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09/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics starter Dallas Braden won't have to worry about Alex Rodriguez running across his pitching mound this afternoon due to the slugging third baseman currently being on the disabled list.
Braden, making his first appearance against the Yankees since his verbal spat with A-Rod, will have plenty of other concerns in today's finale of a four- game series as New York's CC Sabathia aims to become baseball's first 19-game winner and extend his 20-start home unbeaten streak.
The 26-year-old Braden got the best of the Yankees at home on April 22 with six innings of two-run ball, Oakland's lone victory in nine meetings with New York this year, but his victory was overshadowed by his jawing with Rodriguez after the former MVP jogged across the pitcher's mound following a fouled-off pitch.
Braden said he felt Rodriguez violated an unwritten rule in baseball.
"You don't run across a pitcher's mound in between an inning or during a game," Braden said. "I was just dumbfounded that he would let that slip his mind. If he wants to run across the pitcher's mound, let him go run laps in the bullpen."
Braden and Rodriguez won't rematch tonight as the New York third baseman has been on the DL since Aug. 21 due to a strained left calf.
"He just told me to get off his mound," Rodriguez said. "It was a little surprising, I never quite heard that, especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career."
Perhaps motivated by Rodriguez's comments, Braden threw a perfect game three starts after the Yankees win versus the Rays on May 9. He hurled his second career shutout and fifth complete game of the season last time out on Friday in Texas, a four-hitter in which he did not walk a batter.
The left-hander improved to 3-1 over his last four starts and is 9-9 with a 3.28 earned run average this year. Braden, though, is just 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA in five games versus the Yankees, two starts.
Braden will find it tough to pick up a win at Yankee Stadium today given that Sabathia hasn't lost on his home mound in over a year. He is 15-0 with a 2.17 ERA over his 20-game home unbeaten streak that dates back to July 18, 2009 and is the longest for a New York pitcher since Ron Guidry posted 16 straight winning decisions at home in 1985-86.
The 30-year-old Sabathia has won his last five starts overall, but was a little off in his last win at the White Sox on Saturday as he allowed five runs over seven innings in a 12-9 triumph. The left-hander still became baseball's first 18-game winner and has a 3.14 ERA on the season.
After losing to Braden back in April, Sabathia struck out 10 batters over 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball to best hosting Oakland on July 6. He improved to 6-8 with a 5.36 ERA in 20 career starts against the A's.
While Braden is starting opposite one of the top pitchers in baseball, he also has to deal with a red-hot Mark Teixeira, who is 8-for-10 in this series with two homers and seven RBI. New York's first baseman had three hits and three RBI in last night's 4-3 victory, helping A.J. Burnett earn his first victory since July 28.
"It is a good win for me, but my numbers are not important. I'm trying to get some good momentum in this last month," said Burnett after allowing three runs over six innings.
New York's fifth straight win -- its longest since a seven-game run from July 3-9 -- maintained a one-game lead over the Rays at the top of the American League East standings.
Brett Anderson took the loss for Oakland despite allowing a single earned run and eight hits in six innings. However, it was the lefty's throwing error that ultimately led to three Yankee runs in the second.
Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-run homer in the setback, which dropped Oakland to 4-5 on a 10-game road trip and 9 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Texas.
New York has won six in a row over Oakland and has won 19 of the past 22 meetings between the clubs.
<< Skidding Indians head out west to battle Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians will take their four-game losing
streak out west for seven straight games starting with tonight's opener of a
four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.
The Indians are coming off
<< Twins seek to sweep Tigers out of Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins will
continue their homestand tonight and try for a second sweep of the Detroit
Tigers this season in the finale of a three-game series at Target Field.
The Twins have wo
<< Red Sox aim to stay in playoff mix, take series from O's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have missed the playoffs only once in
the previous seven years, but are in danger of being left out for the first
time since the 2006 campaign.
The Red Sox are seven games off the wild card lead and eigh
<< Golf Tidbits: Too little, too late for PGA Tour?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A week after Jim Furyk overslept and
missed his pro-am tee time, the PGA Tour suspended its own rule that
disqualifies a player for missing a pro-am.
But has the damage been done? Furyk would probably argu
Braves' Hudson aims to shut down Mets in series finale >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Offense has been tough to come by for the Mets in their
current series with the Braves. It should be even tougher tonight with Tim
Hudson, the National League's earned run average leader, set to take the hill.
Huds
USA finishes unbeaten in FIBA preliminary round >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Gordon scored a game-high 21 points,
leading the United States in a 92-57 rout of Tunisia to finish up an
unblemished record in the preliminary round of the 2010 FIBA World
Champio
Golf Course Review - TPC Jasna Polana >>
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS AND STATS: Course Architect: Gary
Player (1998). Year Opened: June, 1998. Location: Princeton, New Jersey.
Slope: 144. Rating: 74.8. Par: 72. Yardage: 7,098.
Hole-by-Hole:
1 - Par 4 396 Yds 10 - P
Temple Owls hope to rule MAC roost >>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Here's a first: Temple is picked to win the MAC.Gone are the days when it seemed like a winless season for the Owls was a real possibility. Coach Al Golden says fans approach him asking for a bowl game in a warmer climate and coun
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
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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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