Angels pay a visit to Tigers in Motown

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08/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Detroit Tigers are fading in their respective division-title races. Good news is that one club has to win tonight when the two teams kick off a three-game series at Comerica Park.

Both teams will be sending out their aces for tonight's openers, as the Angels' Jered Weaver opposes Justin Verlander of the Tigers in a matchup of 2004 first-round picks.

Weaver, grabbed 12th overall by the Angels, has split his last four starts despite a solid 2.33 earned run average. He is coming off a win on Sunday in which he held the Rangers to just one unearned run and four hits over seven innings, walking three and striking out seven.

The 27-year-old righty is 10-7 with a 3.04 ERA this year and has pitched at least six innings in 14 straight starts dating back to May 23.

Weaver is 2-3 with a 6.51 ERA in seven career starts versus the Tigers, losing to Verlander on May 2 after giving up four runs over 4 2/3 innings. Verlander, meanwhile, hurled 8 1/3 innings of one-run, three-hit ball that day to improve to 3-2 with a 4.44 ERA in eight matchups with the Angels.

The 27-year-old second overall pick of 2004, Verlander had a four-decision winning streak end with a loss at Tampa on July 27, then did not factor into the decision of his team's 4-3 loss at Boston on Monday. The right-hander gave up three runs on six hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts.

Verlander is 12-6 with a 3.74 ERA this year and has won five straight starts at home, where he hasn't lost since May 31 and is 7-2 with a 2.65 ERA this season.

Both the Angels and Tigers are coming off Thursday losses, with Los Angeles falling 10 games off the pace for first place in the American League West, while Detroit has dropped nine games back in the AL Central.

Los Angeles erased a four-run deficit to Baltimore in the eighth inning yesterday, getting a three-run homer from Torii Hunter in the frame and an RBI hit by Bobby Abreu. However, closer Francisco Rodriguez gave up a game-winning RBI single to Cesar Izturis in the bottom of the ninth to earn the Angels' their 11th loss in 14 games.

"I think [new O's manager Buck Showalter] really sparked those guys," Hunter said. "We just couldn't come through. They just seemed like they wanted it more."

Detroit also wasted a late rally on Thursday versus Chicago. Pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn hit a game-tying, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth for the Tigers to force extra innings, but Jose Valverde yielded two runs in the 11th inning of a 6-4 setback.

"We got the big one there in the last inning to tie it up, but we couldn't hold it," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We didn't do much offensively the whole game."

Don Kelly also hit a solo homer as the Tigers lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

The Tigers have ripped off five straight victories over the Angels since losing the first two meetings this year. That includes a three-game sweep at home from April 30-May 2, as Detroit has won nine of the last 12 meetings.

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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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