Braves take hot streak into Pittsburgh

Baseball Betting Lines

05/09/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - 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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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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