Braves complete sweep of punchless Phillies

Baseball Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Omar Infante drove in the game-winning run in the eighth as the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 2-1 win at Turner Field.

Infante, who replaced Chipper Jones in the fifth inning after Jones left with inflammation on his right ring finger, went 2-for-2 while Martin Prado added two hits and a run scored for the Braves, who have won eight straight for the first time in almost seven years.

The last time the Braves had an eight-game winning streak was a run from July 4-11, 2003. That team went on to win 101 games that season.

Derek Lowe (8-4) won his third straight start as he was charged with just one run on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts over eight innings of work.

Jayson Werth drove in the lone run while Brian Schneider scored that run for the Phillies, who have dropped nine of their last 11 games during which the team has scored just 14 runs.

Kyle Kendrick went seven innings in the start and was charged with just one run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Jose Contreras (2-2) was tagged with the loss.

With the score tied in the eighth, the Braves grabbed the lead with Contreras on the mound. Nate McLouth led off with a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt from pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera. After Prado struck out, Jason Heyward was issued an intentional walk. Infante followed with a bloop single to right just over the head of Chase Utley to bring home McLouth for a 2-1 lead.

Billy Wagner worked around a two-out walk to Ben Francisco in the ninth to pick up his ninth save of the season.

The Braves struck in the first inning as, with men on first and third and no outs, Jones hit into a double play that scored Prado.

Atlanta nearly took a 2-0 lead in the second as Troy Glaus hit a long fly ball to left, but Raul Ibanez leapt at the wall and got his glove on the ball to keep it from going out, limiting Glaus to a double. Eric Hinske then struck out and Yunel Escobar lined out back to the mound with Kendrick turning the double play to escape the inning.

Philly got the run back in the third on an RBI single from Werth that plated Schneider. Wilson Valdez followed with a bunt single to load the bases, but Utley hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

After giving up a leadoff single to Ryan Howard in the fourth, Lowe got Francisco to pop out and Raul Ibanez to hit into a double play. Lowe then retired the next nine batters in order.

Greg Dobbs led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Schneider. Pinch-hitter Ross Gload then grounded out to move Dobbs to third and Werth was issued an intentional walk, but Valdez flied out to end the inning.

Game Notes

The Braves are 12-7 in day games this season, including a perfect 9-0 at home...Atlanta now embarks on a season-high 11-game road trip, starting with a four-game set in Los Angeles on Thursday...The Braves are an MLB-best 19-6 at home this season...Despite the loss, the Phils lead the National League in road wins with 15, compared to 14 losses...The Phils fell to 9-10 in days games this season...Philly just finished a road trip with a 2-7 mark for the first time since 2006. The team returns home to face San Diego for a four-game set starting on Friday.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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