Braves seek to bounce back in second test with Pirates

Baseball Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta's offense has been mostly shut down during its current stretch of four losses in five games. That is exactly what starter Tim Hudson has done to Pittsburgh over the last few years, though.

Hudson looks to extend a run of 22 consecutive innings of not allowing an earned run versus the Pirates, who continue a three-game set with the struggling Braves tonight at PNC Park.

Atlanta has been held to a pair of runs or less in each of its last four losses and is just 8-10 since Aug. 19. Those struggles have allowed Philadelphia to close within a half-game of the first-place Braves in the National League East.

The club should be glad to have Hudson, who hasn't allowed an earned run versus the Pirates since Aug. 23, 2006. He has won each of last three starts against them, including a May 21 outing in which he threw eight shutout innings and worked around three hits and four walks to improve to 5-3 with a 2.45 earned run average lifetime versus Pittsburgh.

The 35-year-old is coming off his first loss since July 17, as he had a six- decision win streak end on Thursday versus the Mets after allowing four runs -- three earned -- over seven innings. He dipped to 15-6 on the season, and his 2.30 ERA is tied for second-best in the NL.

The right-handed Hudson is also 5-2 with a 2.71 ERA in 13 road starts and hasn't lost as the guest pitcher since June 23.

Atlanta will try to supply its hurler with more offense than it managed last night, when David Ross plated the Braves' only run with a sacrifice fly. Derrek Lee added two hits and scored that run on his 35th birthday, while starting pitcher Tommy Hanson allowed three runs -- two earned -- in six innings to take the loss.

"We had some hits and we had some runners," said Atlanta manager Bobby Cox after his club left 10 men on base and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. "We just didn't get the big hit to get back in the game. We thought we were going to get it just about every inning, but it never happened."

Neil Walker paced the Pirates with a two-run homer, his fifth long ball on a 13-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .404 (23-for-57) with 16 RBI. Jose Tabata added an RBI and scored a run for the Pirates, who had lost seven of nine overall before the game and picked up just their second victory in seven meetings with the Braves this year.

Atlanta has still own eight of the last 12 overall in the series.

Stepping in for an injured Jeff Karstens (shoulder), Brian Burres gave up one run over six innings for Pittsburgh, working around five hits without a walk.

"I can't say enough of the job he did out there today," said Pirates manager John Russell about Burres after the game. "He kept us in the game. We knew coming in facing the three pitchers we're going to face that it's going to be tough and he did a great job for us."

James McDonald tries to put the brakes on a three-start slide this evening for Pittsburgh, a skid in which he has pitched to a 7.71 ERA.

The right-hander was charged with three runs over five innings in a loss to the Cubs on Wednesday, falling to 2-4 with a 5.03 ERA in six starts since being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

McDonald, 25, will be making his first career start versus the Braves but has faced them twice in relief, striking out five over four scoreless innings.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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