Atlanta Braves vs. Florida Marlins
MLB Baseball Pick: Atlanta Braves -123 odds (August 9th 2011)
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Free from Doc’s Sports. Take #901 Atlanta Braves over Florida Marlins (7:10pm ET) As good as the Atlanta Braves have been all season long, they’ve managed to fly a little beneath the radar. With the Phillies dominating the entire National League, the Braves have sat comfortably in second place in the National League East. The Braves, however, own the fourth best record in baseball at 67-49 and are well-positioned to make another playoff run. If you break down exactly how Atlanta has done it this season, you can simply look to their pitching staff. They own the second best bullpen ERA in the majors and the eighth best starting pitcher ERA. They’re pitching staff is very deep and one of the young up and coming guns in their rotation is today’s starter Brandon Beachy. The rookie right-hander has made 16 starts, going 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA and he is just starting to figure things out. He has excellent stuff and figures to be a mainstay in Atlanta’s rotation for many years to come.

The Florida Marlins counter with right-hander Clay Hensley. Hensley has bounced around between the minor leagues and the big leagues for his entire 6-year career. He’s pitched mostly out of the pen, but was recently given a chance in the rotation and this will be only his fifth start all year. He hasn’t been particularly effective with a 4.46 ERA while walking just as many batters as he strikes out. And don’t count on the Marlins offense providing much of a boost as they have struggled to put runs on the board of late, partly because they have been ravaged by injuries. Their disabled list resembles a mash unit and they’ve only managed to score 3.07 runs per game in their last 10 contests. Their latest casualty was superstar Hanley Ramirez who is questionable for this matchup. With some of the regulars banged up, Beachy should have no trouble taking care of a weak Marlins lineup.

The Marlins have been one of the worst home teams in baseball this season evidenced by their 24-36 mark in Sun Life Stadium. They’ve been even worse of late at 10-25 in their last 35 home games. The Braves, on the other hand, have one of the better records away from home at 32-27. They look to take the second straight in this series and I expect them to do it behind the powerful arm of Brandon Beachy and a maligned Florida roster. Doc’s Sports is ready to kick-off the 2011 NFL Preseason on Thursday with a weekend card of winning selections!

Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Pick: Philadelphia Phillies -172 MLB Lines (July 8th 2011)
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Halladay will be aiming for his 12th win of 2011 when he leads the Phillies into a three-game series against their National League East rivals from Atlanta on Friday. He’s now (11-3, 2.44) and tossed his 6th complete game of the season in his return to Toronto as the Phillies won 5-3, and he gave up 3 runs on 8 hits, with 8 strikeouts and a walk. Halladay didn’t seem fazed at all as he stepped onto the mound where he became the best pitcher in baseball over 12 seasons, but you expect that out of the two-time (and reigning) Cy Young winner. Brandon Beachy (3-1, 3.23) came away with a no-decision in a 5-4 loss at home to Baltimore, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits over 5 innings of work, scattering 6 strikeouts with no walks along the way. The rookie has now allowed 3 runs or less in his last 8 starts. Unless Beachy can toss a shutout, it’s unlikely that the Braves will give him enough support for the win. Like the Phils on Friday night.