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07/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Schneider blasted a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift the Phillies over the Reds, 4-3, in the opener of a four-game series.
Jordan Smith (2-2), in his second inning of relief, got Wilson Valdez on a groundout to start the 12th before grooving an 0-1 changeup to Schneider that was quickly turned on and crushed into the right-field seats for the deciding run.
Nelson Figueroa (2-1) threw two innings of relief to get the win, Philadelphia's third in its last nine games. Shane Victorino went 3-for-4 with a solo home run for the victors.
Joey Votto, who on Thursday became the final National League All-Star as chosen by fan voting, hit a solo homer for Cincinnati, which had won three of four coming in.
Neither starter factored in the decision despite quality starts. Philly's Kyle Kendrick, fresh off his first career complete game, gave up only one run on three hits without walking a batter over 6 2/3 innings, while Johnny Cueto allowed two runs -- one earned -- on four hits and a pair of walks in seven innings for the Reds.
Votto and Victorino traded solo blasts to right in the first, and the two were involved in an unorthodox play that gave the Phillies a run in the third.
Jimmy Rollins walked with two away and raced around the bases as Victorino grounded to first and incidentally knocked the glove off Cueto's hand as the pitcher was receiving Votto's throw to the bag. The ball caromed back to Votto, who nearly caught Victorino drifting off first. A barehanded Cueto, though, mishandled Votto's toss, leaving Victorino safe as a heads-up Rollins slid in at home.
The Reds ran themselves out of a run in the fifth, as Drew Stubbs popped up a squeeze bunt that was caught by Kendrick, who doubled off Jay Bruce at third.
Cincinnati managed to tie the game on another odd play in the eighth. Ryan Madson, activated off the disabled list before the game, gave up consecutive singles prior to striking out pinch-hitter Chris Heisey for the second out.
The reliever then got Brandon Phillips to chase strike three in the dirt, but the ball got away from Schneider. As the ball was rolling around behind the plate, both Madson and Schneider tried to retrieve it, leaving home plate unoccupied as Stubbs came in to score the tying run.
Wilson Valdez opened the bottom half with a triple to the right-field gap off Nick Masset. All-Star reliever Arthur Rhodes came in following a strikeout and walked pinch-hitter Ben Francisco before Rollins laced a line drive to left that was deep enough to plate Valdez with the go-ahead run.
Brad Lidge was unable to hold on to the slim 3-2 edge in the ninth, as Votto, on third following a double-play ball off the bat of Bruce, scored on Miguel Cairo's pinch-hit double to left.
Game Notes
Madson had been on the disabled list since April 29 after suffering a broken right great big toe...Votto, who hit his league-leading 22nd home run, garnered 13.7 million votes in the Final Vote contest...Both teams used five relievers...Lidge has three blown saves on the year...Game time: 3:42.
<< Giants' Runzler leaves game with injury
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco Giants reliever Dan Runzler
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Greenwich, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James made the rumors a reality on
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Orioles score three in eighth to top Rangers >>
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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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