05/12/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Florida Marlins will try to extend their season-high winning streak to eight games tonight, when they open a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The NL East-leading Marlins are three games ahead of both New York and Philadelphia in the division standings thanks to their recent winning ways. They notched their seventh straight victory with a 5-4 win over the Washington Nationals in Sunday's finale of a three-game set, with Dan Uggla hitting a pair of solo homers -- including the eventual game-winner in the eighth inning.
Jeremy Hermida went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer for the Marlins, while pitcher Logan Kensing picked up the win with a scoreless inning in relief of Scott Olsen. Kevin Gregg later notched his seventh save.
Olsen allowed four runs on six hits over six frames.
Florida will send rookie hurler Burke Badenhop to the hill on Monday, and the youngster is 1-2 with a 6.31 ERA in six games (5 starts) this season. Badenhop recorded his first career win on Wednesday versus Milwaukee after allowing a pair of runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-2 triumph.
The right-hander has never faced the Reds.
Cincinnati will begin a seven-game homestand tonight versus the Marlins and Indians after losing two of three games to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium over the weekend. The Reds fell by an 8-3 score in Sunday's finale as rookie pitcher Johnny Cueto continued to struggle to regain the form from his first two starts.
Cueto, who fanned 18 batters and allowed just three runs over his first 13 1/3 innings in the majors, gave up eight hits and six runs in 4 2/3 innings on Sunday, fanning five and walking three.
Jeff Keppinger went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored a run for the Reds.
Reds ace Aaron Harang will try to pitch his way to victory on Monday, as he sports a 1-5 record with a 3.09 ERA in eight starts this season. Harang has lost his last three trips to the hill and is 0-4 with a 3.05 earned run average through his last five outings.
Harang absorbed the loss on Tuesday versus the Chicago Cubs, yielding three runs and seven hits in seven innings of a 3-0 defeat. The righty is 1-1 with a 6.49 earned run average in five career starts against the Marlins.
Cincinnati went 4-3 against the Marlins in 2007, with a 3-0 mark at Great American Ball Park. The Reds are 8-5 in the last 13 meetings in this series, including a 5-1 ledger at home.
<< Hernandez tries to continue hot start in finale with Red Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the opportunity to achieve a series win over the
defending world champions, the Minnesota Twins will send out their newfound
ace in tonight's finale of a four-game set with the visiting Boston Red Sox.
Livan Hernandez
<< Jays, Tribe play doubleheader in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting an unscheduled day off due to bad weather,
the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays conclude a four-game series today
with a doubleheader from Progressive Field.
The Indians have won the first two tests o
<< Oswalt, Zito square off at AT&T Park
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League's hottest team during the month of May
invades San Francisco's AT&T Park for the opener of a four-game series, as the
Houston Astros attempt to keep up their torrid stretch in tonight's matchup
with t
<< LeBron, Cavs host Garnett, Celtics in Game 4 of East semis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to knot their Eastern
Conference semifinal series at two games apiece with the Boston Celtics
tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavaliers made it a 2-1 series with a big victory on Saturd
Brewers to wrap up series with slumping Cards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers seem to have found their winning ways
as they wrap up a four-game series versus the NL Central-rival St. Louis
Cardinals tonight at Miller Park.
The Brewers have won two of the first three matc
Rays try to extend home winning streak vs. Yankees >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to extend their franchise-record
home-winning streak to 10 games this evening when they start a four-game
series with the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.
Extending the streak may be
Pirates, Braves play two at PNC Park >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jair Jurrjens seeks a fifth straight start without a loss
today, when the Atlanta Braves enter PNC Park for the third and fourth games
of a weather-interrupted series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Sunday's scheduled
Angels open series with White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hope a return home gets
them off the schneid this evening when they kick off a four-game series with
the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium.
The Angels, who will be home for the nex
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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