09/07/2008 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Delgado stroked a pair of solo home runs and finished with four RBI as the New York Mets took a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies to split a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.
Ryan Church and Damion Easley each went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Brian Schneider and Carlos Beltran each drove in a run for the Mets, who avoided the sweep and won for the fifth time in their last seven games.
Johan Santana (13-7), who hasn't lost a game since June 28, got the win for giving up just two runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings of work. He hasn't lost the past 13 games he's started, but is just 6-0 during that run.
The Mets hold a two-game lead over Philadelphia for first place in the NL East. This was the last meeting between these teams for the regular season and New York won 11 of the 18 contests.
Ryan Howard finished 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI while Andy Tracy drove in the other run for the Phillies, who have won five of their last eight games. Cole Hamels (12-9) was tagged with the loss for giving up five runs -- four earned -- on nine hits in five innings of work.
In addition to trailing New York for the division, the Phillies trail Milwaukee by four games for the NL Wild Card spot.
In the earlier game on Sunday, which was a makeup of Saturday's rainout due to Tropical Storm Hanna, Greg Dobbs clubbed a three-run homer and Jamie Moyer tossed seven shutout innings to help Philadelphia to a 6-2 win.
The Phillies took the early lead in the game with a run in the first inning. With one out, Chase Utley singled and Jayson Werth followed with a free pass. Howard then hit an opposite field single to bring home Utley. Philly missed the chance to plate more runners, though, as Pat Burrell struck out and Shane Victorino flied out to end the frame.
The Mets, though, answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. Church hit a one-out single and David Wright was then awarded first base on a catcher interference call that saw Phillies manager Charlie Manuel ejected by home plate umpire Jerry Meals after arguing the call.
Beltran then got the Mets on the board with a single to left that saw Wright beating the tag at third and Beltran taking second. Delgado then hit a two-run single to center to give the Mets a 3-1 lead.
In the second, New York loaded the bases with one out, but Hamels blew a fastball past Wright for the strikeout and then induced a foul out from Beltran to silence the threat.
Howard made it a one-run game in the third inning as he smoked the first pitch he saw over the left field fence.
Delgado, though, stroked his first home run of the game to lead off the third as he knocked a 0-2 curveball over the right-center wall.
In the fifth with one out, Delgado blasted the first pitch he saw out of the stadium in right-center for a 5-2 advantage.
In the seventh, Pedro Feliz led off the frame with a single, but the Phillies were unable to string together any more hits and Santana got out of the inning with the three-run lead intact. The Mets then added some insurance in the eighth as Easley led off with a triple and came home when Schneider lofted a sacrifice fly to right for a 6-2 lead.
The Phillies got a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Tracy to make it a 6-3 game, but that was the second out and Luis Ayala struck out Rollins to seal the win.
Game Notes
It was the fourth time this season that Manuel was ejected...New York hosts Washington for a two-game set starting on Tuesday...Philadelphia returns home to face Florida for three games starting on Monday...Howard leads the majors with 40 home runs. It is the third straight year the slugger has reached the 40 HR plateau, the first Phillie to ever accomplish that feat...Each team left seven men on base.
<< Coaching legend Don Haskins dies
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Haskins, who
helped break racial barriers in the collegiate game, died Sunday at the age of
78.
The El Paso Times reports Haskins died of congestive heart failure.
In 1966
<< Colts' Clark leaves season-opener with knee injury
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas
Clark left Sunday's season-opener against the Chicago Bears after suffering a
right knee injury in the first quarter.
Clark, who caught 58 passes and found the
<< Edwards wins Nationwide race at Richmond
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards won Sunday's rescheduled Emerson
Radio 250 Nationwide Series race at the Richmond International Raceway. The
No.60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver grabbed the lead from Clint Bowyer with
28 laps
<< Woodbine Mile win sends Rahy's Attorney to Breeders' Cup
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rahy's Attorney, ridden by Slade Callaghan,
took the lead on the turn for home and went on to win Sunday's $1 million
Woodbine Mile at Woodbine Racecourse. Odds-on favorite Kip Deville, 2007
Breeder
Addai leaves Colts/Bears game >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts running back Joseph
Addai left the club's season-opening 29-13 loss to the Chicago Bears with a
head injury.
Addai was injured early in the fourth quarter after catching a p
Forte, Bears spoil Indy's stadium-opener >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Matt Forte rushed for 123 yards on
23 carries and found the end zone, while also catching three balls for 18
yards, as the Chicago Bears christened Indianapolis' brand new Lucas Oil
Stadium
Mets closer Wagner suffers setback >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets closer Billy Wagner suffered a
further setback and could possibly be out for the rest of the season due to
his left elbow problems.
Wearing a protective sleeve on his left elbow, Wagner t
Schiavone, Peng win Bali openers >>
Bali, Indonesia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone
and ninth-seeded Chinese Shuai Peng were among Monday's first-round winners at
the $225,000 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic.
Schiavone drilled Indonesian quali
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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.
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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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