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07/03/2009 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Conrad's first home run of his career was a pinch-hit, three-run shot to help the Atlanta Braves take a 9-8 win over the Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game set.
Chipper Jones, Yunel Escobar and Matt Diaz each had two RBI while Martin Prado crossed the plate three times for the Braves, who are on a season-high five- game winning streak.
Kenshin Kawakami started on the mound, but lasted just 4 1/3 innings as he was charged with five runs -- four earned -- on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Boone Logan (1-0) got the win for throwing 1 2/3 perfect innings.
Adam Dunn hit the 299th home run of his career while Nyjer Morgan went 0-for-4 with a walk, one stolen base and a run scored in his debut with the Nationals, who have dropped four straight and six of seven.
Ross Detwiler was tagged for five runs on 10 hits with two walks and a strikeout in just 3 1/3 innings. Jesus Colome (1-1) was saddled with the loss.
The game had gone back and forth through the first several innings, but the Braves took the lead back in the seventh. With Colome on to start the inning, Escobar led off with a walk. The next two batters recorded outs, but Casey Kotchman kept the inning alive with a walk and Conrad launched a pitch into the right field bullpen for an 8-5 lead.
Washington got a run back in the bottom of the frame with a sacrifice fly from Cristian Guzman, but Atlanta got it back in the eighth when Diaz worked a bases loaded walk to force home Prado.
Rafael Soriano came on in the ninth to close the game and issued walks to the first two batters. He retired the next two, but Guzman ripped a double down the right field line to make it a one-run game. However, Josh Bard grounded out to first to end the game and give Soriano his eighth save of the season.
After making a nice catch to end the top of the first, Morgan led off the home half of the frame with a walk and then stole second. The next two batters recorded outs, but Dunn kept the inning alive with a walk and Josh Willingham followed with a single to score Morgan for a 1-0 lead.
Atlanta, though, got the run back in the second as Brian McCann led off with a double and later scored on a single from Diaz.
Washington grabbed the lead back in the second on RBI singles from Ross Detwiler and Nick Johnson, but in the top of the third, Atlanta again tied the game thanks to an RBI double from Jones and a run-scoring single off the bat of Escobar.
Dunn led off the bottom of the third by drilling a 1-0 pitch into the upper deck of right field for a 4-3 lead.
However, the Braves again answered in the fourth to take the lead back. With Prado on second, Jones chipped a single to left bring him in. McCann then singled and, after Tyler Clippard took over duties on the mound, Escobar doubled to left to score Jones for a 5-4 lead.
The Nationals knotted the game again in the fifth. With one out, Willingham was hit by a pitch. Guzman then hit a grounder that Kawakami fielded, but he threw the ball away and the Nationals had runners at second and third. Josh Bard then grounded out to bring home Willingham to tie the game.
Game Notes
Atlanta has won five of seven against the Nationals this season...Morgan was acquired from the Pirates on Tuesday along with pitcher Sean Burnett for outfielder Lastings Milledge and pitcher Joel Hanrahan...Atlanta stranded 13 men on base while the Nationals left eight on base...Morgan now has 19 stolen bases on the season.
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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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