08/23/2008 - Forest Hills, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Czech Lucie Safarova had no problem defeating China's Peng Shuai in the final at the $74,800 Forest Hills Tennis Classic, a final U.S. Open tune-up.
The unseeded Safarova, who upended third-seeded fellow Czech Iveta Benesova in the semifinal, breezed past Peng 6-4, 6-2 to claim the $22,000 first prize.
The 21-year-old Safarova, performing in her sixth career final, improved to 4-2. Her previous title came at Gold Coast, Australia in 2006.
Peng, who advanced to the final by beating fourth-seeded Suarez Navarro, fell to 0-2 in two career WTA Tour finals, the first being a 2006 loss in Strasbourg. She is now 1-1 lifetime against Safarova and collected $12,000 as the runner-up.
<< Padres call up Hayhurst to make major league debut
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres called up Dirk
Hayhurst from Triple-A Portland to start against the San Francisco Giants on
Saturday.
Hayhurst, 27, had a 2-3 record with a 3.75 earned run average for Portla
<< Wells, Blue Jays dominate Red Sox
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells went 4-for-5, homered twice, drove
in three runs and scored four times in Toronto's 11-0 thrashing of the Boston
Red Sox in the second of a three-game set.
Jesse Litsch (9-7) blanked the Red Sox
<< Shevchenko set for Milan return
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea have confirmed that striker Andriy
Shevchenko will rejoin AC Milan subject to passing a medical at his former
club.
Shevchenko, 31, struggled to recapture his best form during two seasons in th
<< Ramirez homers twice as Cubs pound Nats
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aramis Ramirez belted two three-run home runs,
and Ryan Dempster put up another strong outing at home as the Chicago Cubs
downed the Washington Nationals, 9-2, in the second game of a three-game set.
Demps
Streelman leads Barclays as Stricker collapses >>
Paramus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Streelman carded a three-under 68
Saturday to take a one-stroke lead after 54 holes of The Barclays, the first
FedEx Cup Playoff event.
Streelman completed three rounds at eight-under-par 205.
Rangers recall pitcher McCarthy from minors >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers recalled pitcher Brandon
McCarthy from Triple-A Oklahoma in time to start Saturday's game against the
Cleveland Indians.
The 25-year old McCarthy will make his season debut as he spe
Royals' Gordon goes to DL >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Royals third baseman Alex
Gordon was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a torn muscle in
his right leg.
Gordon left Thursday's 10-3 loss against the Cleveland Indians
Colonel John claims Travers in photo-finish >>
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Santa Anita Derby winner Colonel John
survived a stretch long duel with Mambo in Seattle to win Saturday's $1
million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, The "Mid-Summer Derby"
attract
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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