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07/31/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even a trip to spacious Petco Park couldn't derail the Marlins' power train. Florida seeks a sixth straight victory at the Padres' home park as it continues a three-game set tonight with San Diego.
The Marlins got home runs from Gaby Sanchez and Cody Ross in last night's 4-2 victory, giving them 10 long balls in their last five games. Hanley Ramirez and Logan Morrison also drove in a run each as Florida has now won two straight, four of six and 10 of its last 14 overall.
"They're making adjustments," Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said of the recent homer surge. "They are staying back more. They're not swinging at bad pitches. I think that's the key. They are not swinging at bad pitches. Their strike zone is smaller. They're getting ahead more in the count."
Chris Volstad benefited from the home runs, yielding two runs over five-plus innings to get his first victory since June 13.
Florida also spoiled the debut of Miguel Tejada, who went 0-for-3 with a walk in his first game with the Padres since being acquired from Baltimore on Thursday.
"I don't want to put pressure on myself," Tejada said. "I just want to play the same game I've always played. I do whatever I can do to help the team."
Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley had an RBI apiece for the Padres, who had won five of six coming in and saw their lead over the second-place Giants fall to 2 1/2 games in the National League West.
Yorvit Torrealba went 2-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and Wade LeBlanc allowed four runs on five hits in a 6 1/3-inning start to suffer the loss.
San Diego had a five-game series winning streak halted, a run that included a three-game sweep in Florida from June 25-27. The Padres have now lost five in a row at home to the Marlins, who haven't lost at Petco Park since July 8, 2008.
The Marlins hope to continue their power run tonight and help Ricky Nolasco earn a third straight winning start.
The right-hander is coming off Monday's win over the Giants as he pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed a run on four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. He has a 3.40 earned run average in his last seven starts with 57 strikeouts, and is 11-7 with a 4.35 ERA on the season.
Nolasco is an excellent 7-2 with a 3.93 in 11 road starts this season. The 27- year-old is also 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA lifetime versus San Diego.
Kevin Correia has won back-to-back starts after going 0-2 in his previous seven and will look to improve on his 7-6 mark and 5.09 ERA this season.
The 29-year-old righty bested Pittsburgh last Friday, yielding three runs -- two earned -- on six hits and three walks over six innings.
Correia recorded a win over the Marlins on April 28 even though he gave up four runs in five innings of work. He is 2-2 versus them lifetime in 12 games (five starts) with a 6.94 ERA.
<< Angels shoot for another win over first-place Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim continue their quest to
gain ground on the Texas Rangers as the top two teams in the AL West continue
their three-game weekend series.
Newly-acquired Dan Haren will make his second start f
<< White Sox aim for 13th straight home win vs. A's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago will attempt to extend its home winning streak to
13 consecutive games tonight as they continue a three-game weekend set at
U.S. Cellular Field against the Oakland Athletics.
Yesterday, Gordon Beckham had two hits
<< Winds of change surround Brewers-Astros clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Things sure are changing in the Astros' clubhouse in a
hurry, but that hasn't stopped the club from putting together a little win
streak.
Having already traded one face of the franchise, Houston appears on the verge
of sh
<< Nats try to extend win streak against Phillies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Usually sellers around the non-waiver trade deadline, the
Nationals didn't seem to impressed on Friday with the Phillies' big midseason
pickup.
One day after spoiling the Philadelphia debut of Roy Oswalt, Washington will
Bucs agree to terms with McCoy, Penn >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and first-round draft
pick Gerald McCoy have agreed to terms.
McCoy, a defensive tackle from Oklahoma selected with the third overall pick
of April's draft, reportedly agreed to a fi
Indians activate Wood off DL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians on Saturday activated
pitcher Kerry Wood from the 15-day disabled list.
Wood last pitched on July 11 before landing on the DL with a blister on his
right index finger. It was the
Sadler tops Kahne for Pocono truck pole >>
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elliott Sadler won the pole position for
Saturday's inaugural Pocono Mountains 125 Camping World Truck Series race at
Pocono Raceway.
Sadler, the last driver to make his qualifying attempt in the 38-t
Arizona, Pittsburgh in 5-player trade >>
NEW YORK (AP) -The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded catcher Chris Snyder, minor league shortstop Pedro Ciriaco and cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Bobby Crosby, outfielder Ryan Church and right-hander D.J. Carrasco.Copyright © 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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