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07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are quickly falling out of contention in the American League Central. Tonight, they try to put the brakes on their 10- game road losing streak when they open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Detroit started its seven-game road trip in disappointing fashion, as it was swept in a four-game set by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tigers have now lost six of their last seven and have fallen six games back of the Chicago White Sox in the division.
"We got three out of four really good starts here," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "That's what you're looking for, some silver lining, but we obviously have to get more offense."
The 10-game road slide is now just three shy of the franchise-record 13-game drought set back in 1902. A trip to Boston could add to the misery, as the Tigers have lost 22 of their last 30 at Fenway.
Hoping to buck that trend for the Tigers tonight will be righty Armando Galarraga, who is 3-3 with a 4.43 earned run average. Galarraga did not get a decision on Sunday against Toronto, as he allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings of his team's 5-3 loss.
Galarraga, who will be making his first-ever start at Fenway, beat the Red Sox the last time he faced them and is 1-1 in three starts against them with a 4.50 ERA.
Boston, meanwhile, is at the other end of the spectrum, entering this series on the heels of a three-game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim that culminated with a 7-3 win at Angel Stadium.
Marco Scutaro's eighth-inning grand slam was the difference, while Josh Beckett (2-1) went seven innings in the start and was charged with three runs on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
"I had to manifest some energy today," said Beckett. "I felt better today than last time out. I did some good things and made some good adjustments. The most important thing is for our team to win now."
Boston has won five of its last seven.
Heading to the hill for the Red Sox this evening will be lefty Jon Lester, who is 11-5 with a 2.92 ERA, but has lost his last two starts.
Lester was perfect for 5 1/3 frames on Saturday in Seattle before Eric Patterson dropped a fly ball in center field. Lester then served up a two-run homer and he lost his perfect game, his shutout and the game all in short order.
He was charged with five runs (four earned) and four hits in 7 2/3 innings, while striking out 13 batters, absorbing the loss nonetheless.
"That's as good as stuff as we've seen all year," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona of Lester's start. "The outcome is a shame. He pitched better than the linescore will show, for sure. He had a perfect game going for half the game. Then we drop a fly ball and then he hung a breaking ball -- probably the first bad pitch he threw all night."
The last time Lester lost two in a row was in April, and he responded with eight consecutive wins over his next 11 starts.
<< Tigers bring up Frazier; designate Larish for assignment
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers have purchased the contract
of outfielder Jeff Frazier from Triple-A Toledo and opened a roster spot for
the slugger by designating infielder Jeff Larish for assignment.
Frazier was hitti
<< NBA Atlantic Division Off-Season Grades
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlantic Division had only one team finish
with a winning record last season (Celtics), and although some members have
improved since then, it looks like it will be pretty weak once again. Let's
take a look a
<< Unpredictable tournament sets up USA-Cuba in quarters
Thunder Bay, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After six exciting days and 30 hard-
fought games of round-robin competition, the 2010 International Baseball
Federation World Junior Baseball Championship is set to begin the medal round.
Anything but pre
<< Bruins sign Blake Wheeler after arbitration award
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins have signed forward Blake
Wheeler to a one-year contract after the two sides went to arbitration earlier
this week.
According to the Boston Globe, Wheeler was awarded a $2.2 million deal f
Slumping Diamondbacks visit Mets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The slumping Arizona Diamondbacks head to New York in hopes
of notching a rare road win when they open a three-game weekend series with
the Mets at Citi Field.
The Diamondbacks, now 24 games off the pace in the National Le
Giants send Lincecum to the hill versus Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum goes after win No. 11 this evening when the
San Francisco Giants open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers
at AT&T Park.
Lincecum has not received a decision in either of his last two outing
With trade rumors swirling, ChiSox start set with Oakland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have been an awfully tough team to
beat over the past two months, and the current American League Central leaders
have been virtually invincible at U.S. Cellular Field during that time period.
Chicago
Royals continue set with Orioles in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles hope a flurry of changes can help
lead to more results like the team produced on Thursday.
The revamped club will set its sights on a second straight victory over the
Kansas City Royals, who'll be out
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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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