Giants subdue Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nate Schierholtz's two-run homer in the fourth inning proved to be the difference, as the San Francisco Giants held off the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game series between these two NL West rivals.

Freddy Sanchez, Pablo Sandoval, and Buster Posey each had an RBI for the Giants, who have won six of seven.

Madison Bumgarner (3-2) lasted 5 2/3 frames, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on six hits to win his third straight start. He also fanned three batters and walked two. Brian Wilson picked up his 26th save of the season.

Rafael Furcal hit a solo homer for the Dodgers, who have dropped five in a row. Matt Kemp drove in the other run.

James McDonald (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque prior to the game, gave up four runs on nine hits in a five-inning start. He also struck out five and walked two in his first appearance of the year for Los Angeles. McDonald went 6-1 with a 4.41 earned run average in 12 starts for the Isotopes this season.

"I thought James had good stuff, but the numbers aren't going to look like that," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We know we're better than we've been lately. We're not tired, just down a little bit."

The Giants stranded the bases loaded in the second inning, but scored two runs in the third. Andres Torres led off with a double and scored on Posey's two-out single. Sandoval followed with an RBI double to make it 2-0.

Schierholtz's two-run homer to right in the fourth gave San Francisco a 4-0 advantage.

The Dodgers got to Bumgarner in the sixth, as Furcal led off the frame with a homer to left. Jamey Carroll singled and James Loney walked with two outs. Guillermo Mota replaced Bumgarner on the hill and his errant pickoff throw to second allowed the runners to move up a base. Kemp hit a grounder to third and Sandoval tagged out Loney. However, it was ruled that Carroll crossed the plate before Loney was called out, making it a 4-2 game.

"I wish I could've been more focused in the sixth. It's fun to pitch here in this rivalry and get the win," Bumgarner said.

LA left the bases loaded in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Garret Anderson worked a two-out walk, chasing Mota from the contest. Sergio Romo was pulled after giving up a single to Furcal and walking Carroll. Jeremy Affeldt came on to pitch with the bases loaded, and Andre Ethier grounded out to end the threat.

Sanchez's sacrifice fly in the eighth gave the Giants a 5-2 lead.

Wilson ran into some trouble in the ninth. Russell Martin singled, Furcal singled, and Ethier walked to load the bases with two outs. Casey Blake went down swinging to end the game.

Game Notes

Los Angeles has won five of the first seven matchups with San Francisco this season and was riding a four-game winning streak in the series...Posey extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games...LA was without star outfielder Manny Ramirez (calf)....San Francisco has won 10 of its last 12 games...The Giants recalled infielder/outfielder Eugenio Velez from Triple-A Fresno and optioned pitcher Joe Martinez to Fresno...San Francisco started a seven-game road trip on Monday, while the Dodgers got a seven-game homestand underway...McDonald made his fifth career start...In 45 games (four starts) for LA last season, McDonald went 5-5 with a 4.00 ERA.

Wwwraceo Baseball Betting News

<< Diamondbacks pummel light-hitting Mets
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Reynolds tripled in a run as part of a big first inning and belted a three-run homer in the sixth, carrying Arizona to a 13-2 blowout win over the New York Mets. Chris Young had three hits and scored th

<< Rios' HR helps White Sox get past Mariners
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rios clubbed a two-run homer and added a sacrifice fly, as the Chicago White Sox defeated Seattle, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Safeco Field. Omar Vizquel went 2-for-4 with a walk a

<< Beltre, Dice-K pace Red Sox over A's
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Beltre went 3-for-4 with a home run and Daisuke Matsuzaka threw into the seventh inning, as the Boston Red Sox cooled off the Oakland Athletics with a 2-1 victory in the opener of a three-game series.

<< Indians pound out 20 hits in rout of Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Crowe had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, as the Cleveland Indians remained hot with a 10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game series at Target

<< Cruz's two-run HR lifts Rangers past Tigers in 14 innings
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nelson Cruz continued his hot hitting, belting a two-run homer in the 14th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers to an 8-6 win over Detroit in the opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park. Cruz, who had

Miller expecting plenty of open looks with Heat >>
MIAMI (AP) -With just about every Miami Heat acquisition this summer, another recruiting story seems to emerge.Dwyane Wade helped lure LeBron James and Chris Bosh. James played a big role in talking Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike Miller into coming to

Monty selects vice captains for Ryder Cup >>
Wentworth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has selected Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley as his vice captains for this year's team. The 2010 Ryder Cup will be staged October 1-3 at the Cel

Line of Scrimmage: NFL GameChangers '10: Specialists >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Belichick has achieved considerable success during his 10-season stint as head coach of the New England Patriots, but for those with the time or wherewithal to look at his resume' with a magnifying glass

NHL veteran Keane won't return to Manitoba >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time NHL forward Mike Keane won't return to the Manitoba Moose for the 2010-11 season. Manitoba, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, announced it won't renew the 43-year-

Cardinals seek seventh straight victory in clash with Phils >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Home runs are not easy to hit, but the St. Louis Cardinals made it their job in last night's win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The NL Central-leading Cardinals will try to go deep again Tuesday in the second installment of

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com