Baseball Betting: Atlanta Braves at San Diego Padres
Added on Aug 28, 2012 by Jack Thurman in
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The San Diego Padres have improbably been the hottest team in baseball over the past six to eight weeks and they’ll try to keep their momentum going against an Atlanta Braves team trying to run down the Washington Nationals. Entering Tuesday’s action Atlanta had narrowed Washington’s deficit in the NL East to 5 games–actually most of the progress they’ve made has been a function of the Nationals’ recent struggles (lost 4 straight) than anything they’ve done right.
Atlanta Braves at San Diego Padres
August 29, 2012 3:35 PM Pacific
The Padres have won nine straight games pending the outcome of Tuesday’s contest with Atlanta and this game sets up well for them regardless of that result. San Diego has actually been a decent team for most of the year–they started the season in poor form but since the first month of the campaign have played .500 baseball. In the last month they’ve been much better than that. In the month of August the Padres have gone 16-9 for a profit of +11.4 units. Atlanta has gone 14-12 for a small loss.
Braves will start veteran Tommy Hanson who has recently returned to the starting rotation after a stint on the DL. In two starts since his return he’s been inconclusive–in theory allowing 7 ER in two games isn’t horrible but the fact they came against weak hitting Los Angeles (before their recent trades) and San Francisco is a concern. The Padres will counter with southpaw Eric Stults who has pitched well this season–he’s got a 2.72 ERA as a starter this year and completely dominated the Braves in a game at Turner Field on August 13. Stults pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up 5 hits and only 1 earned run.
Not only is Stults’ impressive recent form–and the Padres torrid August–a concern but so is the Braves struggles against left handers all season long. Atlanta is 23-26 against left handers for a -6.2 unit loss. Given the pitching advantage for the home team and the recent profits that the Padres have generated we have no problem taking them as a small home underdog. The Braves may be the better team but at this stage of the season the Padres are playing better baseball–and at a value price.
Bet San Diego Padres (Stults) +120 over Atlanta Braves (Stults)
