Conrad's late slam helps Braves cook Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Conrad hit his second career grand slam during an eight-run eighth inning, as the Atlanta Braves rallied past the Florida Marlins, 10-5, in the second test of a three-game set between these two NL East rivals.

Martin Prado hit a solo homer for the Braves, who bounced back from a 7-6 loss in the opener of this series. Eric Hinske drove in two runs and scored once, while Jason Heyward had three hits and scored twice for the victors.

Jesse Chavez (2-1) tossed a perfect seventh to pick up the win.

Dan Uggla homered and knocked in three runs for the Marlins, who had a three- game winning streak snapped. Mike Stanton added a solo homer.

"It's not the first time [we blew a lead] and it won't be the last...It just so happens they stole one from us," Uggla said. "That's baseball."

Trailing 5-2, Atlanta exploded for eight runs in the eighth. Taylor Tankersley started the inning on the mound for Florida. Heyward singled, Chipper Jones reached first on Jorge Cantu's throwing error, and Brian McCann was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.

Jhan Martinez (1-1) came in from the bullpen and walked Troy Glaus to force in a run. Hinske followed with a two-run single to right to tie the game. Burke Badenhop then took over for Martinez on the hill. Alex Gonzalez put down a bunt and catcher Ronny Paulino threw to third, but the runner was safe to load the bases. Two batters later, pinch-hitter Conrad drove the ball into the seats in right for a 9-5 lead.

"In those situations you have to be confident as a pinch hitter," Conrad said. "If you're hesitant, you're probably not going to get the job done."

Jones knocked in another run later in the inning when he grounded into a fielder's choice.

Florida stranded the bases loaded in the ninth.

Prado's homer to left in the top of the first gave Atlanta the early lead. However, Florida plated a run of its own in the home half to tie the game. Chris Coghlan was hit by a pitch and Gaby Sanchez singled to put men on the corners with nobody out. After Hanley Ramirez struck out, Uggla drove in a run when he grounded out.

McCann's RBI single in the top of the third gave the Braves a 2-1 edge.

The Marlins, though, responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to go in front by two. Coghlan hit a one-out single and came around to score on Sanchez's double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Uggla smacked Kris Medlen's offering into the seats in left for a 4-2 advantage.

Atlanta put runners on the corners in the fifth, but McCann grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Stanton's homer to right in the sixth made it a 5-2 game.

Game Notes

Atlanta has won five of its eight matchups with the Marlins this season...The Braves' eight runs in the eighth was a season-high for runs scored in an inning...Uggla's homer was the 139th of his career, which moved him into sole possession of second place on the team's all-time home run list. Mike Lowell is the franchise leader with 143...Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez was ejected in the top of the fifth for arguing balls and strikes...Heyward extended his hitting streak to eight games...Braves starter Medlen lasted six frames, allowing five runs on eight hits. He fanned a season-high eight batters and walked one...Florida starter Anibal Sanchez went six innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked three.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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