The Atlanta Braves hopes for a win when they visit the defending Major League Baseball champion San Francisco Giants Friday evening in the current MLB season.The visiting Atlanta Braves (8-12) team is picked as underdog against the San Francisco Giants (10-8) due to the superior record of the latter in the ongoing MLB season. Read more
THE LOS ANGELES Dodgers hopes to improve its record record when they play host to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday evening in the current Major League Baseball season.The Los Angeles Dodgers (8-10) is the slight favorite prevail over the Atlanta Braves in their scheduled MLB game due to their home-field advantage. Read more
Rookie star Stephen Strasburg leads the Washington Nationals as they visit the toughest home team in baseball, the Atlanta Braves. First pitch is a 7 PM ET.
The Washington Nationals (33-43, 13-27 away) are coming off of the wrong end of a sweep at the hands of the cellar-dwelling Baltimore Orioles. They fell short by just a single run in each game.
The Nationals have now been swept three times in interleague play this season and have the worst interleague record in the majors at 3-12.
The Atlanta Braves (44-32, 26-8 home) have rebounded from a poor start to the season and now lead the NL East.
The Braves batting line-up will prove to be a big test for the rookie pitcher. Martin Prado sports a National League-best .334 batting average and leads the Braves with 108 hits. As a team the Braves have the best OBP in the NL at .348 and have top-five OPS at .745, hits at 656 and runs at 359.
Jason Heyward will likely miss the game. Heyward’s 45 RBIs is tops among rookies and his 11 home runs ranks second. The right fielder has been suffering from a sore thumb lately that’s seen his batting average drop from .337 in May to .181 in June. He will be getting an MRI today and will likely miss the game.
Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 1.78 ERA) may just be a rookie, but he should be used to being the story of the game. The pitching phenom is coming off of his first loss on Wednesday, but in four starts he has struck out a major league record 41 batters.
On the mound for the Braves will be Tim Hudson (7-3, 2.54 ERA). Hudson has a 4-1 record with an ERA of 1.87 in five starts at home.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves both had an excellent month of May and they hope to continue that success tonight in the first of a four-game baseball betting series at 10 PM ET.
The Atlanta Braves (31-22, 12-16 away) are in the hunt to return to the playoffs after missing the playoffs for the last five consecutive years after winning the division 14 consecutive times. They just swept a three game set against NL East rival the Philadelphia Phillies that gave them a 2.5 game lead in the division.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (31-22, 18-8 home) are on a four game winning streak, but they barely eked out three of those wins at the final at-bat. Andre Ethier hasn’t found his swing since returning from a broken pinkie finger. He is just 1 for 14 in three games despite hitting .360 on the year.
Hiroki Kuroda (5-3, 3.55 ERA) will get the start for LA. He struggled badly in his last start surrendering seven runs on 10 hits in just four innings of work against Colorado. He has just two career starts versus the Braves going 1-1 with a 1.20 ERA including a 1-hitter at Dodger Stadium in 2008.
On the mound for the Braves will be Kris Medlen (2-1, 2.85 ERA). Medlen has only just joined the rotation going 1-0 with a 3.22 ERA in just four starts. The right-hander hasn’t started against the Dodgers yet.
Now that the Atlanta Braves have completed their climb from the bottom to the top of the NL East, they’d like to extend their lead as they face division-rival Philadelphia Phillies. Tonight’s game starts at 7:10 PM ET and is the second in a three-game series.
Last night’s win vaulted the Atlanta Braves (29-22, 17-6 home) over the Phillies giving them top spot in the division. As recently as May 17, the Braves were the last team in the division sitting seven games back from Philadelphia. Their stretch of good play coincided perfectly with Philadelphia’s struggles and they’ve managed the improbable in taking the lead.
Chipper Jones had a two-run homer to set the tone in the first. Jones is hitting .340 in his career against the Phillies. His 44 career home runs versus Philadelphia is the most home runs he’s had against any team in baseball.
After going .194 in April, Troy Glaus capped off a much improved May in which he went .330 with a three-run homer.
A lack of run production is the main reason that the Philadelphia Phillies (28-22, 15-12 away) have fallen out of the top spot in the NL East. They have been shut out in five of their last eight games and have dropped nine of thirteen.
Ryan Howard’s play is symptomatic of the team’s struggles. The former MVP first baseman has a measly four hits in his last nine games.
Getting the call for Philadelphia is Cole Hamels (5-3, 3.82 ERA). Hamels dropped his first two career starts against the Phillies, but has been stellar since going 8-2 with a 3.70 ERA in 13 starts.
Tim Hudson (5-1, 2.24 ERA) will be starting for Atlanta. Hudson can blame the batters for his 0-5 career record versus the Phillies. He’s been getting just 1.70 runs while his ERA versus Philadelphia is 4.01. His lone loss this season came against the Phillies when Atlanta’s offense couldn’t muster a single run.
The Cincinnati Reds just captured top spot in the NL Central and would like to maintain their narrow lead with a win when they visit the struggling Atlanta Braves.
The Cincinnati Reds (23-16, 9-7 away) used a nine wins and one loss stretch to take the top spot in the NL Central from the struggling St Louis Cardinals. They have been getting solid performances from all over their lineup. Their team ERA is 2.20 over the last ten games; they are hitting .313 over the last twelve game; and they have just one error in their last 13.
The Reds are coming off of a dramatic win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Down by two in the ninth, Scott Rolen hit a two-run home run to tie things up. Then, a few batters later, Joey Votto hit a single that drove in the game-winning run giving the Reds their tenth win at the final at bat.
The Atlanta Braves (19-20, 11-6 home) are coming off of a ninth inning victory of their own over the New York Mets, but the victory came off of late-game gaffe’s rather than late-game heroics. Atlanta twice failed to advance runners on sacrifice bunts but were bailed out by a David Wright throwing error that gave the Braves the game-winning run.
For most of the season, Atlanta has been at the bottom of the division. Their improved play of late has helped them catch the Mets and climb out of the cellar. They have won 11 of their last 17 thanks partly to a streaky offense that put up 34 runs in four-straight wins before producing just five in a two-game series split with the Mets.
Kenshin Kawakami (0-6, 5.79 ERA) gets the call for the Braves who are hoping he can finally get his first win of the season. He has just one career start versus the Reds where he got torched for eight runs in just 4 2/3 innings of work.
Taking the mound for Cincinnati is the inconsistent Aaron Harang (2-5, 6.02 ERA). Harang is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA in three career starts against Atlanta.
The New York Mets visit the Atlanta Braves for the back half of a two-game series starting at 7 PM ET.
Both of these teams have fallen short of their pre-season expectations when they were expected to compete for first in the NL East. Instead they are struggling to stay out of last place with the Mets just a half game ahead of the last-place Braves.
The media sharks were circling in New York smelling a firing earlier this week when the chief operating officer met with the team managers. Nobody was let go, but it’s a long season.
The New York Mets (19-20, 5-12 away) snapped a five-game losing streak last night in a 3-2 win over Atlanta. They showed little to make Mets backers believe that they have left their losing ways behind as they were just 1 for 9 on the night with runners in scoring position.
Third baseman David Wright struggles against Atlanta. The Mets will need his bat to come alive to have a chance at winning. Wright is 2-for21 in six games against Atlanta. No one in the majors strikes out more than him as he has 52 strikeouts including six against the Braves.
The Atlanta Braves (18-20, 10-6 home) had managed to close the gap between them and the Mets by winning five of their last six and even briefly slipped ahead of them before last night’s loss.
Second baseman Martin Prado has been the biggest bright spot in an otherwise dull season for the Braves. Prado was the NL player of the week last week and he was 2-for-3 last night with a triple and an RBI.
The Mets send pitching ace Johan Santana (3-2, 3.88 ERA) to the mound. Santana is just 1-4 in seven starts versus the Braves, but he has had virtually no run support getting no more than two runs in any one game.
In just his second career start, Kris Medlen (1-1, 2.35 ERA) gets the call. Medlen has faced the Mets in a relief role four times striking out six and holding the Mets scoreless for 6 1/3 innings.
The Washington Nationals (14-12, 8-6 home) host the Atlanta Braves (11-15, 3-11 away) in the second of a three-game series in a night game at 7 PM ET.
The Washington Nationals put an end to Atlanta’s three-game win streak with a 6-3 win last night. They are well on their way to having the best season since moving to Washington and are just a game back of top spot in the NL East. Closer Matt Capps leads the league with 11 saves.
The Atlanta Braves road woes continued last night as they have now lost eight in a row away from home and have a 3-11 road record. Their glory days are now barely a memory as the Braves sit last in the NL East.
Rookie Jason Heyward‘s play gives some hope for the future. The right fielder is sixth in the National League with a 1.038 OPS and is batting .289 with 8 homers. Four of those home runs have come in the last five games where he has gone 9-for-16.
Tommy Hanson (2-2, 2.17 ERA) will take to the mound and try to stem the tide of road losses. Hanson is 2-0 in four quality starts versus the Nationals with a 2.28 ERA.
Getting the start for Washington is Luis Atilano (2-0, 2.25 ERA). Atilano is getting just his third start in the bigs after eight years in the minors. His first two starts both went six innings. He’s given up a total of three runs and still hasn’t surrendered a homer.
