Bruce, Reds get by reeling Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Bruce doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to lift the Reds to a 6-4 win in the opener of a three-game series with the Astros.

Joey Votto was 3-for-4 with a home run, walked and scored one of his two runs on Bruce's double. Ryan Hanigan had a two-run single and Bruce ended with two RBI as the Reds bounced back from dropping the final two games of a four-game set with Washington.

Francisco Cordero put the tying run on base in the ninth but stranded a pair by getting Hunter Pence to line out to center to end the game to earn his 27th save.

Pence was 4-for-5, hit a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth, scored twice and drove in three for Houston, which was coming off a 3-3 road trip. Tim Byrdak (1-1) took the loss.

Wwwgameland Baseball Betting News

<< Hornaday Jr. picks up first win of the season at ORP
Clermont, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. snapped a 22-race winless streak in the Camping World Truck Series with an impressive performance in Friday's AAA Insurance 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Hornaday Jr.,

<< Murphy the hero, Wagner falters in ninth as Fish nip Braves
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Donnie Murphy had the game-winning pinch-hit single in the ninth to cap a wild back-and-forth 7-6 Marlins win to open a three-game series with the Braves. Billy Wagner (5-1) was called on to protect a

<< Parker's INT return for TD lifts Argos over Lions
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Byron Parker's 41-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Toronto Argonauts came back to defeat the British Columbia Lions, 24-20, at the Rog

<< Wilson, Young lead Rangers past Angels
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. Wilson threw eight shutout innings and Michael Young homered in the opening frame as Texas edged the Angels, 1-0, in the second installment of a four-game series. Young and Nelson Cruz each had two

<< Roddick, Isner advance to semis in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Andy Roddick and John Isner were a pair of quarterfinal winners in Friday's action at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Roddick, the top seed, recovered after dropping the first set to b

Brewers broadcaster Uecker returns to booth >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker made his return to the booth on Friday, when the Brewers began a three-game series versus Washington. The 75-year-old underwent successful heart surgery on April 30

Yankees rough up Royals >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with a three-run double in the first inning, as the New York Yankees roughed up the Kansas City Royals, 7-1, in the second installment of a four-game series. Alex Rodriguez, who h

Brewers' Hart leaves with injury >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Corey Hart left Friday's game against Washington due to an injured right wrist. Hart was given a rare day off on Thursday and tripled in his first at-bat in his return. How

Edmonds powers Brewers past Nationals >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Edmonds entered as an injury replacement for Corey Hart early in the game and went 2-for-3 with three RBI, including the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning, to lift Milwaukee to a 7-5 win ove

Indians extend home win streak against Rays >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona allowed just one unearned run in five strong innings, as the Indians extended their home dominance of the Tampa Bay Rays with a 3-1 win in a rain-shortened, seven-inning affair at Progres

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