Rockies continue series with Angels

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06/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams trying to remain in striking distance of their respective divisions clash in the middle contest of a three-game series tonight, as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tangle with the Colorado Rockies at Angel Stadium.

On Friday, Jonathan Herrera had three hits and drove in the game-winning run in the 11th inning, as the Rockies rallied to top the Angels, 4-3.

Chris Iannetta added a two-run homer for the Rockies, who have won six of eight and sit just four games back of San Diego for the top spot in the NL West standings. Carlos Gonzalez also drove in a run in the victory.

Jeff Francis didn't factor into the decision, giving up three runs, seven hits and a walk in 6 1/3 frames. Matt Belisle (3-3) allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings to earn the win, and Manuel Corpas picked up his 10th save.

"You can't say enough about Herrera. He strikes out his first three times then he gets three straight hits and drives in the winning run," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "A real nice win for us. We won together as a team."

Kevin Frandsen and Mike Napoli each had two hits and a run scored in defeat, the Angels' second straight after winning five of six. The Texas Rangers finally lost last night, so the Angels remain 4 1/2 game behind them for the AL West lead.

Jered Weaver was denied the win for the Angels after yielding two runs and five hits in seven innings while fanning 11. The righty now has the major league lead in strikeouts with 118 after his third double-digit strikeout effort.

"A great game, overall," Weaver said. "I made one bad pitch to Iannetta -- a slider that didn't slide. I have to work on getting my pitch count down. We went ahead but just couldn't hold the lead."

The Rockies broke the tie in the 11th off Francisco Rodriguez (0-1).

The Angels will try to bounce back tonight behind Joe Saunders, who is 0-2 with a whopping 11.88 ERA over his last two starts. The left-hander tied a season-low with 2 2/3 innings pitched on Sunday, allowing eight runs -- five earned -- and nine hits in a 12-1 loss at the Chicago Cubs.

Saunders, who won his only career start against the Rockies, has really struggled at home this season, posting just a 1-6 mark and a 6.75 ERA over eight starts.

Aaron Cook will get the nod for the Rockies, but that isn't all that good of news considering his 0-4 mark and 7.38 ERA in eight road starts this season. The right-hander, who hasn't won on the road since July 16th at San Diego, threw seven strong innings in a no-decision against Milwaukee on Sunday. In that game, he allowed just one earned run and three hits in the team's eventual 6-1 loss.

Despite his recent road woes, Cook has won both of his career starts in Anaheim, posting a 2.57 ERA during that time.

The Rockies have won four of six in the series after the Angels took 12 of the previous 13 meetings from Colorado.

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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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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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