Injury-riddled White Sox resume set in Detroit

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09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Injuries are starting to pile up for the Chicago White Sox.

Today, the short-handed White Sox will continue their push towards the postseason, as they play the third installment of a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

With Paul Konerko (back) and Gordon Beckham (hand) already sidelined, the White Sox lost two more players on Tuesday, as starter Freddy Garcia was forced to leave the contest after just two innings with a stiff back, then Manny Ramirez was removed in the eighth inning after getting hit in the hand with a pitch.

Ramirez's injury is not considered serious and he is questionable for tonight's contest, while the White Sox also expect to have Konerko back. Beckham was a late scratch on Tuesday, though, and will likely miss the rest of this series.

It didn't matter who was in the White Sox lineup on Tuesday, however, as Justin Verlander pitched seven strong innings to lead Detroit to a 9-1 win. Verlander (15-8) allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts for the Tigers, who bounced back from a 10-inning loss in Monday's opener and won for the fourth time in their last six games overall.

Brandon Inge belted a three-run homer and Johnny Damon added a two-run blast in the victory. Jhonny Peralta recorded two RBI for Detroit.

"When he is spotting his breaking ball, he is very good," said Chicago's Mark Teahen. "Even though he didn't use his best fastball today, when he is getting his breaking stuff over the plate, it's very tough to hit against him."

Garcia (11-6) was dealt the loss with a line that showed two runs allowed on three hits. Lucas Harrell provided four innings of long relief and was charged with four runs -- none of which were earned -- on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks.

"I have no idea what I've got," said Garcia, who has left his last two starts with back stiffness. "I was warming in the bullpen fine, and the game [was] different. When you throw in the bullpen, you go 70 percent. But when you go in the game, you want to go harder. Obviously, I wasn't able to do it."

Juan Pierre posted two hits and scored the only run for the White Sox, who had a seven-game winning streak stopped and fell 4 1/2 games behind AL Central- leading Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Royals on Tuesday.

"Well, I will take 7-1 again and see what happens," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "That's part of the game. We all know that Minnesota is playing well now. They've got a good ballclub, but like I said, I will take 7-1 and take a chance with that."

Chicago wasn't the only team with an injury concern, as Detroit's Miguel Cabrera lasted six innings but felt soreness in his shoulder. He is listed as day-to-day.

Getting the call for the White Sox tonight will be lefty John Danks, who is 13-9 with a 3.56 ERA and will be pitching on three days' rest. Danks won for the sixth time in his last eight decisions on Saturday in Boston, as he allowed a run and six hits in seven innings.

Danks tossed seven scoreless innings to beat the Tigers back in June and is 3-3 with a 3.58 ERA in nine starts.

Detroit, meanwhile, will counter with righty Jeremy Bonderman, who is 7-9 with a 5.25 ERA. Bonderman did not get a decision on Friday in Kansas City, as he surrendered four runs and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings of his team's 9-5 win.

Bonderman lost to the White Sox back on August 13 and is 6-11 in 18 starts against them with a 4.81 ERA.

Chicago is 5-2 in Detroit this season.

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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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