White Sox rally, beat Dodgers in 13 innings
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06/25/2009 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Podsednik drove in the game-winning run with a single in the 13th inning as the Chicago White Sox took a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the conclusion of a three-game set.
In the 13th, Paul Konerko led off with a single and A.J. Pierzynski followed with a double. Chris Getz was then intentionally walked to load the bases and the Dodgers brought their defense in.
Josh Fields had the first chance to win the game, but he lined out to center. Dewayne Wise then popped out to center for the second out of the inning, but Podsednik punched a line drive to center that hopped just in front of a diving Matt Kemp and Konerko scored to win the game.
Pierzynski hit a three-run home run while Konerko had a solo homer for the White Sox, who have won four of their last five games.
Clayton Richard lasted just 4 1/3 innings in the start for Chicago and was charged with four runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout. Aaron Poreda (1-0) got his first career win for throwing a perfect 13th inning.
Orlando Hudson went 3-for-6 with two RBI and a run scored, and Mark Loretta had two doubles and drove in a pair for the Dodgers, who dropped the last two games of the series.
Chad Billingsley started for Los Angeles and over six innings was charged with five runs on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Jeff Weaver (4-2) was charged with the loss.
The game was scoreless until the fourth when the Dodgers surged ahead. Juan Pierre was hit by a pitch to start the frame, moved to second on a Russell Martin fly out and then stole third. Hudson then singled to left to score Pierre for the game's first run. Casey Blake then singled and, after Kemp flied out which moved Hudson to third, he stole second base. Loretta brought home both runners with a double to left for a 3-0 lead.
Los Angeles tacked on another run in the fifth as Hudson's RBI single plated Juan Castro for a 4-0 advantage.
Chicago, though, cut its deficit in half in the fifth. Konerko led off the frame with a shot over the left field wall. With two outs, Fields kept the inning alive with a walk and Wise followed with a triple to chase home Fields and make it a 4-2 game.
The White Sox then took the lead in the sixth as, with two outs and two men on base, Pierzynski worked a full count before launching a ball into the bullpen in left field for a 5-4 lead.
Los Angeles, though, tied the game in the seventh thanks to a sloppy play. With one out, Martin slapped an easy grounder to short that Alexei Ramirez fielded cleanly. However, he sent a soft toss to first that drew Konerko off the bag and Martin was safe. Hudson then hit a grounder to right that put Martin on third and a groundout from Blake allowed Martin to cross the plate and tie the game.
Game Notes
The Dodgers return home to face Seattle for three games starting on Friday...The White Sox host the Cubs for three games starting on Friday...Chicago has won nine of the last 11 games against the Dodgers...Chicago is 1-2 in extra innings this season while Los Angeles is 6-2...Chicago stranded 11 men on base while Los Angeles left nine.
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW 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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