Braves down Phils; move closer to Mets in NL East

Baseball Betting Lines

08/12/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Johnson homered and drove in three as the Atlanta Braves held off the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-5, in the second of a three-game set.

Willie Harris and Jeff Francoeur each collected two hits and scored twice, and Francoeur added a solo homer for the Braves, who have won five of seven and leapfrogged the Phillies back into second place in the NL East, 2 1/2 games behind the New York Mets. The Mets lost to the Marlins, 7-5, on Saturday.

Braves starter Lance Cormier was tagged for seven hits and four runs in four- plus innings. Ron Mahay (3-0) tossed a scoreless inning of relief. Bob Wickman picked up his 19th save.

Struggling Phillies starter Adam Eaton (9-8) was ripped for eight hits and six runs in three-plus innings. Jimmy Rollins and Aaron Rowand homered for the Phils, who battled back from the early hole that Eaton dug for them, but still fell for the second time in three games.

Atlanta took the early lead with a Chipper Jones sacrifice fly in the first, and took a four-run lead in the third. Eaton ran into trouble with two outs, giving up a double to Harris and Johnson's 13th homer of the season, a blast to right. Chipper Jones followed with a triple down the line in left, and then Mark Teixeira tripled to left-center on a ball that bounced off the glove of Pat Burrell, putting the Braves up 4-0.

Rollins got one run right back for the Phils, hitting his 21st homer of the season, a solo shot to right with one out in the third.

Eaton couldn't keep the deficit to three, though, giving up a leadoff blast to Francoeur in the fourth and singles to Andruw Jones and Yunel Escobar, ending his night. Johnson came through with a two-out single to center, padding the Atlanta lead to 6-1.

The Phillies climbed back into the game with three runs in the fifth. Chris Coste and pinch-hitter Chris Roberson hit consecutive singles, and Rollins walked. Tadahito Iguchi doubled down the line in right, plating two runs, and Burrell singled to right, scoring another run and chasing Cormier. Mahay came out of the bullpen and, with runners at the corners and no outs, struck out Ryan Howard and Rowand before getting Greg Dobbs to ground out to end the inning.

The Braves added an insurance run in the eighth on Andruw Jones' RBI double off the wall in right-center. The Phillies pulled back to within two runs on Rowand's solo homer to right with one out in the eighth.

Game Notes

Eaton's NL-worst earned run average ballooned to 6.36...Teixeira has 12 RBI as a Brave, driving in a run in eight of his 10 games with Atlanta...Phillies catcher Coste went 2-for-4 and scored a run...Howard went 0-for-4 and left four men on base. Since a two-homer game against Florida on Tuesday, Howard has gone 2-for-13.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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