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03/07/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin will miss four to six weeks of action due to a pulled groin muscle.
The injury will sideline Martin for the remainder of Spring Training and Opening Day. Dodgers manager Joe Torre said that rookie A.J. Ellis will get the majority of work with Martin out. Brad Ausmus, 40, is the backup catcher.
Martin apparently suffered the injury during a base-running drill earlier in the week. He then aggravated the groin when he stole a base in Friday's game.
The two-time All-Star had an MRI on Saturday, which confirmed the injury. Martin will be sent to Los Angeles for further medical exams.
In 143 games last year, Martin batted .250 with 53 RBI and seven homers.
<< Royals' Gordon to miss 3-4 weeks
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals announced Sunday that
third baseman Alex Gordon is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks
with a broken right thumb, leaving his status for Opening Day unclear.
Gordon was
<< Pavlyuchenkova sets up Monterrey final showdown with Hantuchova
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Russian Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova got past Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in Sunday's semifinal at
the $220,000 Monterrey Open. Pavlyuchenkova will face second-seeded Slovakian
Daniela Hantu
<< Djokovic propels Serbia past U.S. in Davis Cup
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic outlasted big John Isner in
five sets on Sunday to lift Serbia past the United States and into the 2010
Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The Serbs have an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five
<< Keane's double leads Celtic over Falkirk
Falkirk, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robbie Keane scored a goal in each half
and Celtic defeated Falkirk 2-0 on Sunday at Falkirk Stadium for its first win
over the struggling club in three matches this season.
Celtic settled for draws in
Xavier edges Charlotte to reach A-10 tourney final >>
Upper Marlboro, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyeasha Moss finished with 15 points,
as fifth-ranked Xavier held off Charlotte, 51-49, in a semifinal matchup in
the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Ta'Shia Phillips added 11 points, 14 rebounds and f
Second period blitz helps Wings down Chicago >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pavel Datsyuk's breakaway tally capped a five-
goal eruption in the second period and proved to be the game-winner, as
Detroit overcame an Andrew Ladd hat trick and held on to beat the Chicago
Blackha
Israel stays alive against Chile in Davis Cup >>
Coquimbo, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Israeli doubles specialists Jonathan
Erlich and Andy Ram posted a big victory on Sunday, as the Israelis pulled
within 1-2 of the host Chileans in their best-of-five first-round Davis Cup
matchup
Irish reach Big East semis with win over St. John's >>
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Skylar Diggins scored 21 points to help
sixth-ranked Notre Dame defeat No. 16 St. John's, 75-67, in the quarterfinals
of the Big East Tournament.
Devereaux Peters had 13 points and Lindsay Schrader
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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