Guthrie ends long winless stretch as O's edge Twins

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Guthrie picked up his first victory in nearly two months thanks to a two-run homer by Luke Scott in the sixth inning, as Baltimore edged Minnesota, 3-2, in the second test of a four-game set.

Guthrie (4-10), winless in nine starts since beating Oakland on May 25, yielded two runs on six hits in seven effective innings to pick up the win, the Orioles' second in eight games since the All-Star break.

Anthony Slama (0-1) gave up the go-ahead home run to take the loss behind Brian Duensing, who went five innings in his first start of the year and allowed just one run on four hits while walking none.

Joe Mauer went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run for the Twins, who had won two straight and five of seven coming in.

Minnesota shut out its previous two opponents but gave up a run in the first inning Friday, as Adam Jones' two-out, RBI single gave the Orioles an early lead that held up until the sixth.

Guthrie faced the minimum from the third through the fifth frame, then retired the first two hitters in the sixth before Alexi Casilla singled to left. Mauer then sent one into the seats in right-center for his fifth home run this season. The reigning AL MVP belted a career-high 28 round-trippers last year.

The Twins' lead was short-lived, with Miguel Tejada leading off the bottom frame with a single off Slama, who was making his second career appearance since being called up from Triple-A Rochester. Two batters later, Scott gave the rookie reliever a rude welcome with a no-doubter to right for a 3-2 edge.

Denard Span led off the away eighth with a single and was moved into scoring position with a bunt. However, Will Ohman got Mauer to bounce out to short, and David Hernandez got Michael Cuddyer to fly out to the deepest part of the park in center.

Alfredo Simon worked around Delmon Young's one-out single in the ninth to close out the victory and notch his 14th save of the season.

Game Notes

Duensing, who made nine starts last season, had appeared in 39 games out of the bullpen this year and pitched to an impressive 1.67 earned run average. He started in place of an ineffective Nick Blackburn...Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson left in the third inning with a right oblique strain...Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, sidelined since suffering an abdominal strain four games into the season, went 0-for-4 out of the leadoff spot in his return. To make room for Roberts, Baltimore designated infielder Scott Moore for assignment...O's infielder Ty Wigginton was suspended by Major League Baseball for three games for his on-field argument and subsequent volatile reaction with an umpire in the opener of this series. He appealed and went 1- for-4 in the win...Tejada had two hits and two runs scored for Baltimore.

Wwwsportinglife Baseball Betting News

<< N.C. State football legend Byrd dies
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina State football legend Dennis Byrd, who was recently selected to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December, has died at the age of 63. Byrd suffered a heart attack las

<< Clark, Wilson share Canadian Open lead
Etobicoke, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Clark fired a six-under 64 Friday to grab a share of the lead after 36 holes of the Canadian Open. Clark was joined in the lead by Dean Wilson, who carded a 65 in round two. They are tied at 10-under-

<< Tyreke Evans pleads no contest to reckless driving
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans, the reigning rookie of the Year, pled no contest to reckless driving. Sacramento district attorney Jan Scully made the announcement Friday, saying Evans was order

<< Nationals place Atilano on DL
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals placed rookie pitcher Luis Atilano on the 15-day disabled list Friday. Atilano was recently touched for five runs in four innings in a July 20 start against the Reds and was

<< Mariners' Bedard to get third opinion
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard will get another opinion on his sore pitching shoulder. The left-hander underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum last August, but has not recovered as expected. Accordi

Halladay, Phillies shut out Rockies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Halladay turned in eight scoreless innings and Raul Ibanez drove in three runs as Philadelphia awoke from its batting funk and downed Colorado, 6-0, in the opener of a four-game set from Citizen

Padres use early burst of offense to down Bucs >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Gonzalez capped a four-run second inning with a sacrifice fly, and San Diego continued to thrive in the Steel City, posting a 5-3 victory over the Pirates in the opener of a three-game series

Rangers catcher Treanor leaves game >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers catcher Matt Treanor left Friday's game 1-0 win against the Angels after seven innings due to a sprained right knee. He'll have an MRI on Saturday. In the bottom of the seventh, Treanor h

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

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

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