The Hall of Fame game odds in the NFL are still another week away, so baseball gets center stage for another weekend of online betting. What does Friday have in store in Major League Baseball?

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Atlanta Braves
Friday, July 31, 7:35 p.m. ET
Jason Schmidt (1-1, 7.88) vs Tommy Hanson (5-1, 2.95)

Jason Schmidt, who was a Tommy Hanson clone a decade ago, tries to get his career back on track Friday in Atlanta. After not pitching at all in 2008, Schmidt has labored through a rocky return to the bigs this season, getting knocked around in each of his starts. There’s no point reviewing his splits or history against the Braves, as it’s better betting management to treat Schmidt as a different pitcher than he ever was in the past.

Tommy Hanson’s ERA is higher at home than it is on the road, but he’s yet to lose at Turner Field. Power-pitching rookies usually perform well when facing teams for the first time, so even the mighty Dodgers may not have an answer for him. Go with the Braves.

Pick: Braves

Philadelphia Phillies @ San Francisco Giants
Friday, July 31, 10:15 PM ET
Joe Blanton (7-4, 4.11) vs Ryan Sadowski (2-3, 4.81)

Similar to what bettors will face when making picks for UFC 101 betting, anyone handicapping the Phillies and Giants on Friday has to choose between trusting early or recent history. Joe Blanton has an ugly track record against the Giants in his career but has been scintillating this month, going 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA. Meanwhile, rookie Ryan Sadowski dominated when he arrived but has been knocked around in recent starts, allowing 13 earned runs in his last 11.1 innings.

I say trust recent history. Blanton’s on a roll and Sadowski faces arguably baseball’s deadliest lineup. Bet on the road team.

Pick: Phillies

Football betting players are anxiously awaiting the beginning of the season, and today’s preview focuses on the NFC South, which will be a hotly-contested division by two, probably three, teams in the division, while the cellar-dwelling team will go through a rebuilding season.

New Orleans is the favorite with NFL odds of +165, and Drew Brees returns to lead the league’s most explosive offense. Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey and Reggie Bush need to stay healthy to give Brees some support. The problem was on defense, where the Saints were 23rd in the NFL. Darren Sharper, Jabari Greer and first-round pick Malcom Jenkins should improve the secondary, which could boost the Saints in the eyes of your handicapping software.

Atlanta is next at +175, and the Falcons got another target for Matt Ryan as Tony Gonzalez joins the club from Kansas City. Michael Turner will be out to show that last year’s 1,700-yard season was no fluke. The Falcons lost a couple of important players from a defensive group that was 24th in the league, and this could be the only stumbling block for Atlanta.

Carolina could be a decent sleeper in your football picks with odds of +220, and they re-upped quarterback Jake Delhomme, even after a five-pick performance in the playoffs. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are one of the top running-back duos in the league, and Steve Smith may be the best pound-for-pound receiver going. Julius Peppers returns to lead from his defensive-end position, and the Panthers may have the best defense in the division, which could cause an upset or two along the way.

Tampa Bay brings up the rear at +700, and the Buccaneers have a new head coach in the league in Raheem Morris, and longtime defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is also gone. Byron Leftwich seems to be holding the starter’s role until rookie Josh Freeman is ready, while Antonio Bryant and new acquisitions Kellen Winslow and Derrick Ward will aid in the rebuilding process. It’ll be interesting to see how the Bucs, long known as one of the best defensive teams in the league, respond to a new coach as Jim Bates takes over for Kiffin. Until they get an identity under Morris, stay away from Tampa Bay while doing your online betting.

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Red Sox begin a series at Camden Yards, the Braves get a visit from the Dodgers, and the CFL continues Week 5.

Colliding in the Junior Circuit  . . .

John Smoltz (1-4, 7.04 ERA) will be trying to hold onto a spot in the Red Sox rotation on Friday night when his team begins a series in Baltimore. Righthander Smoltz has been tagged with the loss in each of his last two outings, and he was beaten by the Orioles in his last trip to the mound (six earned runs over five innings). Baltimore will counter with righthander Jeremy Guthrie (7-9, 5.21 ERA), who is coming off a loss to Boston on July 25 (five earned runs in 6 2-3 innings).

Also on the American League schedule for Friday: Detroit at Cleveland, Kansas City at Tampa Bay, Seattle at Texas, the Yankees at the White Sox, Toronto at Oakland, and the Angels at Minnesota. Ervin Santana (3-6. 7.29 ERA) is slated to start for L.A.; righthander Santana gave up six runs over 3 2-3 innings against the Twins last time out. Nick Blackburn (8-5, 3.75 ERA) gets the ball for Minnesota; he was rocked by the Angels last time out (six runs in 3 2-3 innings).

Clashing in the Senior Circuit . . .

Tommy Hanson (5-1, 2.95 ERA) will be on the hill for the Braves on Friday night as they host the Dodgers and Jason Schmidt (1-1, 7.88 ERA). Righthander Hanson took a hard-luck loss against the Brewers last time out, allowing just two earned runs over his seven innings of work. Righthander Schmidt lasted just three innings against the Marlins in his most recent outing, giving up five runs (four earned). Schmidt had beaten the Reds in his 2009 season debut on July 20.

Making up the rest of the NL slate for Friday: Washington at Pittsburgh, the Cubs at Florida, Arizona at the Mets, Colorado at Cincinnati, Houston at St. Louis, Milwaukee at San Diego, and Philadelphia at San Francisco. Cliff Lee (7-9, 3.14 ERA) will make his Phillies debut in that contest. Lefthander Lee has won each of his last three starts, allowing four runs in 25 innings. The Giants will turn to Ryan Sadowski (2-3, 4.81 ERA), who has taken a loss in each of his last three outings.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

There is one game on the Canadian Football League schedule for Friday, with British Columbia at Hamilton. The Tigers-Cats upset the Lions back in Week 2, pulling out a 31-28 road victory as a 13-point underdog. Heading into the Week 5 matchup Hamilton is 2-2 straight-up and 3-1 against-the-spread, while B.C. has disappointed at 1-3 SU and 1-3 ATS. For Friday night’s contest the oddsmakers have the Lions listed as 2-point road favorites, with the total for the game at 50.5.

Finally, there is a single WNBA game on tap for Friday, as Detroit hosts Minnesota. The Shock last played on July 22, when they were edged 98-95 by Atlanta; that put Detroit at 5-9 SU and 5-9 ATS on the season. The Lynx fell 76-70 to Los Angeles in their last contest, which dropped them to 10-8 both SU and ATS on the season. Roneeka Hodges tossed in 14 points for the Lynx in that loss.

Four of Detroit’s last six games have gone to overtime, where the Shock are 1-3 SU and ATS, which has helped them reach eight overs in their last 10.

Besides the overtime games, Detroit has won three of four. They’ve moved ahead of New York — last year’s Eastern Conference finalists are 11-20 combined — and within 1.5 games of the fourth playoff spot.

Rookie Shavonte Zellous has 58 points in Detroit’s last three home games.

Minnesota sticks with Seattle and San Antonio in the middle of the West, where all three teams are 5-5 over their last 10. Three teams treading water meant Phoenix could run away with it, while Los Angeles could get back into the thick of it, but on Friday the standings show that all five of those teams are on one-game losing streaks. (Sacramento at 5-15 gained a game on everyone.)

Minnesota is most peculiar for losing fewer games on the road than at home. Among the West leaders, only the Lynx are better against the East than within the conference. The Lynx are 5-1 against the East, averaging 93 points in two Eastern road games. Charde Houston and Nicky Anosike both have 37 points in those two wins.

Phoenix, who had averaged 100 points per game in four road games, and was 6-0 SU against the Eastern Conference, trailed by 41 after three quarters, and was held under 80 for the second time all season.

Atlanta shot 50 percent for the game against 39% for Phoenix, and the Dream hauled 34 of a possible 41 defensive rebounds. The Dream outscored the Mercury 45-0 in the paint.

Six players were in double figures for Atlanta, two had double-figure rebounds.

The Dream finished July 3-0 SU and ATS at home with three unders. The Dream held the Sun, Mystics, and Mercury to 81-for-210 shooting, 38.6 percent.

It was Phoenix’s second consecutive under, after 11 of 12 overs.

The first quarter was so miserable for the Liberty that winning the second, third, and fourth only meant losing by 3.

The Mystics shot 13-of-19 in the first quarter to get out to 34-12 lead. Alana Beard and Monique Currie both had 10 points in the quarter; Beard finished with 28 to share game-high.

Washington shot 19-of-50 the rest of the way. New York got within 73-71 with 3:05 left, and missed their last chance to tie it with 43 seconds to go. A three-point favorite, New York never had the spread covered, but had they managed to tie it in regulation, there might have been three games out of four on the day where the favorite needed an overtime period to cover.

The Liberty broke a three-game win streak against Eastern opponents ATS.  Washington had lost four in a row SU against conference opponents, and are now working on a new streak: four straight wins ATS, two on the road, with three consecutive overs.

Washington outrebounded New York 42-28, and scored 22 points in the paint against 0.

Indiana moved to 14-4, the best SU record in the WNBA, but needed an overtime period to cover -5 Thursday. The Fever had lost three of four ATS at home; Connecticut would’ve made it four of five if Fever forward Tamika Catchings had completed a three-point play with 11.6 seconds left to win the game in regulation.

Katie Douglas locked up player of the week honors by putting up her second 30-point game in three days.

Connecticut’s loss plus Washington’s and Atlanta’s wins dropped the Sun to third place in the East. Fifth-place Atlanta is just one game behind Connecticut. The loss on the road made the Sun 3-4 SU in away games (4-3 ATS), so Indiana is the only Eastern team .500 or better away.

It was Indiana’s fifth straight over at home.

In two WNBA games Thursday, the underdogs had the spread covered for the whole second half, only to lose to the line in overtime.  

Sacramento, which had lost the second half in seven straight defeats — outscored in 11 quarters out of 14 — scratched out a 15-13 4th quarter edge over San Antonio to get to overtime, where the Spurs missed their first six shots. 

San Antonio, a 3.5-point dog, led by 6 with 5:06 remaining, but shot 0-for-5 and made six turnovers over the next 4:49. Becky Hammon had to hit a runner to at 0:17.2 to tie the regulation score at 87-87.

Hammon scored 38 points for San Antonio, and Sophia Young 29, both career highs for the Stars. The rest of the Stars shot 9-for-33.

It was the Monarchs’ first ATS win of the season as a home favorite against a conference opponent, and their second win SU in four games since John Whisenant reclaimed the coaching seat.

The Liberty continue to drive their fans crazy, unable to put any kind of streak — winning or losing — together at home for more than two games, but there’s definitely a pattern of beating the East while losing to the West.

Most recently, the Liberty have lost two at home against the West, following two wins at home against the East. Before that, a loss against the West, a win against the East. In the three wins against conference opponents, All-Star Shameka Christon has 75 points. Christon likes playing against the Mystics; she scored 21 at the Verizon Center.

The Mystics are also inconsistent in a pattern: before making a second over in a row against Indiana, they had alternated overs and unders in 10 straight games.

When a Western team has a good record in the NBA, they can usually be counted on to stumble a bit on the road in the East, but the Mercury are going nuts in the WNBA East. In three road games against the East, Phoenix is averaging 94 points and a differential of +9 while shooting 47 percent. Diana Taurasi shot 24-of-47 in those games.

Assuming Connecticut loses in Indiana, a win for Atlanta would move them to within one game of second place, and home court advantage in the playoff semifinal. That’s incredible for a team that lost 30 games a year ago.

But Atlanta gives up a lot of baskets — their last three opponents shot 45 percent inside the arc, 33 percent outside. The 33.3 percent figure is skewed — Minnesota shot 13-of-26 on treys at Phillips Arena, while Detroit and Washington shot 5-of-28. On the first two games in Phoenix’s Eastern road swing, the Mercury shot identical 7-for-19s in New York and Connecticut (Taurasi 7-of-15).