Hernandez solid as Nats down D'Backs

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08/03/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn and Ivan Rodriguez each hit solo home runs for Washington, and Livan Hernandez pitched effectively into the eighth inning in a 3-1 victory over Arizona in the opener of a four-game set.

Hernandez (8-7), coming off his shortest stint of the season, allowed only five hits, one walk and one run to go with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings for the Nationals, who were coming off a 4-2 homestand.

Sean Burnett recorded the final five outs for his first save of the season.

Rodriguez's blast was the 300th of his career as a catcher, joining four other backstops to accomplish such a feat.

Rodrigo Lopez (5-10) took the loss in a quality start, yielding three runs on seven hits and two walks in seven frames for the Diamondbacks, who left all their offense in New York after taking two of three from the Mets by a 27-12 margin.

Justin Upton went 0-for-4, snapping a 17-game hitting streak in defeat.

Lopez got off to a slow start in the first inning, though he limited the damage to one run. The right-hander picked off Nyjer Morgan following his leadoff single then walked the next two batters.

Josh Willingham's two-out single plated Adam Kennedy for a 1-0 game, and Rodriguez blasted his second homer of the season leading off the next frame.

Mark Reynolds scored Arizona's only run in the bottom half on a Gerardo Parra groundout, and Dunn got the run right back for the visitors with his 26th round-tripper of the year in the third.

Washington wasted runners on second and third with one out in the seventh, and Arizona failed to score with two on and one out in the eighth, as Burnett relieved Hernandez and fanned Kelly Johnson, then got Upton to chase a 3-0 pitch out of the zone for a weak groundout to short.

Burnett closed out the win in the ninth by retiring Arizona's 4-5-6 hitters in order.

Game Notes

This was the first meeting between the clubs this season...Hernandez, who pitched for Arizona during the 2006 and '07 seasons, lasted just 4 1/3 innings against the Braves last Wednesday, taking the loss in a 3-1 decision... Rodriguez joins Mike Piazza (396), Carlton Fisk (351), Johnny Bench (327) and Yogi Berra (306) in the elite 300-home run club for catchers...Stephen Drew had two of Arizona's five hits...Game time: 2:19.

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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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