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04/10/2009 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rickie Weeks doubled home the tying run in the ninth, took third on a ball in the dirt and scored the winning run on an infield hit with a head-first slide just ahead of the tag to give Milwaukee a thrilling 4-3 win against the Chicago Cubs in the Brewers' home opener from Miller Park.
Carlos Villanueva (1-0) set down Chicago in order in the ninth and Kevin Gregg (0-1) returned to pitch the bottom half after being called upon to close out the eighth. Jason Kendall was retired on a ground out but Chris Duffy, who was part of a double switch in the top part of the inning, drew a walk. Weeks turned on a low, 2-1 fastball for a double that sailed over the head of Alfonso Soriano in left and one-hopped against the wall.
Duffy scored to tie the game and the heads-up Weeks took third when Gregg bounced a ball in the dirt to Corey Hart, who went on to walk. Ryan Braun sent a dribbler to short and Weeks broke for home. Ryan Theriot rushed the throw and bounced it just in front of Koyie Hill and Weeks beat the tag to send the 45,455 fans, the second-largest crowd in franchise history, into a frenzy.
Braun knocked in two of Milwaukee's four runs while Hart homered and walked twice. Weeks scored twice and also robbed Aramis Ramirez of a base-hit with two men on in the seventh while down a run.
Braden Looper, who signed a one-year deal with the club shortly before spring training, was charged with one run on five hits with four walks and as many strikeouts in lasting five frames for Milwaukee, which started the year with losses in two of its first three games in San Francisco.
Hill, starting for 2008 NL Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto, hit a two-run homer and Milton Bradley added a solo shot for Chicago, which entered this series on the heels of taking two of three games from the Houston Astros.
Soto is day-to-day with inflammation in his right shoulder.
Rich Harden, looking to build off a dominant NL run in 2008 after joining Chicago midseason in a trade with Oakland, made his 2009 debut and baffled the Brewers through six innings, striking out 10 and walking two while giving up two runs -- one earned -- on just three hits.
Harden was 5-1 with a stellar 1.77 earned run average in 12 regular-season starts last season after joining the Cubs.
The Brew Crew manufactured a run in the first as Weeks took second on an error by Theriot leading off, and Hart moved the runner with a sacrifice. Braun followed with a run-scoring single through the left side.
Hart clubbed a home run deep to right-center with two out in the third, adding a run to the lead, but Bradley put the Cubs on the board, leading off the fourth with a blast to almost the same place.
Looper was lifted to start the sixth and reliever Seth McClung was stung by a two-out, two-run homer by Hill, following a Theriot single to give Chicago the 3-2 lead.
The Cubs looked to add runs in the seventh when Kosuke Fukudome doubled to left with one out, and Bradley walked with two away, but Weeks snagged a hard hit ball up the middle off the bat of Ramirez to end the inning.
Chicago went with a combination of three relievers in the home half and escaped a bases-loaded jam. Aaron Heilman started and walked Bill Hall, who moved up on a Kendall sacrifice. Neal Cotts entered to face pinch-hitter Craig Counsell but made it first and second with a hit-by-pitch, and Carlos Marmol was called into service. Weeks lined out for the second out but Hart worked a walk to load the bases. Marmol, though, recovered to retire Braun on a weak pop-up to right.
The Cubs put a runner on third with one out in the eighth. Mike Fontenot doubled off Todd Coffey and moved up on a Theriot grounder. Coffey then plunked Hill to make it first and third, which perfectly set up pinch-hitter Aaron Miles' tailor-made double-play ball to end the inning.
Lou Pinella tapped the pen again in the eighth in an attempt to get to the team's closer in Gregg. Sean Marshall walked Prince Fielder to start the frame and Luis Vizcaino was brought on to face J.J. Hardy. Hardy lined out and Mike Cameron hit a chopper back to the mound, moving the runner to second. Gregg entered to fan Hall and strand the tying run in scoring position for a second straight inning.
Game Notes
Chicago won nine of its 16 meetings with the Brewers last season, including five of the seven matchups held in Milwaukee...Milwaukee has a five-game win streak and is 7-2 in home openers at Miller Park since the its opening in 2001...Theriot and Fukudome had two hits each for Chicago...Despite the comeback, Milwaukee left 10 on base and was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position...The Cubs left nine stranded and was 0-for-7 with RISP.
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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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