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04/21/2009 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Garland pitched into the seventh inning and Miguel Montero blasted a three-run homer in Arizona's 6-3 win over Colorado to begin a three-game series.
Mark Reynolds also homered and finished with two RBI for the Diamondbacks, who won for just the third time in their last nine games.
Garland (2-1) was charged with six hits and two runs -- one earned -- over 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and had five strikeouts.
"The arm felt good, the body felt real good," said Garland. "I was keeping the ball down and let them put it in play, let that defense work."
Chad Qualls threw the final inning for his third save.
Ian Stewart belted a solo homer for the Rockies, who fell to 1-5 on a current eight-game road trip.
Jason Marquis (2-1) was charged with nine hits and six runs for the Rockies. He fell to 0-4 all-time at Chase Field as the Rockies lost for the seventh time in eight games.
"I felt good physically, just didn't execute when I really needed to," said Marquis. "I wasn't sharp, but you know I put my team in a hole and couldn't get out of it."
In a rematch of a season-opening set when Colorado won two of three meetings at Chase Field from April 6-8, the Diamondbacks broke open a close game in the fifth inning by scoring four times. Augie Ojeda singled to begin the inning, and with one out Chad Tracy laced an RBI single up the middle.
Tracy went to second on when Brad Hawpe bobbled the ball, and Reynolds followed with a walk. Chris Young grounded into a force play, but Montero then blasted a first-pitch homer to right for a 6-1 cushion.
Stewart homered leading off the sixth and the Rockies threatened in the seventh, putting runners at second and third, but Scott Schoeneweis fanned Stewart to end the threat.
Pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs singled in Garrett Atkins in the eighth.
Reynolds homered on a line drive to left field leading off the second, but the Rockies tied it in the third when Dexter Fowler singled in Chris Iannetta.
Tracy and Reynolds hit back-to-back doubles to start the fourth, giving Arizona a 2-1 edge.
Game Notes
Colorado went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base...The Diamondbacks, who have not won a series this season, will have Yusmeiro Petit on the mound for Tuesday's game while Franklin Morales starts for Colorado...The Rockies' series win over the Diamondbacks earlier this season was a sharp contrast to their play against Arizona in 2008. Colorado lost 15-of-18 games versus the D-Backs last year, including eight of nine tests held in Phoenix.
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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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