Pirates extend Rockies' slide in series opener
Baseball Betting Lines
07/27/2010 -
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Neil Walker finished 3-for-4 with a solo home
run as Pittsburgh continued Colorado's second-half slide with a 4-2 victory at
Coors Field.
Zach Duke (5-9) started the three-game set with six solid innings, allowing
two runs on just three hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. Octavio
Dotel pitched the ninth frame for his 21st save of the season. The Pirates
snapped a four-game skid with the victory.
Jorge De La Rosa (3-3) took the loss, surrendering three runs -- two earned --
on six hits with eight strikeouts and two walks over seven frames. Brad Hawpe
and Clint Barmes hit back-to-back home runs for the Rockies, who have lost
seven straight.
The Rockies activated their star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki from the 15-day
disabled list before the game after he missed 33 games with a fractured left
wrist. He went 0-for-4 and committed his sixth error of the season.
The Pirates jumped out for two runs in the top of the first as Andrew
McCutchen shot a ball down the left-field line for a double and scored on Jose
Tabata's single to center. Walker followed with a bunt single, and after a
double play grounder from Garrett Jones, a wild pitch plated Tabata.
Colorado didn't score a run until the fifth frame when Hawpe measured up a
first-pitch fastball, driving it into the left field seats. Barmes followed
with a homer of his own, tying the game at 2-2.
The Pirates didn't waver, striking right back in the sixth with the aide of a
Tulowitzki fielding error. He misplayed Tabata's grounder then Walker reached
on an infield single. Jones doubled home Tabata, putting runners on second and
third with nobody out, but the Pirates failed to score again. Pedro Alvarez
struck out, Lastings Milledge was walked to load the bases and Ronny Cedeno
bounced into an inning-ending double play.
The Rockies threatened in the home half of the seventh with Miguel Olivo's
leadoff double. Hawpe moved him to third with a groundout, but the Pirates
brought the infield in so the catcher couldn't score on Barmes' grounder to
third. Pinch-hitter Seth Smith walked, but Evan Meek retired Dexter Fowler
on a grounder to the mound to thwart the threat.
"We need to come up with a hit there," said Rockies manager Jim Tracy. "That's
basically what's been going on."
Walker hit a solo home run in the eighth to build a two-run cushion at 4-2.
The Rockies brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after Hawpe's two-
out double to left. However, Dotel got Jason Giambi to loft a fly ball
to left to end the game.
Game Notes
Colorado closer Huston Street was taken to the hospital after being hit in the
lower abdomen by a line drive off the bat of Ian Stewart during batting
practice. He suffered a right abdominal contusion...With Tulowitzki's return,
the club designated infielder Brad Eldred for assignment to clear a roster
spot...Hawpe hit his sixth home run of the season, while Barmes clubbed his
eighth.
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Hunter
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25
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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