Padres go for series win over Braves in Dixie

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Outstanding play at home and the ability to hold late leads are the main reasons why the Braves own the top spot in the National League East.

The Padres overcame both last night.

After an extra-inning victory on Wednesday allowed San Diego to leap past Atlanta for the best record in the league, the NL West-leading Padres go for a series victory over the Braves this afternoon in the finale of a three-game set at Turner Field.

The Braves came into last night's contest 33-12 at home this year and 45-1 when leading after eight innings, but both of those marks took a hit after the Padres tied the game off Atlanta closer Billy Wagner in the ninth inning before claiming a 6-4 victory in 12 innings to even this set.

Wagner inherited a two-run edge in the ninth, but served up a pinch-hit solo homer to Scott Hairston and an RBI double to Yorvit Torrealba to blow just his fourth save in 26 chances this year.

"They jumped on [Wagner's] fastball. Looking back on it, we should have probably thrown more off-speed pitches," said Braves catcher Brian McCann, who belted a two-run homer in the loss.

Nick Hundley then delivered a pinch-hit, two-run double with two outs in the 12th inning to earn his team its fifth win in six games. Heath Bell then struck out the side in the bottom of the frame for his 27th save.

"I took a pretty good pitch to hit 1-0. I wish I would have swung at that one, but then fortunately, I got another at 1-1," Hundley said.

At 55-38, the Padres moved back ahead of the Braves (55-39) for the top mark in the NL and lead the Giants by four games for the top spot in the NL West. The Braves, who have split their first six games since the All-Star break, still lead the Mets by 6 1/2 games for first place in the NL East.

The Braves will try to take today's rubber match with All-Star Tim Hudson set to take the mound.

Hudson is 9-5 with a 2.60 earned run average this year, but has alternated wins and losses over his last seven starts. He allowed a season-high six runs in a loss to the Brewers on Saturday, lasting 6 2/3 innings while also getting charged with six hits and four walks.

The 35-year-old righty is a perfect 4-0 with a 4.14 ERA in eight games (seven starts) lifetime versus the Padres, including a win on April 15 in which he allowed just two runs over 5 2/3 innings of work.

San Diego's Clayton Richard will try to avoid his first loss since June 19 today, though he has been flirting with trouble over his last three outings. Richard has pitched to an 8.00 ERA in that span, yielding a total of 16 runs.

Following consecutive no-decisions, the left-hander beat the Diamondbacks on Saturday even though he gave up five runs on nine hits over 6 1/3 innings. Richard is still 3-0 over his last five outings and 7-4 with a 3.52 ERA on the season.

The 27-year-old Richard is 0-2 with a 10.57 ERA in two career starts against the Braves, who beat him on April 14 after Richard gave up three runs over 5 1/3 frames of work.

The Braves took two of three from the Padres in San Diego from April 12-15 and have won eight of the last 11 played at Turner Field in the series.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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