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07/21/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Drew hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks held on to beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2, in the middle contest of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.
Orlando Hudson went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Chris Young scored twice for the Diamondbacks, who had lost five of six.
Arizona starter Micah Owings lasted just four innings after giving two runs on four hits. Juan Cruz (4-1) took over for Owings and pitched three no-hit innings to pick up the win.
Jose Valverde worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to nail down the victory and pick up his 29th save of the season.
Angel Pagan hit a two-run triple for the Cubs, who had won three in a row and seven of eight.
Rich Hill pitched six innings, yielding two runs -- one earned -- on six hits with six strikeouts and four walks.
Bob Howry (5-5) struck out pinch-hitter Augie Ojeda to start the eighth, but Drew stepped to the plate and smoked a 3-1 pitch over the right-field wall to give Arizona the lead.
Ryan Theriot led off the eighth with a walk, but after Mike Fontenot flied out, the Diamondbacks got out of the inning on an impressive double play by Drew and Hudson.
Aramis Ramirez hit a groundball up the middle and Drew, running away from second, caught up to the ball and backhanded a throw to second. Hudson caught the ball with his bare hand before throwing to first for the twin-killing.
A fielding error by Ramirez in the first inning allowed Arizona to jump out to an early lead. Young led off the game and bounced a groundball to third base that got by Ramirez, allowing Young to reach second.
Young then swiped third before scoring on Hudson's groundout.
Owings struggled with his command in the home half of the first, walking two batters and almost hitting Ramirez with a pitch that was high and inside. Ramirez took exception and approached the mound before cooler heads prevailed.
Chicago then took the lead in the fourth as Jacque Jones led off with a double, DeRosa walked and Pagan cleared the bases with a triple to right field.
Arizona answered right back in the fifth as Young walked, went to third on Hudson's single and scored on Eric Byrnes' groundball.
Game Notes
The Diamondbacks are 14-7 against Chicago since the start of the 2004 season...It was Pagan's second triple of the season...Attendance was 41,632.
<< Eschauer, Darcis to meet in Dutch Open final
Amersfoort, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Werner Eschauer of Austria and
Belgian Steve Darcis posted semifinal victories on Saturday at the Dutch Open.
Eschauer, who upset third seed Carlos Moya in the quarterfinals, whipped
Dutc
<< Towers, Blue Jays blank Mariners
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Towers pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings as
the Toronto Blue Jays edged the Seattle Mariners, 1-0, in the second contest
of a three-game set.
Towers (5-6) gave up just three hits while striking out four
<< Tampa's Crawford exits with ankle injury
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Carl Crawford
left Saturday's game against the New York Yankees in the fifth inning with a
sprained left ankle.
Crawford legged out an infield single in the third and began
<< Marlins' Olsen arrested
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins pitcher Scott Olsen was
reportedly arrested Saturday morning after he did not pull over his car during
a traffic stop.
According to the Miami Herald, Olsen was charged with driving
Power wins Champ Car pole in Edmonton >>
Edmonton, AB Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power won Saturday's final
qualifying session for the Rexall Grand Prix Edmonton at the Rexall Speedway.
The No.5 Team Australia driver circled the 1.973-mile, 14-turn,temporary
course
Local favorite Francella bounced from Match Play >>
New Rochelle, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With no big names left entering the
quarterfinal round, a local favorite breathed life into the HSBC Women's World
Match Play Championship.
But not for long.
Meaghan Francella's run as the 33rd
Ortiz day-to-day with shoulder injury >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz underwent
an MRI Saturday on his strained left shoulder.
The MRI, taken at Massachusetts General Hospital, revealed no structural
damage and Ortiz, who was out of th
Yanks sting Devil Rays in first game of doubleheader >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hideki Matsui and Shelley Duncan each hit two-
run homers as the New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-3, in
the first game of a doubleheader.
Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run
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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