MLB Betting: Braves Hope Hot May Continues Into June
It's the proverbial 'two teams headed in different directions' matchup Tuesday night at Turner Field when the Atlanta Braves host the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tuesday night's ESPN broadcast has suddenly taken on more meaning after the Braves dropped the Phillies from the top spot in the AL East on Monday afternoon. Atlanta's 9-3 Memorial Day win continued two recent trends on the baseball front: The Braves' hot play and Philadelphia's struggles.
Atlanta closed May with a 20-8 mark, 11-2 over the final two weeks of the month. The Braves will start June 29-22 and up 3.4 units at the baseball betting window.
Philadelphia was 16-12 in May, which isn't too bad until you see the Phils dropped nine of their last 13 contests. The Phillies are just a half-game behind the Braves in the division at 28-22 and down about $3.33 on the year.
Charlie Manuel and his troops will turn to left-hander Cole Hamels (7-3, 3.82) in Game 2 while Bobby Cox trots Tim Hudson (6-4, 2.24) out to the mound. Early numbers put 135-140 chalk on the Braves with a 7 ½-run total.
Hudson's fine pitching has contributed heavily to Atlanta winning his last four starts, but it's been the Braves offense that has helped to turn things around. The club's current six-game winning streak includes a 7.0 scoring average. In dropping four of the first six 2010 meetings with the Phils, the Atlanta lineup scored 14 runs combined.
Braves hitters actually started their surge once the team left Philly following a three-game set May 7-9. It has certainly helped that Atlanta's schedule since then included the Brewers, Diamondbacks and Pirates twice. However, the Braves also took on some decent pitching belonging to the Mets, Reds and Marlins.
Hudson took on the Phillies here at Turner Field in April, tossing six innings and allowing two runs. The Braves were facing Roy Halladay in that game and failed to cross the plate in Philadelphia's 2-0 triumph.
Offense, specifically the lack of, has also been the major factor in Philadelphia's recent slide back into the standings. The club has been blanked in five of its last seven losses. The way the club has been swinging, Halladay was lucky to have gotten one run to win Sunday's perfect game.
Like the Braves, Hamels enjoyed the month of may with the Phillies 4-1 in his five starting assignments. The southpaw worked a total of 33 innings with a 2.45 ERA, whiffing 27 and walking just 11 on the month.
One of those wins came at the expense of the Braves in Philadelphia on May 9. Hamels burned through 97 pitches in his five innings and allowed all three Atlanta runs.
Angel Campos, now working his third full season in the big leagues, is slated to call the pitches for this game. Home favorites are 4-5 when he's behind the mask, and the 'over' sports a strong 8-2 trend. However, he's worked just one game with a total of eight or less, and it went 'under.'
Rain could hamper the affair with a 40 percent chance called for in Atlanta on Tuesday. Look for a first-pitch temp in the low-70s and relatively light SSW winds (out to right-center).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
It's the proverbial 'two teams headed in different directions' matchup Tuesday night at Turner Field when the Atlanta Braves host the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tuesday night's ESPN broadcast has suddenly taken on more meaning after the Braves dropped the Phillies from the top spot in the AL East on Monday afternoon. Atlanta's 9-3 Memorial Day win continued two recent trends on the baseball front: The Braves' hot play and Philadelphia's struggles.
Atlanta closed May with a 20-8 mark, 11-2 over the final two weeks of the month. The Braves will start June 29-22 and up 3.4 units at the baseball betting window.
Philadelphia was 16-12 in May, which isn't too bad until you see the Phils dropped nine of their last 13 contests. The Phillies are just a half-game behind the Braves in the division at 28-22 and down about $3.33 on the year.
Charlie Manuel and his troops will turn to left-hander Cole Hamels (7-3, 3.82) in Game 2 while Bobby Cox trots Tim Hudson (6-4, 2.24) out to the mound. Early numbers put 135-140 chalk on the Braves with a 7 ½-run total.
Hudson's fine pitching has contributed heavily to Atlanta winning his last four starts, but it's been the Braves offense that has helped to turn things around. The club's current six-game winning streak includes a 7.0 scoring average. In dropping four of the first six 2010 meetings with the Phils, the Atlanta lineup scored 14 runs combined.
Braves hitters actually started their surge once the team left Philly following a three-game set May 7-9. It has certainly helped that Atlanta's schedule since then included the Brewers, Diamondbacks and Pirates twice. However, the Braves also took on some decent pitching belonging to the Mets, Reds and Marlins.
Hudson took on the Phillies here at Turner Field in April, tossing six innings and allowing two runs. The Braves were facing Roy Halladay in that game and failed to cross the plate in Philadelphia's 2-0 triumph.
Offense, specifically the lack of, has also been the major factor in Philadelphia's recent slide back into the standings. The club has been blanked in five of its last seven losses. The way the club has been swinging, Halladay was lucky to have gotten one run to win Sunday's perfect game.
Like the Braves, Hamels enjoyed the month of may with the Phillies 4-1 in his five starting assignments. The southpaw worked a total of 33 innings with a 2.45 ERA, whiffing 27 and walking just 11 on the month.
One of those wins came at the expense of the Braves in Philadelphia on May 9. Hamels burned through 97 pitches in his five innings and allowed all three Atlanta runs.
Angel Campos, now working his third full season in the big leagues, is slated to call the pitches for this game. Home favorites are 4-5 when he's behind the mask, and the 'over' sports a strong 8-2 trend. However, he's worked just one game with a total of eight or less, and it went 'under.'
Rain could hamper the affair with a 40 percent chance called for in Atlanta on Tuesday. Look for a first-pitch temp in the low-70s and relatively light SSW winds (out to right-center).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
