05/14/2008 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marino Salas, a 27-year-old making his major league debut the same day he was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and picked up his first career win in Pittsburgh's 8-4, 10-inning win over the Cardinals, the opener of a three- game set.
Ronny Paulino put the Pirates on top with an RBI single, and Adam LaRoche blew the game wide open with his bases-clearing double. Starter Phil Dumatrait gave up four hits and three runs in six innings, fanning four and walking three for the Pirates, who have won seven of eight.
Ron Villone (0-1) was ripped for four hits and four runs in the 10th to take the loss for the Cardinals, who have dropped three straight and six of seven. Albert Pujols belted a game-tying homer in the eighth for St. Louis. Starter Kyle Lohse gave up five hits and four runs in seven frames.
Salas (1-0) made things interesting in the ninth, walking Aaron Miles to start the frame. Pinch-hitter Adam Wainwright bunted Salas up to second, and Salas then intentionally walked Skip Schumaker. The rookie fanned Brendan Ryan, bringing Pujols to the plate.
Salas wisely walked the St. Louis first baseman, and got Ryan Ludwick to fly out to right the send the game to extras.
The Pirates jumped on top with four runs in the 10th off of Villone. Freddy Sanchez laced a leadoff single to right, and Nate McLouth bunted him up to second. Jason Bay was intentionally walked, and Paulino came through with a line drive single to center, scoring the go-ahead run. Xavier Nady then worked a walk, loading the bases for LaRoche, who stroked a drive into the gap in left-center for a four-run lead.
Matt Capps set the Cards down in order in the home half of the 10th to lock up the win.
Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit left after one inning with a left thumb injury.
A pitch from Dumatrait hit the catcher on the thumb of his glove and skidded past him for a passed ball in the first. Troy Glaus flied out to right, sparing Doumit from having to catch another ball. He was then lifted for a pinch-hitter in the second, as Paulino came on and took his spot behind the plate.
McLouth got the Bucs started in the fourth, following a Sanchez single with a blast to right, boosting the Pirates to a 2-0 lead.
Glaus erased the deficit with one swing, belting a three-run homer to center with two outs in the sixth, and the Cards took a one-run edge.
The Pirates came right back with two runs in the seventh, though. Bay led off with a ground-rule double to right, and Paulino plated him with the tying run on his two-bagger to right. Nady grounded out and LaRoche walked to put runners at the corners, and Jose Bautista poked a single to center to score Paulino, and the Bucs led 4-3.
John Grabow hung a changeup low and over the middle of the plate to Pujols with one out and the bases empty in the eighth, and the Cards first baseman deposited it deep in the seat in left, knotting the game at 4-4.
A Nady double, an intentional walk to LaRoche, and a two-out walk by pinch- hitter Doug Mientkiewicz loaded the bases in the ninth against Ryan Franklin, but pinch-hitter Chris Gomez popped up to first, preserving the tie.
Game Notes
Salas was called up after the Pirates optioned righthander John Van Benschoten to Indianapolis on Tuesday. Van Benschoten was demoted to the minors after losing to Atlanta on Monday. The 28-year-old surrendered nine hits and six runs in four innings, raising his earned run average to 9.39 and dropping his record to 0-2 on the season...The Cards left nine runners on base.
<< Rays climb to first in AL East; top Yankees in 11
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gabe Gross had the game-winning single
off Mariano Rivera in the 11th inning to lead the Tampa Bay Rays past the New
York Yankees, 2-1, and into first place in the AL East.
Akinori Iwamura went 2-fo
<< Pirates' Doumit leaves with thumb injury
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit left after one
inning of Tuesday's game against the Cardinals with a left thumb injury.
A pitch from Pittsburgh starter Phil Dumatrait hit the catcher on the thumb of
his glove
<< Laird propels Rangers over Mariners
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Laird went 2-for-3 with an RBI and
three runs scored as the Texas Rangers upended the Seattle Mariners, 5-2, in
the second test of a three-game series at Rangers Ballpark.
Texas starter Kason Ga
<< Defensive blunder allows Royals to nip Tigers
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zack Greinke threw six solid innings, Jose
Guillen hit a two-run double, and the Kansas City Royals used a Detroit error
to edge the Tigers, 3-2, in the opener of a three-game set.
Guillen finished the ga
Drew, D'Backs down Rockies >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Drew clubbed a three-run home
run to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks past the Colorado Rockies, 8-4 in the
opener of a three-game set.
Orlando Hudson went 2-for-4, knocked in two runs and s
Cain does it all as Giants nip Astros >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Cain allowed just two runs over
eight innings and hit his second home run of the year as the San Francisco
Giants edged the Houston Astros, 4-2, in the second of a four-game set at AT&T
Par
Weaver flirts with no-no as Halos edge ChiSox >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jered Weaver threw seven innings of one-hit
ball, and Mike Napoli's sacrifice fly drove in the winning run, as the Los
Angeles Angels earned a 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Weaver actually had a no-hitte
Hornets' Chandler hurts toe >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Hornets center Tyson Chandler
hurt a toe on his left foot in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's 101-79 playoff
win over San Antonio.
The Hornets, who grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven W
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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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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