Crafty Stan will be trading the Florida Marlins match at the Atlanta Braves tonight, the matchup will start at ten past midnight. Stan will be trading with a starting bank of 100 points.

02:43am
As Radiohead once sung, 'No alarms and no surprises please' and Mike Gonzalez clearly had that in mind as he stepped up and pitched a terrific ninth inning to strike out three consecutive and earn himself a save, give the Braves a well earned victory for a well disciplined display and give us a winning trading session.
Hope you all enjoyed the game as much as me and don't forget to check out my Sunday selections on Priceform.
FINAL SCORE - Florida Marlins 2 Atlanta Braves 4
TOTAL PROFIT + 47.82 POINTS

02:32am
What has been a fascinating contest is soon to be completed. A solid inning of relief pitching from Doug Waechter sees no runs scored and just a single hit from Jeff Francouer.
Hopefully the Braves closer of the moment Mike Gonzalez can close it out and see the Atlanta unit victorious. End of the 8th Braves 4-2.

02:25am
The Braves close in on victory as the set up man Jeff Bennett comes in with a quick innings which included a walk and a double play to finish up. Middle of the 8th 4-2 Braves.

02:19am
A solid enough innings from Braves relief man Julian Tavarez keeps the scores the same, although he did give up one hit and an extra base on a wild pitch. Middle of the 7th 4-2 Braves.

Carnage begins to ensue at the one out stage as Martin Prado singles and is followed up likewise by Chipper Jones, seeing Prado reach third base.
This leads the Marlins to get fed up with Kensing and bring on Mark Hendrickson to pitch. Hendrickson has an immediate and potentially major effect by getting a double play to end the inning.
End of the 7th Braves 4-2.

01:55am
The liquidity is a little poor at present and is hampering trading a little.
Three up, three down from relief pitcher for the Braves, Logan Kensing, as the Marlins look as if they are ready to come up with some late hitting to create a 1.03 gubbing. At least I cannot lose from this position, which is always a strong position to be in.

End of 6th 4-2 Braves.

01:45am
Things have got a little sticky for the Braves as Marlins hit two consecutive doubles to reduce the deficit to 4-1. Hanley Ramirez was extremely close to getting a three run homer but was caught in deep left. Gonzalez then smoked a double to score in John Baker, although Paul DoLuca gets out trying to run home. 4-2 it is when Cantu gets walked and the Braves seem to be reeling as Jacobs comes in to face the music but thankfully for Braves backers, Morton gets his man. Thrilling stuff.
Middle of the 6th 4-2 Braves.

I may decide to equal up if the Braves fail to score here.

01:31am
Three more hitters come and go for Florida as Morton maintains his control. He has only threw 55 pitches so far in cutting off all scoring opportunities. His offensive team-mates will need to back him up. Middle of the 5th 1-0 Braves.

Sanchez is tired and has a total meltdown. He starts off by walking Anderson again, then Anderson steals second. Prado gets grounded out ensuring Anderson hits third. Chipper Jones is then intentionally walked leaving men at first and third and in enters Brian McCann who absolutely nails an 88mph fastball to right field for a three run home run. This could be all over bar the shouting.

Two quick outs follow but I want to zero my liability on Marlins and sit back to enjoy the game now.

End of 5th 4-0 Braves.

Time to trade out. 39.4 Points Lay of Atlanta Braves @ 1.03 This is a liability of 1.18 points of my potential Braves profit and will set my Marlins liability to zero.

Present Position:
BRAVES = +47.82
MARLINS = 0
01:13am
Sanchez again responds when needed and gets through three in a row to keep the Marlins afloat. This is turning out to be a surprise pitching duel. Trading opportunities are limited at present because I could do with the Braves to get a second run in order to close this one out.
End of the 4th 1-0 Braves.

01:10am
The chance of a perfect game or no hitter for Morton disappears with Luis Gonzalez hitting a one out single, but he responds brilliantly by forcing a double play off Jorge Cantu. This rookie had an earned run average of 6.39 pre-match and frankly you wouldn't believe it the way he is pitching tonight. However a note of caution for Braves fan and backers alike is that they need a bigger margin that one-to nothing. Middle of the 4th 1-0 Braves.

01:03am
Yet another perfect three up, three down for Morton. He seems possessed! Brilliant pitching tonight from the young lad!
Sanchez responds by getting three consecutive outs of his own. This is absorbing stuff. Both teams seem pumped.
End of 3rd - 1-0 Braves still.

00:50am
An RBI single from Martin Prado gives the Braves the lead, and it could have been more because there was runners at first and third when Chipper was batting. Luckily for Marlins fans, Sanchez was able to get the strikeout. End of Second 1-0 Braves.

Present Postion
BRAVES WIN = +49
MARLINS WIN = - 39.40

00:42am
Another perfect innings for Morton as he gets three K's in a row. Middle of the 2nd 0-0.
Time to top up. Lay Florida Marlins for 20 points @ 1.72. This is a 14.40 points liability.

00:33am
A quick three up, three down innings for Charlie Morton. He looks very confident tonight so will be interesting to see whether he can maintain control throughout. Middle of the 1st 0-0.

Anibal Sanchez gets off to a bad start by walking Josh Anderson but then recovers by forcing a double play. However dangerman Chipper Jones strides out and hits a single, and then makes second on a Sanchez throwing error. Things get worse for Florida as McCann and Escobar are both walked to load the bases. Kelly Johnson has a grand slam in sight but goes agonisingly close, picking out Jeremy Hermida in deep right. End of the 1st 0-0.

Tough start for Florida, shame I couldn't have some Braves runs to aid my trading.

23:55pm
Well we are close to the start now and I would just like to expand a little on why I think that the Braves are a worthwhile shot tonight.
Braves management has confirmed that they are using this last month to work out which players are worth keeping hold once the season is done. Usually teams with nothing but pride to play for can be dangerous because they are freed up. I am not confident enough to make this is a full-on match outright back because it is important to see how things begin.

With the total runs mark at 9.5 for this one, that does seem about right to me. I am never a fan of betting overs at Turner Field. Purely for interest purposes, I would probably be looking at unders but no recommendation on that.

23:18pm
Well the lineups are in, and are as follows:

Marlins - 1. Hanley Ramirez (SS), 2. Luis Gonzalez (LF), 3. Jorge Cantu (3B), 4. Mike Jacobs (1B), 5. Cody Ross (CF), 6. Jeremy Hermida (RF), 7. Dan Uggla (2B), 8. John Baker (C), 9. Anibal Sanchez (P)

Braves - 1. Josh Anderson (CF), 2. Martin Prado (1B), 3. Chipper Jones (3B), 4. Brian McCann (C), 5. Yunel Escobar (SS), 6. Kelly Johnson (2B), 7. Jeff Francouer (RF), 8. Brandon Jones (LF), 9. Charlie Morton (P)

Bearing in mind the fact that both teams have pretty comparable offensive names in their lineup and the big homefield advantage of Turner Field, I find it hard to accept Florida favouritism, so initially I will be backing Atlanta Braves for 25 points liability at the price of 2.16.

Look out for the power bats of Chipper Jones of the Braves and Jorge Cantu of the Marlins.
 

20:35pm
Good evening all, I will be trading up on this encounter tonight. The Marlins are slipping behind in the pennant race for the eastern conference of the National League of baseball and will be keen to put up a victory in this contest tonight. The Braves by contrast have had an abysmal season by their own high standards and are playing merely for pride (barring a miraculous run).

If we look at the scheduled starting pitchers we should see that we have a couple of youngsters duelling tonight. Anibal Sanchez has endured a torrid time with injuries in the past and will take some time to get back to his brilliant best whereas Charlie Morton is playing in his rookie season for the Braves, and while it is clear that he is talented, he has been knocked about a bit by opposition offense from time to time.

I will take a look at the confirmed lineups close to the start of the match up and will put up my initial stakes and possible key players in the contest.

FLORIDA MARLINS (Anibal Sanchez 2-2, 3.99) @ ATLANTA BRAVES (Morton 3-8, 6.39)