NL Pitcher Gets All-Star Snub

Baseball Betting Lines

07/12/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For those of you still wrapped up in Strasburg- mania, I have to regretfully inform you that he's not the pitcher referred to in the above headline. As impressive as the Nationals' rookie has been, and as much as I love his stuff, you just can't make the All-Star game with seven starts under your belt.

The pitcher who got the snub and has fallen under the national radar for most of the season happens to pitch in the same city where Strasburg made his name in college - San Diego. The Padres' surprising run to the top of the National League West has been helped in great part by the right arm of twenty- two year old Mat Latos. His mid-90's fastball, which explodes through the zone to complement a plus curveball and slider, has made him awfully tough to hit. After struggling in April, Latos has been nothing less than dominant, putting up a 1.44 ERA over his last thirteen starts.

When you compare his numbers to Tim Lincecum and Yovani Gallardo, two of the pitchers who were named to the National League squad, it's clear that Latos deserved the nod.

Latos......10-4...2.45 ERA...0.97 WHIP....193 BAA

Lincecum....9-4...3.16 ERA...1.29 WHIP....232 BAA

Gallardo....8-4...2.58 ERA...1.26 WHIP....224 BAA

There's no doubt that Lincecum, with his back-to-back Cy Young awards, is the more attractive selection for the mid-summer classic. But, based on the numbers Latos was obviously the more deserving choice.

SECOND-HALF OUTLOOK

AL EAST: The Yankees are primed to eventually pull away from the Rays and Red Sox. Boston has too many injuries and not enough production from the back end of its rotation. And speaking of starting pitching, Tampa is not getting the kind of production from James Shields, Matt Garza, and Wade Davis it needs to stay in contention. The Rays must pitch well to stay within striking distance of the Yankees, because their offense is nowhere near as good as New York's is.

AL CENTRAL: I think this will eventually turn into a two-team race between the Tigers and White Sox. Outside of Carl Pavano, the Twins don't have a reliable starter at this point. The White Sox suffered a tough blow by losing Jake Peavy for the season, but Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Mark Buehrle, and Freddy Garcia give Chicago the best rotation in the division. The Tigers' lineup, led by triple-crown threat Miguel Cabrera and rookie sensation Brennan Boesch, is a big reason why they trail the Sox by just a half game, but there are major question marks in the starting rotation after Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman and Max Scherzer.

AL WEST: The Rangers were clearly better than the Angels before the acquisition of Cliff Lee, and following his addition should run away the with the division.

NL EAST: The Braves' pitching staff sets Atlanta apart from the rest of the division. With quality throughout the starting rotation and Billy Wagner in the pen to close games, the Braves have a decided advantage over the Phillies and Mets. After Roy Halladay, Philadelphia doesn't have a reliable starter, while the Mets are banking on a lot of unproven arms and have to have concerns over Mike Pelfrey's recent struggles.

NL CENTRAL: The Reds have been one of the major surprises this season as they take a one game lead over the highly-favored Cardinals into the break. I think whatever team gets the better pitching at the back end of its rotation will end up on top.

NL WEST: It's a four-team race heading into the second half. The Padres are atop the division on the strength of great starting pitching and a very strong bullpen, headed by All-Star closer Heath Bell. If San Diego's pitching holds up, I have to give them the edge in the division, although it wouldn't hurt to add a quality bat to its anemic lineup. The Rockies should provide the stiffest competition, but it's hard to imagine Ubaldo Jimenez duplicating his first-half performance after the break.

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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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