Braves top Cubs; Lilly ejected in first inning

Baseball Betting Lines

06/11/2007 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ted Lilly was tossed in the first inning for plunking Edgar Renteria and, though the Chicago bullpen pitched well for the first seven innings, everything fell apart for Ryan Dempster in the eighth, as the Atlanta Braves came back to top the Cubs, 5-4, and earn a split in their four-game set.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 3-for-4 with a double and a run, and Kelly Johnson homered for the Braves, who have won two in a row, but have lost six of their last nine games. Chad Paronto (3-1) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, and Bob Wickman picked up his 11th save.

Atlanta starter Buddy Carlyle gave up seven hits and four runs in 6 1/3 innings, fanning four for the Braves.

Michael Barrett and Mike Fontenot homered for the Cubs, who have dropped two straight after winning five of six. Dempster (1-3) gave up three hits, three runs, and walked three in an inning, and also had a wild pitch.

Dempster was brought on in the eighth, up 4-2, for a two-inning save, but couldn't even get out of the first inning with the lead. Saltalamacchia doubled off the wall in right, and scored on Scott Thorman's double. Pinch- hitter Willie Harris singled and stole second, and Johnson was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Yunel Escobar grounded into a double play, but the tying run came across, and Dempster's wild pitch allowed Harris to come home with the go-ahead run.

Tempers flared on both sides in the first inning, but only Lilly was sent packing. After striking out the first two batters of the inning, Lilly threw two balls to Renteria before firing the third pitch high and tight, hitting Renteria's left hand. Homeplate umpire Jim Wolf issued warnings to Lilly and both teams as Renteria started towards the mound, and the benches and bullpens cleared. No punches were thrown on either side, but Wolf apparently changed his mind about merely warning Lilly, and ejected the lefty, much to the surprise of both Lilly and manager Lou Piniella.

The seeds for the incident were planted on Saturday, when Atlanta pitcher Tim Hudson plunked Chicago outfielder Alfonso Soriano in the first inning, an obvious message after Soriano blasted three homers in Friday's game. Hudson, however, was not ejected for his actions.

Renteria appeared to exact his own revenge for the plunking later in the inning, as he followed through on his slide into second on a steal attempt and, though he was tagged out by Fontenot, Renteria clocked the Cubs second baseman with his left arm.

Johnson got the Braves on the board with his eighth longball of the season, a one-out solo blast in the third. Later in the inning, with two outs and runners at first and second, Jeff Francoeur poked a clutch single to left, plating another run.

Fontenot's RBI triple in the fifth got the Cubs one run, and Soriano tied things at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly later in the inning.

Barrett gave the Cubs the lead with his ninth homer of the season, a one-out solo shot in the sixth. Fontenot led off the seventh with a long fly ball to left that fell just over the fence and out of the reach of Matt Diaz, for the rookie's first career homer, handing Chicago a two-run lead.

Game Notes

This was Piniella's 3,000th career game as a manager. He is one of 17 major league managers to reach 3,000, and one of four active managers, including Atlanta's Bobby Cox (3,923)...Renteria remained in the game after being hit, but left in the fourth. X-Rays on Renteria's left hand were negative...Atlanta won the season series, 5-4.

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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

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MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

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

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