Black takes new deal into Padres/Braves series

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07/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Under Bud Black, the Padres have become one of the biggest successful surprises in 2010. The San Diego manager is now reaping the rewards of that achievement.

The Padres take the field for the first time since Black was given a three- year contract extension as they visit another surprise at the top of the standings, the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves, for the first of three straight games at Turner Field.

The Padres hold the NL's top record at 54-37, just ahead of the Braves' 54-38 mark, and on Monday their manager was given a new deal that also includes club options for 2014 and 2015. San Diego is 281-297 in three-plus seasons since Black was hired in November of 2006.

"This news comes at a time when the team is playing well, but my faith in Bud goes far beyond wins and losses," said general manager Jed Hoyer, who also called the extension for Black well deserved. "He and his staff are exceptionally well prepared, he embraces the challenge of teaching young players and, most importantly, the players compete for him every night."

Black's club has relied heavily on its pitching this year in its run to the top of the NL West, leading the majors with a collective 3.25 earned run average, but has plated 35 runs over a four-game win streak, San Diego's longest since also winning four in a row from May 22-26.

The Padres opened the second half with a three-game sweep of their division's last-place club, the Diamondbacks, taking Sunday's finale by a 6-4 margin. Chris Denorfia matched a career high with four hits, homering twice for the first time in his career to double his season total, as the Padres pounded out 14 hits to move a season-high 17 games over .500.

Tony Gwynn Jr. added a pair of hits, two walks and two stolen bases and Kevin Correia got the win after allowing three runs over six innings, striking out a season-high nine batters for San Diego, which leads the NL West by four games over the Giants.

The Padres figure to face a stiffer challenge tonight in the Braves, who lead the NL East by 5 1/2 games over the Mets but had lost three of four prior to Sunday's 11-6 triumph over the Brewers. Brian McCann hit the sixth grand slam of his career and drove in a season-high five runs as Atlanta split its four- game series.

"Anytime you get the bases loaded you want to get a big hit with less than two outs. I was lucky enough to get an 0-2 pitch that I know the pitcher didn't want to put it there, but I capitalized on it," McCann said. "Everybody hit today, it was a great team effort. Everybody worked the count, took what the pitcher gave us and were able to score some runs."

Matt Diaz also homered and drove in three runs, while Omar Infante had four hits, two RBI and scored twice. Winning pitcher Derek Lowe yielded three runs over 5 1/3 innings of work as Atlanta was without third baseman Chipper Jones for a second game in a row due to a left hamstring strain.

Atlanta might not need Jones again tonight given how Jair Jurrjens has pitched in three games since returning from a two-month stint on the disabled list. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA since coming back and he beat Milwaukee on Thursday after giving up just a run on six hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings of a 2-1 triumph.

Jurrjens is 2-3 with a 4.75 ERA in eight starts and has been tough to handle this year at Turner Field, where he is 2-0 with a 1.82 ERA in four starts.

One of Jurrjens' outings before his injury came in San Diego on April 12 and he was drilled for eight runs over just 3 1/3 innings of a 17-2 setback, falling to 1-1 with a 5.29 ERA in three career starts versus the Padres.

Jurrjens will try to deal the Padres their first loss since Wade LeBlanc's last outing on July 10, when he gave up four runs on nine hits, including three homers, over 5 2/3 innings of a setback to the Rockies.

The 25-year-old lefty, who faces the Braves for the first time in his career this evening, fell to 4-7 on the season with a 3.30 ERA.

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox won't be calling the shots tonight after getting suspended for a game on Monday. Cox and reliever Jonny Venters were both ejected on Saturday after Venters hit Milwaukee's Prince Fielder with a pitch in the eighth inning after warnings had already been issued to both benches. Venters was suspended for four games by major league baseball and given an undisclosed fine.

The Braves took two of three from the Padres in San Diego from April 12-15 and have won seven of the last nine played at Turner Field in the series.

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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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