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Case of the Mondays: Acuna Beaned, Braves Swept


by - 8/20/2018

Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuna, Jr.

The Atlanta Braves were not happy with the Miami Marlins, but they still wish they could play every game against their National League East rivals. After all, Miami is last in the division and the second-worst team in the National League. The Braves swept the Marlins clean out of Atlanta but then promptly got swept in four games by the Colorado Rockies. While the Braves are in a serious division race, the New York Yankees are playing for second in the American League East and may be doing so without Didi Gregorius for a while.

All odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook .

Atlanta Braves . Ronald Acuna had homered in five consecutive games and had hit leadoff homers in three straight heading into last Wednesday. Marlins starter Jose Urena did not give him a chance to extend those streaks. On his first pitch of the night, Urena beaned Acuna in the forearm with a 97 MPH fastball. The benches emptied twice and Urena got ejected. An unhappy Atlanta team managed to polish off four-game sweep of Miami, but things only went downhill thereafter. In a four-game sweep suffered against Colorado, the Braves blew two save opportunities-including with a 3-0 lead, two outs, and nobody on base for the Rockies in the top of the ninth inning on Saturday. Colorado eventually forced extras and prevailed 5-3 in 10 innings. The Braves, who lead the Philadelphia Phillies by a half-game in the NL East, are even-money favorites to win the division.

Didi Gregorius . Gregorius was taken to the hospital after colliding with Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Kendrys Morales while beating out an infield single on Sunday. The 28-year-old shortstop sustained "a pretty bad bruise" on his left heel, according to manager Aaron Boone. "It's something that we'll kind of monitor over the next 24 hours," Boone noted. "It could potentially be a DL thing. So, not great there, but we'll just kind of see where we are [on Monday]. Nothing broken or anything like that, but he's got a pretty significant bruise on his heel. There's some swelling in there." The Yankees beat Toronto 10-2 and have won three in a row, but they still trail the Boston Red Sox by 9.5 games in the AL East. New York is +400 to win the AL Pennant and +800 to win the World Series.

Isaiah Wynn . You know that when Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has the audacity to actually praise you, especially when you're an unproven rookie, you're doing something right. Belichick had only good things to say about Wynn throughout training camp, but the offensive tackle out of Georgia has seen his regular season come to an end before it even started. Wynn suffered a torn Achilles' in New England's 37-20 preseason win over Philadelphia last Thursday night. The 23rd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft was battling Trent Brown for the Pats' starting left tackle position, and he would have also been in the mix at right tackle. New England is a +700 favorite to win the Super Bowl.

Zamir White . It was also not a good week on the injury front for one current Georgia player. White, the No. 1 running back recruit in the nation, tore the ACL in his left knee during a scrimmage. It is the freshman's second ACL tear, having sustained the same injury to his right knee last November while playing in high school. The road to recovery is a long one, and obviously one the will extend beyond this upcoming season. Georgia is a +295 second choice to win the SEC and +800 to win the National Championship.

Arsenal . New manager Unai Emery is now 0-2 in the early stages of his English Premier League career with the Gunners. On the heels of an opening loss to defending champion Manchester City, Arsenal saw its tough early-season schedule continue with a trip to Stamford Bridge for a date with Chelsea this past Saturday. Emery's offense got going for the first time after it got blanked by City 2-0, but two goals were not enough against the Blues. The Gunners erased a quick 2-0 deficit by finding the back of the net in the 37th and 41st minutes only to watch Chelsea come up with the game-winner nine minutes before stoppage time. Arsenal is a -245 favorite over West Ham this weekend.

C.T. Pan . No one had any business beating Brandt Snedeker at The Wyndham Championship, and no one did. But Pan came close, even taking a brief lead on the back nine during Sunday's final round. Snedeker matched him at 20-under with a birdie on the 15th hole and they eventually went to the 18th tied for the lead, playing one group apart. Pan double-bogeyed, all but ending his hopes for a first-ever title on the PGA Tour while handing the trophy to Snedeker. For good measure, the 37-year-old American drained a 20-foot birdie putt to cap off his victory in style. Snedeker went wire to wire in Greensboro, N.C. after beginning the tournament with a 59 on Thursday. He is +4000 to win The Northern Trust this week; Dustin Johnson is a +900 favorite.

Martin Truex Jr. Truex got spun out by Kyle Busch while battling for the lead at last Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 38-year-old kicked his car in frustration after being knocked out of the competition, while Busch got back on the track and eventually finished 20 th. "(It was) half his fault, half my fault for following the 14 (of Clint Bowyer) so long," Truex admitted. "I should've knocked his butt out of the way because he held me up for 15-20 laps and I burnt my front tires off screwing with him. So (I) just played too nice and got the crappy end of the stick." The development proved to be a favorable one for the Busch family, as older brother Kurt went on to take home the checkered flag.

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