Braves take hot streak into Pittsburgh

Baseball Betting Lines

05/09/2008 - (Baseball Betting) - The Atlanta Braves will try to stay unbeaten this month as they open a seven-game road trip with tonight's first of four straight games against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Atlanta is coming off a perfect six-game homestand in which it swept both Cincinnati and San Diego at Turner Field. In Thursday's 5-4 victory over the Padres in the finale of a three-game series, Matt Diaz ripped an RBI single in the ninth inning to score Yunel Escobar, who went 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored. Greg Norton drove in two runs for the Braves.

Jo-Jo Reyes started on the mound for Atlanta, but left in the third inning with a blister on the index finger of his left hand. He gave up two runs -- one earned -- on five hits in 2 2/3 innings of work. Buddy Carlyle then took the mound in place of Reyes, but left in the fifth after colliding with Kevin Kouzmanoff. Carlyle had let up one run on one hit with a walk in two innings.

Manny Acosta was credited with the win after getting the final out of the top of the ninth.

The Braves are 4-11 away from home this season and have dropped four straight on the road.

Taking the ball for Atlanta tonight will be veteran Tom Glavine, who is just 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts this season. Glavine, who hasn't recorded a win since beating Houston last September, made his second start since coming off the disabled list with a hamstring injury Sunday versus Cincinnati. He gave up six runs and seven hits with five walks in 4 2/3 innings of a 14-7 win over the Reds, his second straight no decision.

Glavine faced the Pirates on March 31 of this season and did not factor in his team's 12-11 setback. In that game he allowed two runs -- one earned -- in five frames.

The lefty is 22-12 with a 3.09 earned run average in 44 career starts against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is coming off a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants to open a seven-game homestand. Freddy Sanchez went 3-for-5 with two runs scored in Thursday's 5-4 victory, while Jason Bay went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Ryan Doumit drove in a pair of runs for the Pirates, who have won four of their last six contests.

Bucs starter Paul Maholm yielded four runs on six hits in six innings of work for the no decision. Franquelis Osoria got the win for pitching one inning of scoreless relief.

The Pirates are 9-7 in the Steel City this season.

Ian Snell gets the call for the Pirates on Friday, and he is 2-2 with a 5.09 ERA in seven starts this season. Snell is 0-2 in his last four trips to the mound, as he was roughed up for four runs and 10 hits in six innings Sunday at Washington.

Snell faced the Braves on March 31 and did not record a decision after surrendering four runs and seven hits in six innings. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 4.96 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against Atlanta.

Pittsburgh won two of three games against the Braves from March 31-April 3 at Turner Field. Atlanta went 5-1 in last season's series, with a 2-1 record at PNC Park.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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