A's Braden faces Rays for first time since perfect game

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08/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden was perfect the last time he faced Tampa Bay and he will now try to give Oakland the series win, as the Athletics and Rays wrap up a four-game set today at the Coliseum.

On May 9th, Braden etched his name into history, becoming just one of 20 pitchers in major league history to throw a perfect game in a 4-0 victory over Tampa Bay. The left-hander retired all 27 batters he faced while striking out six along the way. He improved to 4-2 with a 3.86 ERA in eight career appearances -- seven starts -- versus the Rays.

Braden went more than two months without a win following the gem, but has gotten back on track in recent weeks. Over his last five starts, Braden is 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA, including two complete games. On Tuesday, he allowed two runs -- one earned -- and three hits over seven innings of a 6-2 victory over Toronto.

Countering for Tampa Bay is Matt Garza, who made a little history himself by becoming the first Rays pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Garza no-hit Detroit on July 26th, allowing just one baserunner on a walk, which was erased by a double play.

Most recently, the right-hander turned in a dominant performance, as he struck out a season-best 10 over seven scoreless innings of a 10-1 win over Texas on Tuesday. He gave up five hits and walked two in snapping a two-game slide.

Despite boasting a solid 3.70 ERA in four career outings against the Athletics, Garza has yet to pick up a win and has come out on the losing end three times. He was defeated by Braden twice last year.

Garza is hoping for some revenge and more importantly to give Tampa Bay a split of this four-game set after pulling out a 5-4 win last night.

Sean Rodriguez hit a game-winning, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth, as Tampa Bay slipped past the A's. Rodriguez's eighth home run of the season lifted the Rays to their sixth win in eight games, although it was just their first victory in this series. Evan Longoria also added a home run in the win.

David Price was pedestrian in his search of win No. 16, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk while fanning five in six innings. Randy Choate (3-3) earned the win for a scoreless inning, and Rafael Soriano picked up his 36th save.

The Rays remained one game behind New York in the AL East after the Yankees beat Seattle earlier Saturday.

Mark Ellis had two hits and two RBI for the A's, who had a four-game win streak snapped. Daric Barton went 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored in defeat.

Brett Anderson was in line for the win, throwing an Oakland record 14th straight quality start. In addition, he lasted seven innings -- marking the 20th consecutive game in which the A's starter has pitched six innings -- and allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out eight.

Craig Breslow (4-4) took the loss for giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning.

The Athletics have still won four of their last five home meetings with the Rays.

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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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