Reds seek rare series win at Dodger Stadium

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08/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds found their success at Dodger Stadium short-lived thanks to Los Angeles' use of the long ball last night.

The Reds, who had a season-high seven-game winning streak halted, will look to rebound tonight behind Bronson Arroyo as they aim for their first series win at Chavez Ravine since 2004 in the finale of a three-game set against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.

The Reds halted a 12-game skid at Dodger Stadium on Friday, their first win at the ballpark since July 28, 2005, but saw the Dodgers hit four homers in Saturday's 8-5 winning decision by Los Angeles.

Johnny Cueto, returning from a seven-game suspension, was drilled for all four homers and five runs total over three innings, falling to 11-4.

"Johnny couldn't find the strike zone," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "He lost his rhythm and they started hitting the ball out of the ballpark. We were playing catch-up, but we couldn't trade runs with them."

Joey Votto drove in two runs for the Reds, who had an eight-game road winning streak halted. Their lead for first place in the National League Central was also trimmed to 3 1/2 games over the Cardinals, who beat San Francisco earlier Saturday.

Ryan Theriot and Andre Ethier hit back-to-back homers in the second inning and Jay Gibbons and Matt Kemp blasted consecutive home runs the following frame for the Dodgers, who pulled within seven games of the NL Wild Card spot.

Chad Billingsley allowed seven hits and three runs over 5 2/3 innings for his first victory since July 27.

"Four home runs, that came out of nowhere," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We kept coming at them and did some good things. Chad was okay. He had a tightness in his calf. That's why I took him out."

The Dodgers activated Manny Ramirez from the disabled list prior to the game, but he went hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts before being replaced by Reed Johnson in left to start the sixth inning.

The Reds, who split six games at home with the Dodgers prior to this set, haven't won a series at Dodger Stadium since a three-game sweep from May 14-16, 2004, and will aim to do so tonight behind Arroyo.

Arroyo will be trying to win for the fourth time in his last five starts this afternoon and is coming off Tuesday's victory in Arizona. The right-hander gave up two runs on six hits and a pair of walks over 7 1/3 innings, claiming a 6-2 triumph while improving to 13-7 on the year with a 3.87 earned run average.

Arroyo, 33, doubled his career win total versus the Dodgers when he beat them on June 17 with seven innings of one-run ball. He worked around five hits and a season-high six walks, improving to 2-4 with a 4.21 ERA lifetime versus Los Angeles.

Kershaw goes for a second straight winning outing after the Dodgers' left- hander halted a three-start winless skid (0-2) on Tuesday versus Colorado.

Kershaw hurled seven innings of scoreless ball, limiting the Rockies to five hits and three walks while striking out six. He upped his season record to 11-7 to go along with a 3.03 ERA.

The 22-year-old earned his first career victory over the Reds in his second start versus them on June 16, holding them to a run on seven hits over 7 1/3 frames to go along with seven strikeouts.

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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.

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