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07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista may still not be a familiar name among many baseball fans, but the Baltimore Orioles know all too well how good the Toronto Blue Jays slugger has been this season.
The major league's leading home run hitter in 2010 will attempt to go deep for a fourth straight game tonight, while Bautista's Blue Jays take aim at yet another victory over the cellar-dwelling Orioles when the American League East foes wrap up a three-game series at the Rogers Centre.
Toronto moved to an astounding 11-0 against the Orioles this season by virtue of last night's 8-2 triumph, with Bautista homering twice and knocking in five runs as part of a 4-for-4 performance at the plate. The two long balls give the All-Star outfielder 30 on the season, and he's homered four times with nine RBI over the Jays' last three contests.
"Nothing different in my swing, just my approach has changed a little bit," said Bautista about his recent success. "I'm starting to get ready a little earlier in the at-bat."
Facing the Orioles has helped Bautista build his career-best numbers as well. In Toronto's 11 victories over Baltimore this season, the 29-year-old has hit .326 (14-for-43) with six homers and 15 RBI.
Vernon Wells chipped in a two-run double and both Fred Lewis and Yunel Escobar collected three hits to help Toronto prevail for the fourth time in its last five games overall. Starting pitcher Ricky Romero (8-7) turned in 7 2/3 effective innings as well, holding the O's to two runs and striking out eight Baltimore hitters.
Kevin Millwood wasn't nearly as effective for Baltimore, with the struggling veteran battered for six runs (five earned) on 10 hits over a 5 1/3-inning stint.
"I just didn't make very many good pitches and when you are swinging the bat as well as [Bautista] is, if you don't throw a good pitch, he's going to hit it hard," Millwood said.
Adam Jones went 3-for-4 for Baltimore, losers of four in a row and 10 of 12 since the All-Star break, while Nick Markakis had two hits and drove in a run.
Tuesday's setback was also the Orioles' 10th in a row at the Rogers Centre, where Baltimore has now lost in 15 of its last 16 visits.
With the Blue Jays in need of an extra starter due to having played a doubleheader on Sunday, the team will call up Brad Mills from Triple-A Las Vegas to pitch tonight's finale. The 25-year-old lefty made 16 starts for the 51s this season and compiled a 7-4 record with a 4.13 earned run average.
A fourth-round selection by Toronto in the 2007 draft, Mills did make a pair of starts for the Blue Jays last season, with both coming against the Philadelphia Phillies. The results weren't real good, as he was tagged for 12 runs and 14 hits -- including four homers -- over a 7 2/3-inning span while registering a loss and a no-decision.
He'll be opposed tonight by Jeremy Guthrie in what possibly could be the Baltimore hurler's final outing as an Oriole. Considered a potential candidate to be dealt prior to Saturday's trade deadline, the right-hander has helped his value with a pair of solid performances since the All-Star break.
One of those efforts came against the Blue Jays, with Guthrie limiting the Jays to a run and striking out six in a 6 2/3-inning no-decision on July 17. The 31-year-old followed up by yielding just two runs through seven frames to defeat Minnesota on Friday, finally putting an end to a personal two-month winless streak.
The former first-round pick was handed a loss at the Rogers Centre back on May 30 after being reached for four runs in six innings, and is just 2-5 with a 3.56 ERA in 13 career starts versus Toronto. Guthrie also has struggled on the road during his trying 2010 campaign, having produced a 1-5 record with a 5.01 ERA in 10 away appearances.
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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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