05/10/2008 -
Freddy Sanchez lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates to another dramatic win with a ninth-inning RBI single. Rickie Weeks stopped Milwaukee's six-game losing with a big hit of his own in the Brewers' last at-bat.
And Jimmy Rollins stole the spotlight from both of them with a triumphant return from the disabled list.
The reigning NL MVP hit a two-run homer, an RBI double and also singled in his first game back, sending the Philadelphia Phillies past the struggling San Francisco Giants 7-4 on Friday night.
``It was great. It makes you smile,'' Rollins said, doing just that. ``Hopefully I can give you guys a good story. It ain't going to happen all the time.''
Carlos Ruiz drove in two runs for the Phillies, including the go-ahead score in the eighth, and Cole Hamels (4-3) struck out seven in seven innings to win his second straight decision.
Sanchez singled home Brian Bixler with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in Pittsburgh, giving the Pirates a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. Weeks' two-run single in the ninth gave Milwaukee a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
In other NL games, it was: Chicago Cubs 3, Arizona 1; Florida 7, Washington 3; Colorado 4, San Diego 2; and Houston 7, Los Angeles Dodgers 1. Rain postponed the Reds at Mets. They'll play a doubleheader Saturday.
Atlanta dropped to 1-10 in one-run games the day after it beat San Diego 5-4 for its first victory of the season in those contests. The Braves were the only team in the major leagues without a one-run victory.
Sanchez went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and is 9-for-17 in four games since he moved from No. 2 to the leadoff spot. The Pirates have won all four games.
``I don't think it has anything to do with it,'' Sanchez said. ``To me, it doesn't matter where I hit. After my first at-bat, it's not really a factor anymore. After first my at-bat, I tend to forget I'm hitting leadoff.''
John Grabow (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win, and Jeff Bennett (0-2) got the loss for Atlanta.
After looking lethargic most of the game, the Brewers came alive after Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen (1-4) recorded two outs on the first two pitches in the ninth.
J.J. Hardy singled and pinch-hitter Gabe Kapler hit a blooper to right. Isringhausen walked Jason Kendall to set up Weeks, who took his second pitch to left field to score Hardy and Kapler.
Isringhausen has a major league-high five blown save chances to go along with his NL-best 11 saves.
``I'm just getting sick of embarrassing myself and letting my team down,'' Isringhausen said. ``We should be five more wins in the win column in my mind, so we should be ahead in first place even more. But they can't keep sending me out there when I'm pitching the way I'm pitching.''
Brian Shouse (3-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and the Brewers handed St. Louis its first three-game losing streak this season.
Rollins, who missed a month with a sprained left ankle, grounded out in his first two at-bats before connecting for his third home run in the fifth. He singled in the seventh for his fifth multihit game this year, then doubled in the eighth.
What a nice homecoming, too. He was playing back home in the Bay Area in front of many family and friends.
Tyler Walker (1-1) got the loss.Cubs 3, Diamondbacks 1
Ted Lilly gave up another homer to Chris Young, but still led Chicago over Arizona in the first meeting between the teams since the Diamondbacks' first-round sweep in last year's playoffs.
Young homered off Lilly in Game 2 last October in Phoenix during Arizona's 8-4 win, prompting Lilly to slam his glove on the pitcher's mound in frustration.
This time Lilly surrendered a first-inning solo homer to Young, then gave up just two hits over the next six innings. Lilly (3-4) struck out 10 against the team with the best record in the majors and drove in the tying run with a fifth-inning single.
Kerry Wood pitched the ninth for his sixth save in nine chances.
Dan Haren (4-2) yielded two runs and five hits in seven innings for visiting Arizona.Marlins 7, Nationals 3
Ricky Nolasco joined first-place Florida's win parade with six strong innings, and Luis Gonzalez passed the 1,400 career RBIs mark with a bases-loaded double.
Nolasco (2-3) broke a personal three-game losing streak, getting his first win in nearly a month, as the Marlins ran their winning streak to a season-high five games. Florida (21-14) is seven games over .500 for the first time since September 2005.
Nationals starter Tim Redding (4-3) walked three of the last six batters he faced, including Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla to load the bases before Gonzalez doubled off Jesus Colome.Rockies 4, Padres 2
Not even reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy could bail out the staggering Padres.
Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe hit consecutive bases-loaded singles off Peavy (4-2) in the sixth inning and visiting Colorado sent San Diego to its 18th loss in 22 games.
The Padres' fifth straight loss came hours after they released struggling center fielder Jim Edmonds. San Diego (12-24) has the worst record in the majors.
Aaron Cook (6-1) won his sixth straight start, combining with two relievers on a four-hitter. Matt Holliday homered for the defending NL champion Rockies, who won their third straight after losing 13 of 16.
Brian Fuentes pitched the ninth for his fourth save in six chances.Astros 7, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Brian Moehler pitched five scoreless innings for Houston and Lance Berkman went 3-for-4 with a home run.
The 36-year-old Moehler (1-0), filling in for the injured Wandy Rodriguez, allowed five hits and a walk while striking out five.
Derek Lowe (2-3) gave up six runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings with five strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander has not recorded an out in the sixth inning in any of his last five starts.
Berkman, who doubled and scored in the first, made it 6-0 in the fifth with his 12th homer, a two-run shot to right off Lowe.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rickie Weeks hit a two-run single in the
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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