Basketball Betting

Braves send Hanson to hill in finale with Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

04/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Heyward has already made his presence felt during his very brief time in the major leagues. Another of the Atlanta Braves' young phenoms will be trying to make a quick impact when the team concludes its season-opening three-game series with the visiting Chicago Cubs tonight at Turner Field.

Taking the mound for Atlanta this evening will be Tommy Hanson, who like Heyward, broke into the majors amidst a ton of hype when he debuted last season. The 23-year-old certainly didn't disappoint, as he won his first five decisions in an Atlanta uniform and finished the year with an 11-4 record and a sensational 2.89 earned run average. The gifted right-hander also struck out 116 batters in 127 innings and allowed two runs or fewer in 14 of his 21 starts.

Hanson, who will be taking on the Cubs for the first time, went 7-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 11 Turner Field starts during his rookie campaign. The Braves had an 8-3 record in those contests.

He'll be attempting to give Atlanta a sweep of this set, with Heyward playing a key role in each of the team's first two victories. The 20-year-old outfielder smacked a three-run homer in his first big league at-bat during Monday's 16-5 shellacking of the Cubs, then delivered an RBI double that helped lift the Braves to a 3-2 decision in Wednesday's second game.

Heyward, rated the game's No. 1 overall prospect by Baseball America in the preseason, has gone 3-for-8 with five RBI over the first two games of this series.

One of the longtime Braves turned out to be the hero in Wednesday's win, however, as veteran third baseman Chipper Jones belted a two-run homer off John Grabow in the bottom of the eighth that put Atlanta up by one.

"I took a chance [with the count] 3-1 that [Grabow] was going to throw a changeup, and I got a pitch up in the zone and put a great swing on it," said Jones of the blast.

Billy Wagner, signed over the winter to serve as Atlanta's closer, picked up his first save in a Braves uniform with a scoreless ninth. Peter Moylan got the win after keeping the Cubs off the scoreboard in the top of the eighth.

Chicago had taken a 2-1 edge with two unearned runs off Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens in the fifth, with Alfonso Soriano scoring on a bases-loaded error by Braves first baseman Troy Glaus and Ryan Theriot following with a go-ahead sacrifice fly.

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster was in line for the win after limiting the Braves to just one run and three hits over the first six innings. He struck out nine Atlanta hitters before exiting.

Chicago's Randy Wells, also coming off a very good first full year in the majors, will take the mound for the visitors in tonight's series finale. The right-hander was one of the few bright spots of the Cubs' disappointing 2009 season, putting together a 12-10 record with a 3.05 ERA in 27 starts after being called up from Triple-A Iowa in early May. He surrendered two or less runs in 17-of-27 outings following the promotion.

One of Wells' wins came against the Braves in Chicago last July, with the Illinois native firing six innings of two-run ball. He also pitched well in a no-decision at Turner Field a month earlier, holding Atlanta to a pair of runs -- one earned -- and only two hits over a strong seven frames.

Atlanta won four of the six 2009 meetings between these teams and took two of three from the Cubs in Chicago's lone visit to Turner Field.