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09/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays displayed their trademark power in knocking off the playoff-hopeful Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, but the heavy- hitting club figures to face a more stern challenge in tonight's finale of this three-game series between the American League East inhabitants from Tropicana Field.
Toronto entered last night's contest leading all of baseball with 198 home runs, then swatted three more in a 13-5 rout of the Rays to even this set. Slugger Jose Bautista belted his major league-best 43rd round-tripper of the season and knocked in four runs to help the Blue Jays put an end to a two-game skid.
Bautista's homer, a three-run shot off reliever Lance Cormier, capped a sixth- inning eruption in which Toronto scored 10 times and sent 14 men to the plate. Aaron Hill added a two-run homer during the big frame, while Vernon Wells, Adam Lind and John Buck came through with consecutive doubles as the Jays overcame a 3-1 deficit heading into the inning.
"Any time you can explode, it's funny how the momentum side of baseball kicks in," Hill told MLB.com afterward. "It was nice to take advantage of some things and get the ball rolling a little bit."
John McDonald had a solo homer earlier in the game and scored three times for Toronto, which received three hits and a pair of RBI from Dewayne Wise as well.
The offensive outburst enabled Jays starter Ricky Romero (11-8) to garner his 11th victory of the season despite giving up five runs (four earned) and issuing five walks in 7 1/3 innings.
Toronto hopes it can duplicate last night's performance at the plate when the club takes its swings this evening against Rays All-Star David Price, who's been a real nemesis for the Blue Jays during his somewhat brief tenure in the big leagues. The 2007 No. 1 overall draft pick boasts a 5-0 record and an excellent 2.09 earned run average over six career starts against tonight's opponent, with three of those wins having taken place this season.
Price has been sensational in all three of those matchups, having yielded only three runs -- one earned -- and 17 hits over a combined 23 innings of work. The best of the bunch occurred at Tropicana Field on April 25, when the talented lefty allowed four hits and fanned nine in registering the only shutout of his career to date.
The 25-year-old has compiled a strong 15-6 record and a 3.01 ERA in 25 assignments for the year, though he hasn't been at his best of late. Price has posted a 4.26 ERA during a current three-start winless stretch and was touched for three runs and 10 hits through seven innings in a home loss to Boston last Friday.
The defeat was only Price's second at Tropicana Field this season, with the former Vanderbilt star having gone 7-2 with a 2.26 ERA in his 12 home starts.
Tampa Bay has also fared rather well when hosting the Blue Jays in recent years, as Wednesday's loss was only the Rays' sixth in their last 28 home encounters with Toronto. The Jays are 3-5 at Tropicana Field this season, with the teams having split 14 overall meetings thus far in 2010.
The Rays will be counting on Price to pitch more effectively than teammate Jeff Niemann (10-5) did near the end of his start last night. After permitting just one run over the first five innings, the towering right-hander allowed six straight batters to reach base to begin the sixth before being removed. He was charged with seven runs on seven hits for the evening.
"All of sudden, I couldn't get anybody out," said Niemann following the loss.
Dan Johnson and Reid Brignac each knocked in a pair of runs in Tuesday's loss, which halted a three-game win streak for Tampa. The Rays did fall out of a first-place tie with the New York Yankees in the AL East standings after the Bronx Bombers bested Oakland last night.
Shaun Marcum will try to deal the Rays a second straight defeat when he opposes Price tonight. The steady right-hander comes into this tilt off his third straight quality start, a no-decision against Detroit on Friday in which he gave up just one run in six innings.
Two appearances earlier, Marcum went the distance on a one-hitter in a 3-1 verdict over Oakland on August 16, then held Boston to three runs and just four hits in seven innings of a hard-luck shutout loss at Fenway Park six days later.
The Tommy John surgery survivor owns a solid 7-4 record with a 3.96 ERA in 14 road starts this year, but was tagged for seven runs and 10 hits over a poor four-inning stint in a June 9 loss to the Rays at the Trop. He's 2-2 with a 3.22 ERA in six lifetime games (five starts) against Tampa Bay, with both setbacks having come this season.
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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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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
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