08/20/2008 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer in his home debut and Conor Jackson chipped in two RBI, as Arizona held off San Diego for a 7-6 victory, in the opener of a three-game set.
Chris Snyder, Chris Burke and Mark Reynolds had an RBI each and Augie Ojeda had a pair of hits and as many runs scored for the D'Backs, who broke a tie atop the NL West and moved ahead of Los Angeles by one game. The Dodgers lost, 8-3, to Colorado on Tuesday. It was Arizona's fourth win in the last five games.
Doug Davis (5-7) was effective over six innings, surrendering two runs on seven hits while walking two and fanning six to get the win. Davis was winless over his previous three outings.
Adrian Gonzalez was 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored while Chase Headley had two hits with an RBI and a run scored for San Diego, which has dropped five of its last seven games.
Josh Banks (3-6) struggled with his command from the outset in allowing six runs on four hits, while walking a season-high seven with three strikeouts in four frames.
The Padres, trailing by four runs, made a game of it in the ninth off closer Brandon Lyon. Edgar Gonzalez led off with a double, Brian Giles walked two batters later and Kevin Kouzmanoff took a single to right to load the bases with one away. Adrian Gonzalez laced a two-run single to center and Headley stroked an RBI single to right, chasing Lyon from a 7-6 game.
Tony Pena came on with runners on the corners, and got Nick Hundley to hit the ball back to the mound. Adrian Gonzalez was on third and broke for home, but was tagged out after getting caught in a rundown between third and home for the second out. Headley moved to third on the play, but Luis Rodriguez stranded him with a fly out to center, handing Pena his second save of the season.
Arizona took a commanding 4-0 lead in the first off Banks. Ojeda and Chris Young started with walks before Jackson plated a run with an infield single. Dunn walked to load the bases for Reynolds, who lofted a sacrifice fly to right. Jackson and Dunn both advanced on an errant throw from right fielder Giles before Banks issued an intentional free pass to Chad Tracy to reload the bases. Snyder lined an RBI single to left and Burke capped the scoring with another sacrifice fly.
San Diego shaved two runs off its deficit in the second. Adrian Gonzalez and Headley started the inning with back-to-back singles and Hundley walked to load the bases. Tadahito Iguchi came through with an RBI single through the left side and Sean Kazmar followed with a sacrifice fly to right.
The D'Backs extended their lead in the fourth when Dunn clubbed his 33rd home run of the season, a two-run shot to right.
The two teams traded runs in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Jody Gerut hit an RBI single back through the middle off Jon Rauch in the top half, while Jackson plated a run with a single to center off Brian Falkenborg.
Game Notes
Arizona leads the season series 8-5 and won 10 of 18 matchups from the Padres last season...The Padres made it official Tuesday, sending veteran pitcher Greg Maddux and cash considerations to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor leaguers to be named later or cash considerations...Wednesday's scheduled starters are Jake Peavy (9-8) for San Diego and Dan Haren (13-6) for Arizona...The Padres activated pitcher Brett Tomko off the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Banks.
<< This Week in Auto Racing August 20 - 24
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR roars into "Thunder Valley" as all
three of its national touring series race under the lights at Bristol Motor
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<< Padres activate Tomko from DL
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres activated pitcher
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Tomko had been sidelined with a strained right elbow since July 1.
The journeyman right-hander made two
<< Report: Louisville QB Simms suspended four games
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louisville has reportedly suspended backup
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The Louisville Courier
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St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason
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Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings re-signed forward Aaron
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Zach Jackson makes his second appearance in a
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Ted Lilly can reverse the result of his lone loss in
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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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