07/24/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oliver Perez tries to continue his mastery of the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon, when the New York Mets play the pivotal rubber match of their three-game series with their National League East rivals at Shea Stadium.
Perez has been inconsistent all season but terrific in his three starts versus the Phillies, going 1-0 while not allowing a run in 18 1/3 innings of those outings. For his career he is 2-3 against Philadelphia with a 3.39 earned run average in 11 starts.
The 26-year-old left-hander was charged with the loss in his last start on Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds, surrendering three runs (2 earned) and six hits in six innings to drop to 6-6 on the year to go along with a 4.36 ERA.
Jose Reyes atoned for a critical fielding mistake in Tuesday's crushing loss to Philadelphia by hitting the go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning last night, helping New York to a 6-3 win.
Carlos Beltran and Marlon Anderson each chipped in an RBI in the win, while Damion Easley went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the Mets, who are just 2-3 over their last five games but moved back into a tie with Philadelphia atop the NL East.
John Maine (9-7) got the win after he went seven frames and yielded just three runs on six hits, while fanning five and walking two batters.
Brett Myers, who made his first start since being sent to the minors in late June to work on his mechanics, stamina and overall mental psyche, lasted five innings for the Phillies and was touched for three runs on three hits. He struck out two and walked a career-high five batters in a no-decision.
Ryan Madson (2-1) took over for Myers in the sixth and gave up back-to-back singles to Easley and Brian Schneider before Maine struck out on a foul bunt. Reyes then deposited a first-pitch changeup over the fence in right-center, giving the Mets a 6-3 lead they would not relinquish.
Billy Wagner, who was not available to close when the Mets blew a three-run ninth-inning lead in Tuesday's series opener, set down the Phillies in order in the ninth for his 25th save.
Shane Victorino and Geoff Jenkins hit solo home runs for the Phillies, who have dropped three of their last four. Jimmy Rollins had the other RBI for Philadelphia, which extended his hit streak to 10 games.
Getting the call for the Phillies this afternoon will be 45-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer, who has won his last two starts. Moyer defeated Florida on Friday, as he gave up two runs and four hits in six innings to improve to 9-6 on the season and lower his ERA to 3.90.
Moyer has faced the Mets 14 times over the course of his lengthy career and is 6-4 with a 2.77 ERA against them.
New York is 8-4 against the Phillies this season, including wins in four of the last five meetings in the series.
<< Report: NFL investigating Vikings for tampering with Favre
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NFL security interviewed a number of
Minnesota Vikings officials on Tuesday regarding tampering charges levied by
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Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
CALGARY STAMPEDERS (3-1) AT WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (0-4)
DATE & TIME: Thursday, July 24, 8 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will have a new quarterback under
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Backu
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Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reed Johnson hit a grand slam and Ted Lilly
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Halladay hopes to stay hot in Baltimore >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto right-hander Roy Halladay can continue a
remarkable run of success against Baltimore today when the Blue Jays visit the
Orioles for the finale-and-a-half of a four-game series at Camden Yards.
Wednesday's contest
Rays visit Royals for four games >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays will attempt to maintain their hold on
first place in the American League East when the up-and-coming club begins a
four-game series with the Kansas City Royals tonight at Kauffman Stadium.
Tampa Bay st
Padres, Pirates start series at PNC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Clay Hensley gets his first post-trade
opportunity in the San Diego starting rotation tonight when the Padres visit
the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first of four weekend games at PNC Park.
Hensley, who's not s
Cubs return home to face Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs, co-owners of baseball's best home record
this season, open up a key four-game series with the playoff-hopeful Florida
Marlins tonight at Wrigley Field.
A return to the Windy City couldn't have come at a
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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