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06/06/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dontrelle Willis pitched six shutout innings in his return to the National League, helping the Diamondbacks to a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Willis (1-0), who was traded from Detroit on Tuesday, allowed five hits, walked four and had three strikeouts. The lefty even singled in the third inning and scored the game's first run on a head-first dive into home following a base hit from Stephen Drew.
"It was good, we battled and I made some pitches when I had to, and we came out with the victory," Willis said. "So it's one series win, it's a good stepping stone, we just have to keep building off of our momentum and go from there."
Ryan Roberts, who had the game-winning pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning of Friday's 7-6 win, added a two-run pinch-hit double Saturday night.
The Diamondbacks have posted back-to-back wins following a 10-game slide.
Willis burst onto the major league scene with a dazzling display with the Florida Marlins in 2003, winning 14 games and earning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award while helping the Fish capture a World Series title. He led the Senior Circuit with 22 victories two years later, and compiled a 68-54 record in five seasons with the Marlins before being shipped to Detroit as part of a blockbuster eight-player trade prior to the 2008 campaign. On Tuesday, he was traded to Arizona in a deal that sent right-hander Billy Buckner to the Tigers.
Jhoulys Chacin (3-4) was charged with six hits and four runs -- three earned -- over 5 2/3 innings for Colorado, which lost its third in a row.
Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Spilborghs each had two hits and a run scored for the Rockies, who went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.
"We did a tremendous job tonight to get back into the game, and put ourselves in a position to win," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "The unfortunate thing is the game boils down to this - offensively 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. That's simply what it boils down to, we (went) 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base. There is very little else to say."
Both teams wasted opportunities with men in scoring position in the opening two innings before Arizona went ahead 1-0 in the third. Willis singled to start the inning and went to second on a throwing error from first baseman Jason Giambi. With one out, Drew singled sharply to left field and Willis raced home, sliding head-first to the plate to delight the crowd.
Chacin grounded out to leave runners on second and third in the fourth and Brad Hawpe struck out swinging to cap the fifth with men on the corners.
Chris Young walked and stole second with one out in the sixth. Conor Jackson was intentionally walked and the men moved up on a steal and wild pitch. After Chris Snyder struck out, Roberts, again in a pinch-hitting role, doubled down the left field line. Kelly Johnson greeted reliever Randy Flores with an RBI double for a 4-0 lead.
Carlos Rosa started on the bump in the top of the seventh, but surrendered singles to Gonzalez and Spilborghs before walking Giambi to load the bases with nobody out. Troy Tulowitzki and Hawpe each lofted sacrifice flies. Melvin Mora singled and Chris Iannetta walked to re-load the bases. It became a one- run game when Aaron Heilman walked pinch-hitter Seth Smith, but pinch-hitter Ian Stewart fanned to end the frame.
The Rockies didn't have another hitter reach base in the game, and Chad Qualls recorded three groundouts in the ninth to get his 10th save of the year.
Game Notes
Willis is 4-1 lifetime against Colorado...The Diamondbacks tied a franchise- record by playing in their sixth straight game decided by one run...Roberts is 3-for-5 with three RBI in five pinch-hitting appearances after being recalled from Triple-A Reno on May 25...Young had a career-high three stolen bases...Gonzalez is 14-for-28 with five homers and 12 RBI and 11 runs scored this season against the Diamondbacks.
<< Moor goal propels Rapids to win over Crew
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids earned a hard-fought
1-0 win over the Columbus Crew at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Major League
Soccer action on Saturday night.
Drew Moor scored the game's only goal in the 85th
<< Keselowski kicks off double-duty weekend with Nashville win
Lebanon, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Keselowski outraced fellow Sprint Cup
Series competitor Carl Edwards to win Saturday's Federated Auto Parts 300 at
Nashville Superspeedway.
Keselowski led 97 laps after starting from the 24th s
<< Fire edge Union at Toyota Park
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire earned a 2-1 win over the
Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer action at Toyota Park on Saturday
night.
Goals by Baggio Husidic and Marco Pappa on each side of the half were enou
<< Red Stars sign England defender Asante
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Red Stars signed defender and
England national team member Anita Asante on Saturday.
Asante was available as free agent following the dissolution of Saint Louis
Athletica last week.
Asan
Seattle dominates New England, 3-0 >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC scored three first-half
goals then held strong for a 3-0 win over the New England Revolution in a
Major League Soccer fixture in front of over 36,000 fans at Qwest Field on
Saturda
Milledge saves Pirates in win over Giants >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrew McCutchen went 4-for-5 with a home
run, two doubles and three runs scored, and Lastings Milledge made a diving
catch on the final play to preserve Pittsburgh's 6-3 decision over the San
Francisco
Braves use big seventh inning to beat Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Glaus' two-run homer and a two-run
double by Brian McCann keyed a seven-run seventh inning, as the Braves came
away with a 9-3 win over the Dodgers in the third of four games from Chavez
Ravine.
Katsumasa Miyamoto wins Japan's Tour Championship >>
Kasama, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Japan's Katsumasa Miyamoto closed with a
four-over 75 Sunday, but it was enough for him to win the Japan Golf Tour
Championship by three strokes.
Miyamoto finished his eighth Japan Tour victory at f
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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