Braves resume homestand with visit from Nationals

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08/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the Atlanta Braves are now without a future Hall of Famer for the rest of the season, they could be at least getting an All-Star back into the lineup Tuesday.

Aiming for a third straight victory, the Braves are expected to activate Martin Prado from the disabled list this evening before taking on the Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game series at Turner Field.

The Braves lost third baseman Chipper Jones a week ago due to a knee injury that required season-ending surgery. The 38-year-old hit just .265 on the season with 10 homers and 46 RBI, but Atlanta will miss his veteran leadership on the field as it aims to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Getting Prado back could help. The second baseman was hitting .315 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI before suffering a fractured finger on July 30. Manager Bobby Cox could shift him to the hot corner to replace Jones and leave Omar Infante at second.

Brooks Conrad was at third base for the Braves in Sunday's finale of a four- game series with the Dodgers, and his error in the eighth inning allowed the Dodgers to plate two runs and break a tie game.

However, David Ross drew a pinch-hit walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to get the Braves within one, and Melky Cabrera sent the Braves to a 4-3 victory when he followed with a two-run single.

"I kept hugging Cabrera after the game, after the big knock," Conrad said. "He came through, he came through big for us. I felt terrible after that (eighth) inning out there. Everybody is picking each other up. What a huge win for us."

Atlanta won for the seventh time in its last nine games and improved its MLB- leading home record to 42-16. The Braves also upped their edge over the second-place Phillies to 2 1/2 games.

While Prado's return could spark the Braves going forward, the club is also hoping to get something from left-hander Mike Minor in the 22-year-old's home debut this evening.

Called upon to replace the injured Kris Medlen (right elbow) in the rotation, the seventh overall pick of the 2009 draft made his major league debut last Monday in Houston and got a no-decision. Minor allowed four runs -- three earned -- on five hits and a walk over six innings, striking out five in his team's 10-4 loss.

"I don't think [Minor] was nervous, he didn't appear that way," said Braves manager Bobby Cox. "He had great mound presence and he made some pitches when he had to."

The Nationals' Scott Olsen makes his fourth start since returning from a stint on the disabled list that sidelined him for over two months. His first outing back came versus the Braves and he allowed two earned runs over six innings to get the victory, improving to 4-5 with a 5.65 earned run average all-time versus the club.

The lefty, though, has given up 12 runs over back-to-back losses since, including seven over just 1 2/3 innings of a setback to the Marlins on Wednesday. Olsen fell to 3-4 with a 5.11 ERA on the season.

After taking two of three from Arizona over the weekend, Washington capped Monday's off day by agreeing to a five-year deal with phenom Bryce Harper, the top selection of the 2010 draft. The 17-year-old inked a deal worth $9.9 million prior to last night's deadline to sign drafted players.

Harper is Washington's second straight No. 1 pick, and 2009 draftee Stephen Strasburg pitched five innings in Sunday's 5-3 victory over the Diamondbacks. Strasburg, making his second start since a stint on the DL, yielded three runs -- one earned -- in the no-decision.

"I just got to trust my abilities and trust my stuff," Strasburg said. "When I go out there, I really commit to the pitches and try to execute them the way I know I can. It's all about execution and really believing in yourself."

Josh Willingham and Ryan Zimmerman both homered in the victory, while Ian Desmond drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for the Nationals, who ended a six-game homestand at 2-4.

The Nationals have won five of nine over the Braves this year, but dropped two of three in Atlanta from June 28-30.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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