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06/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves winless starter Kenshin Kawakami will try to get in on the action when he takes the mound for Friday's second portion of a four-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.
Kawakami hasn't won since August 31 of last season and is 0-7 with a 4.66 earned run average in 10 starts this year. The National League East-leading Braves are 3-7 when Kawakami takes the hill this season, but won his last outing with a 5-2 verdict over Pittsburgh on Sunday. Kawakami limited the Pirates to two runs in 6 2/3 frames, marking the third straight time he has lasted at least six innings.
The Japanese right-hander, who is 0-6 with a 5.29 ERA in six road starts, faced the Dodgers for the first time in a 2-1 win at Chavez Ravine back on August 8, 2009. Kawakami did not record a decision despite hurling seven shutout innings and allowing four hits with four strikeouts.
Another performance like that tonight would most likely send the Braves to their 10th straight win. They made it nine in a row with last night's 4-3 victory over Los Angeles in the opener of this series, as Troy Glaus hit his 10th home run of the season and Yunel Escobar finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The Braves are riding their longest winning streak since a team-best 15-game run from April 16-May 2, 2000 and sit three games ahead of Philadelphia in the division.
Glaus, the NL's Player of the Month for May, is riding a nine-game hitting streak in which he's clubbed four homers and driven in 15 runs.
Braves starter Kris Medlen earned the win, his third of the season, by holding the Dodgers to three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. Peter Moylan, Eric O'Flaherty, Takashi Saito and Jonny Venters went the rest of the way to preserve the win, with Venters getting the last out of the game to post his first save of the season.
"I started jumping ahead with my fastball because you can't throw a changeup the entire time," Medlen said. "I located real well, went in and out. It worked for me. It's a tough lineup, but I seemed to get through it."
Atlanta has won 24 of its last 32 contests and is a season-best 10 games over the .500 mark. It will also visit Arizona and Minnesota on the season-long 11- game road trip.
Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday and fell 1 1/2 games behind San Diego for the top spot in the NL West. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Dodgers and fell to 5-4 on the season after he was reached for four runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits and four walks over six innings.
Andre Ethier and James Loney both had two hits and Ronnie Belliard knocked in a run for the Dodgers, who rallied for three runs in the eighth before suffering the loss. Los Angeles was coming off a three-game sweep of the rival Arizona Diamondbacks and is 3-1 on a 13-game homestand.
"We're not really having real good at-bats," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said on the team's site. "The opposing pitchers' pitch counts have been really low. We're not having quality at-bats we had a week or so ago. We have to fight our way out. I hope those runs in the eighth got us started. We've been trying to do too much."
The Dodgers will also host the Cardinals and Angels on their season-long homestand. They are 18-9 in Hollywood this season and will send Clayton Kershaw to the mound Friday night. He is 4-1 with a 1.08 earned run average in his last five starts and recently beat the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Sunday. Kershaw tossed five innings of two-run ball and struck out nine batters in a 4-3 win.
Kershaw, who lost his previous start at the Cubs despite giving up one unearned run in a 3-0 setback, pushed his overall mark to 5-3 to go along with a 2.95 earned run average.
The left-hander is 3-2 in six home starts this season and will face Atlanta for the second time in his career. Kershaw squared off with Kawakami last August and delivered seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball with 10 strikeouts.
Los Angeles lost four of seven meetings with Atlanta a year ago, while the Braves have won the last four matchups between the clubs -- all at Dodger Stadium.
<< Trio of FBS transfers joins Georgia State
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Georgia State football program continues to
stockpile FBS transfers, adding former Georgia Tech offensive linemen Joseph
Gilbert and Clyde Yandell, and former Auburn tight end Bailey Woods, GSU head
coach Bill
<< AL Central: The aftermath of the Call Heard 'Round the World
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball's latest, and perhaps most
compelling, argument for more instant replay came during the ninth inning of
Detroit's 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians Wednesday night.
Tigers' right-hander Armando Galar
<< Cavaliers GM Ferry resigns
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny
Ferry has resigned, the team announced.
Ferry had been the team's GM since June 2005, and the Cavaliers, led by LeBron
James, made the playoffs in every season durin
<< NL West: There's no need to freak out on Lincecum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum loses back-to-back starts and the entire city
of San Francisco goes into a panic.
Oh my word, the two-time defending National League Cy Young honoree is mired
in a slump and may need Life Alert for the rest
Giants bring up Burrell >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants recalled outfielder
Pat Burrell from Fresno on Friday and optioned outfielder John Bowker to their
Triple-A affiliate.
Burrell, 33, was previously released by the Tampa Bay Rays aft
Mass. gov raising funds with Lakers' Magic Johnson >>
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick is taking advantage of the NBA Finals being played in Boston to hold a re-election campaign fundraiser featuring Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson.The hoops legend and
Back sidelines Shockey from start of minicamp >>
METAIRIE, La. (AP) -Saints coach Sean Payton says Jeremy Shockey unexpectedly sat out the first practice of minicamp because of a recent onset of back spasms.Payton says Shockey's absence from practice had nothing to do with the star tight end's hos
Rays activate catcher Shoppach >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays have reinstated catcher
Kelly Shoppach from the 15-day disabled list.
Shoppach had been sidelined since April 11, undergoing surgery April 19 to
repair the meniscus in his right knee
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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