talking about his recent string of successful outings. "It's something we did earlier in the year and I've gotten back to using it again. [Friday] I was fortunate, I was pretty erratic to say the least. I felt like when it came time to, though, I made some pitches."

The 26-year-old Pelfrey is 2-2 with a 3.80 ERA in four starts versus the Braves this season.

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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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