Astros, Braves finish off series in Dixie

Baseball Betting Lines

07/06/2008 - (Baseball Betting) - The Atlanta Braves will try to break out of their recent home funk this afternoon, when they wrap up a three-game series versus the Houston Astros at Turner Field.

Atlanta has lost four of five games at home, but still owns a 29-18 record as the host this season despite Saturday's 6-1 setback to Houston in the second test of this series. Brian McCann homered for the Braves, who have dropped six of seven games overall.

Starter Jo-Jo Reyes dropped his third start in a row after yielding six hits and four runs in just 4 1/3 innings of work.

Taking the ball for the Braves in Sunday's series finale will be Charlie Morton. In his first year in the big leagues, Morton is 1-2 with a 6.16 ERA in four outings.

Morton was hammered the last time out on Tuesday versus Philadelphia, as he gave up five runs on eight hits and two homers in just two innings of an 8-3 setback at home. The righty has never faced Houston.

The Astros earned their first win of the month (1-4) with last night's victory. Mark Loretta finished with three doubles and four RBI, while Carlos Lee and Miguel Tejada knocked in the other runs for the Astros.

Chris Sampson limited Atlanta to two hits and one run over five innings in his first start since May 25 to pick up the win.

Wandy Rodriguez will handle pitching duties for the Astros on Sunday, and he is 3-3 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 starts this season. Rodriguez last toed the rubber on Tuesday versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and did not record a decision, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings of a 7-6 loss.

The left-hander is 1-1 with a whopping 10.13 ERA in three career games (two starts) against the Braves.

This is the first series of the season between these teams. Atlanta and Houston split six games a year ago.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.