The Atlanta Braves haven’t been a baseball betting man’s best friend this season, but they’ve got a good chance to put one in the win column on Sunday when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks.  We’ve also got a nice pair of canine Braves’ fans hoping that their owner will hook them up with some Chick-Fil-a sandwiches.  Both Atlanta and Arizona come into this game in last place in their respective divisions, though the Diamondbacks are in a deeper hole than the Braves.  Atlanta is 17-19 on the season, while Arizona is 15-22.  This game goes at 10:35 AM Pacific from Turner Field:

ATLANTA BRAVES VS. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS:

Arizona won on Saturday, beating up on the Braves’ bullpen to produce an 11-1 final.  Atlanta’s problem this season has been offense or, more specifically, a lack thereof–the Braves have the 4th worst team batting average in the NL.  They do hit the ball better at home, where they’ve got a .265 batting average and are putting up around 5 runs a game.  The good news for Atlanta is that their pitching has been decent.  Tim Hudson gets the start today and he’s pitched well despite not getting a lot of run support.  Hudson checks in with a 2.64 ERA overall and a 2.13 mark at home.  He’s been even better in his last three starts, allowing a total of 4 ER.   Atlanta’s bullpen ERA will no doubt take a hit after Saturday’s implosion, but heading into that game they were a solid 3.34 ERA overall and 1.24 at home.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, have received brutal work from their bullpen.  Arizona’s relief corps doesn’t bring out ‘the gas can’–they come with flamethrowers.  The D-Backs bullpen entered Saturday’s game with a 7.49 ERA overall and an 8.10 mark on the road.  Dan Haren has pitched reasonably well at times this year, and has a 4.23 ERA overall.  Worth noting that Hudson has owned Arizona throughout the course of his career–his team is 5-1 against the D-backs when he starts and he’s got a 1.61 ERA against them.  Of course he hasn’t pitched against them in several years due to injury.  Overall, we just think the Braves have a lot more upside as a team and with Hudson’s solid work this year we’re not hesitant to lay the small price.  Atlanta has done well at Turner Field this year (9-5) while Arizona is just 8-11 away from home.

PLAY ATLANTA (HUDSON) -120 OVER ARIZONA (HAREN)