Latos returns from DL to face Pirates

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07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mat Latos returns from a short stint on the disabled list this evening when the San Diego Padres continue their three-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Latos, who had been sidelined with a strained left oblique brought on by a sneeze, won his final five decisions before the All-Star break and is 10-4 on the year with a 2.45 earned run average.

Over his last four starts Latos has allowed just one run and has not surrendered one in his last two outings, spanning 15 innings. He has also allowed two runs or less in 12 of his last 13 starts.

This will be his first-ever start against the Pirates, who will pin their hopes on righty Jeff Karstens. Winless in his last three decisions, Karstens was done in by the longball in his last outing on Monday against Milwaukee. Karstens, a San Diego native, surrendered three runs on three hits - a solo home run, then a two-run shot - in six innings to fall to 2-5 on the year to go along with a 4.84 ERA.

Like Latos, Karstens will be making his first start against his opponent tonight, but he has faced the Padres twice out of the bullpen, going 0-1 after yielding five runs and three hits in 2 1/3 innings of work.

San Diego continued to thrive in the Steel City in the opener of this set on Friday, as Adrian Gonzalez capped a four-run second inning with a sacrifice fly, helping the Padres to a 5-3 victory.

Gonzalez is just 1-for-13 in his last four games, but has driven in 19 runs in his last 17 games against the Pirates.

Chris Denorfia stroked an RBI double for the Padres, who are 21-9 at Pittsburgh since the start of the 2001 season. Kevin Correia (7-6) gave up three runs -- two earned -- on six hits and three walks in six innings to record his first road win since April 28. He also had a run-scoring single.

"It wasn't great, but I made good pitches in the situations I needed to," Correia said.

San Diego is now an NL-best 26-20 away from home this season.

Lastings Milledge contributed a two-run single for the Pirates, while Paul Maholm (6-8), coming off a three-hit shutout against Houston in his last start, was tagged for four runs and nine hits over six full frames.

"I tried to keep us in the game," Maholm said. "I still felt like I could go out there and throw pitches where I wanted to."

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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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