08/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot veteran Brian Moehler tries to keep the magic going for his rolling teammates today when the Houston Astros host the San Francisco Giants in the fourth and final game of their cross-division series at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros, who swept the Cincinnati Reds in a four-game road series last week, won the initial three games of this series to stretch the string to seven straight. They're still on the fringes of realistic contention in the National League's Central Division, trailing first-place Chicago by 12 games.
The Giants are actually closer to first-place Arizona in the NL West, where they trail by 10 1/2 games in spite of being 19 games under .500.
The 36-year-old Moehler is unbeaten since early July 4, going 4-0 in six starts while his earned run average has dipped from 4.45 down to 3.83.
He scattered five hits and allowed a single run in seven innings in a 3-1 defeat of Cincinnati on August 9, following up on consecutive defeats of the Reds and Cubs on July 29 and August 4, in which he allowed 11 hits and two runs over 13 2/3 innings.
Moehler got a no-decision in a 6-3 Houston win at San Francisco on May 14, allowing eight hits and three runs in five innings. Lifetime against the Giants, he is 1-1 in five appearances -- four starts -- with a 9.45 ERA in 20 full innings.
Meanwhile, right-hander Kevin Correia seeks just his second win since early April for San Francisco.
He's gone 0-1 with a no-decision since a 7-6 defeat of the Los Angeles Dodgers in July 28, a win that ended a skid of 10 winless appearances since he'd beaten St. Louis, 5-1, on April 10.
The Giants have gone just 4-11 in games in which Correia has appeared.
He has made four lifetime relief outings against the Astros with a 1.80 ERA in five innings, allowing two hits and a single run.
On Wednesday, the Astros used a six-run sixth inning to back an efficient outing from Randy Wolf, as Houston trumped San Francisco, 6-2.
Wolf (8-10) remains unbeaten in four starts since joining the Astros, scattering six hits and two runs over seven respectable innings in the club's season-high seventh consecutive victory. Houston won despite recording only six hits -- all singles -- none of which resulted in an RBI.
Barry Zito (6-15) cruised through the first five innings but failed to get out of the aforementioned sixth. The former Cy Young winner gave up a total of six runs on four hits and five walks to go with six strikeouts.
Randy Winn doubled twice and scored both runs for the Giants, who had won two straight coming into this series.
Houston won three of four when these two clubs met in San Francisco from May 12-15.
<< Let's settle arguments on the track
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trash talk is not a common feature in
horse racing. The humans involved in the Sport of Kings don't usually bad-
mouth the other people in the sport. They talk about their horses and find
reasons
<< Balentien gives M's come-from-behind, 12-inning win over Angels
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wladimir Balentien hit the go-ahead three-run
homer in the 12th inning as the Seattle Mariners gutted out a 10-7 victory to
earn a two-game split with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Justin Speier (1-5)
<< Brewers extend winning streak to eight, crush Padres
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia threw seven effective innings and
Corey Hart went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in to help Milwaukee tie a
season high with its eighth consecutive win, a 7-1 victory over San Diego.
The Bre
<< Garciaparra's homer lifts Dodgers over Phillies
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nomar Garciaparra smoked a line-drive, solo
home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a
dramatic 7-6, come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Dodgers
Rolling Brewers hope to extend win streak against Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers try for their season-best ninth
straight win this afternoon, as they attempt to complete a three-game sweep of
the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Milwaukee continued to roll on Wednesday, as CC Sabat
Boston's Matsuzaka goes for 14th win of season against Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daisuke Matsuzaka tries for his 14th win of the season this
evening, as the Boston Red Sox try and complete a three-game sweep of the
Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.
Matsuzaka, who won 15 games last season for the Red Sox, w
Pirates, Reds close out series at PNC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of slumping young right-handers get together
tonight, when the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds meet at PNC Park in
the finale of a three-game series between cellar dwellers in the National
League
Jays shoot for rare sweep of Tigers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blue Jays have never swept a four-game series with the
Tigers. Toronto gets a chance to do just that today, when it wraps a four-game
set with Detroit at Comerica Park.
Toronto has outscored Detroit 17-9 over the
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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