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Ibanez entered play a lifetime .352 hitter versus Lackey (5-7). His batting average is higher following a 3-for-3 effort at the plate on Wednesday, including an RBI single in the second.
He didn't toss a shutout like teammate Cliff Lee did in Tuesday's opener, but Vance Worley (3-1) limited the vaunted Boston offense to one run and five hits over a career-high seven innings.
Zimmermann (5-7) threw his first career complete game in a losing effort. The third-year starter gave up four hits and one walk in his 11th straight quality start, but an unearned run in the fourth inning cost the Nationals the game.
Haren had gone through a rough patch following a fast start to the season, as he gave up at least three runs in each of his previous six outings.
Zimmermann was more efficient with his pitches, though a walk to Bobby Abreu leading off the fourth proved costly. Vernon Wells bounced into a potential double play, but Ryan Zimmerman was wide on his throw to second, allowing Abreu to advance to third and score on Kendrick's ensuing 6-4-3 twin killing.
Haren was pulled after throwing 120 pitches, and the bullpen held on for the Angels' eighth win in 10 games, with Walden striking out Michael Morse to strand Zimmerman at third.
This was the Angels' first home sweep of the season...Haren picked up his first home win since April 12...Zimmermann pitched into the seventh inning in each of his six starts in June and gave up a total of four earned runs in 42 1/3 innings...Hairston exited the game after getting hit in his right hand by a Haren pitch in the fifth...Game time: 2:19.
Sergio Santos then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to lock down his 16th save of the season.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-hitter Aramis Ramirez singled in Tony Campana with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 win over the Giants, snapping San Francisco's season-high seven- game winning streak. Cubs starter Ryan Dempster retired 20 straight batters until the ninth inning, but was lifted after surrendering a leadoff double to left-center off the bat of Pat Burrell. Carlos Marmol couldn't close the door on the win, as Emmanuel Burriss bounced a one-out, RBI single into center field. Campana's throw home was off line and Burriss raced to second.
In the bottom of the ninth, Campana legged out an infield hit, as the ball went past a drawn-in Sandoval at third and shortstop Miguel Tejada's throw to first was late. Reed Johnson put down a sacrifice bunt, and Campana went to third on Geovany Soto's groundout. Ramirez, hitting for Marmol, took a pair of strikes before belting a sinking line drive in front of left fielder Aaron Rowand to win the game.
The Cubs broke through in the seventh when Carlos Pena led off with a double to right and Blake DeWitt followed with an RBI single to right.
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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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