First-place Braves resume series with Brewers

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07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With rookie sensation Jason Heyward back in the outfield for the Atlanta Braves, things may get a bit easier for the current National League East leaders. Tonight Heyward and the Braves will resume a four-game series versus the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field.

Heyward had been hampered by an injured left thumb and saw action last night for the first time since June 26. In the 2-1 triumph over the Brewers, Heyward went 0-for-4 at the plate, but made two key defensive plays in the field. He even collided with the right-field wall while chasing down a fly ball hit by Casey McGehee in the fourth inning.

"I didn't feel dizzy," Heyward said on the team's site. "It happened so quick that I couldn't even tell you what happened. I took a minute to catch my breath."

Martin Prado and Chipper Jones both homered, while Brian McCann and Troy Glaus ended with two hits apiece for Atlanta, which is five games ahead of New York and 5 1/2 games in front of Philadelphia in the division standings. Jair Jurrjens earned the win by holding Milwaukee to a run over 6 2/3 innings before Peter Moylan, Jonny Venters and closer Billy Wagner prevented any more damage. Wagner fanned two batters in the ninth for his 21st save.

Tommy Hanson gets the nod for the Braves Friday and he is 8-5 with a 4.13 earned run average in 18 starts this season. Hanson did not record a decision the last time out in a 4-2 victory against the Mets on July 9, as he delivered 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts.

Hanson, a right-hander, will try to beat Milwaukee for the second time this season after throwing eight shutout innings and striking out eight in an 8-2 win over the Brewers on May 10 at Miller Park. He is 1-1 with a 3.43 earned run average in three career starts against Milwaukee.

The Braves, winners in five of their last six games, will also host San Diego on the current homestand.

Milwaukee entered the All-Star break fresh off a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates and had its winning streak cut short with Thursday's close loss. Dave Bush was the tough-luck loser, as he yielded a pair of runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings.

"I felt good about the way I threw," Bush said. "Both pitches (for home runs) were mistakes, probably not the only two mistakes, but the two I got hurt on. Besides that, I was happy with the way I threw the ball."

Corey Hart accounted for the only offense with a homer and finished with a team-best two hits for Milwaukee, which lost for the sixth time in nine tries.

The Brewers will also visit the Pirates for four games following their lengthy set in Atlanta. Taking the ball for Milwaukee on Friday will be Randy Wolf, who is 6-8 with a 4.56 earned run average in 19 starts this season. Wolf did not record a decision in Sunday's 6-5 win over the Buccos, as he was reached for four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Wolf, who is 4-4 in nine road starts in 2010, has faced Atlanta plenty of times from his days with the Philadelphia Phillies, but hasn't fared so well. In 27 career appearances, 25 of which have been starts, the southpaw is 4-12 with a 5.31 ERA against the Braves.

The Braves have won five straight and seven of their last eight versus the Brewers, including a three-game sweep at Milwaukee from May 10-12.

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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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