Jacobs Field no longer a safe haven for the Tribe

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08/14/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Once upon a time, the Cleveland Indians could turn to Jacobs Field to ease their troubles.

The Indians spent much of the season with the top home record in the majors, but lately they've been getting hammered pretty good in their own backyard. Since the All-Star break, Cleveland is just 6-13 at home.

Those struggles came to a head over the weekend, when the Tribe returned home from a seven-game road trip only to get swept by the New York Yankees in three games at Jacobs Field. Then again, perhaps it's more of a Yankees problem than a home field problem.

Cleveland is now 0-6 on the year against the Bronx Bombers, which accounts for the only two times the team has been swept in a series this season.

Still, the Yankee series is only a small sampling of a larger issue for the Tribe. With the weekend sweep, the Indians have now dropped 13 of their last 20 games and have failed to take hold of the division while the Detroit Tigers have struggled.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves and let our chins fall and pout about it," manager Eric Wedge said following Sunday's 5-3 loss. "This is a tough game. All teams go through stretches like this. We've got to handle it with a lot of strength and personality and toughness, and move on."

Moving on is going to be a difficult task for a Cleveland team that was just outscored by a 22-6 margin this weekend. The Indians got off on the wrong foot early in Friday's 6-1 loss, as they could manage only four hits off Yankees starter Phil Hughes in the rookie pitcher's second start off a long stay on the disabled list. Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona was tagged with his seventh loss of the season after giving up four runs in seven innings.

The Indians dug themselves another early hole on Saturday, as starting pitcher starter Paul Byrd yielded seven runs in the second inning en route to an 11-2 loss. On Sunday, the Indians were on the wrong end of a 5-3 final largely because they failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the seventh inning.

The offense has indeed been struggling, with an average of 3.4 runs over the last 20 games. But like Wedge said, there is no time for the Indians to pout about it, since they play five of their next eight games against the Tigers, with whom Cleveland shares the top spot in the American League Central.

"We've got to get it going," pitcher Jake Westbrook said. "And we've got to get it going now."

SHAPIRO HAPPY FOR TRADES HE DIDN'T MAKE AT DEADLINE

Considering how the team has fared over the past few weeks, general manager Mark Shapiro was recently asked whether he had any regrets of not pulling the trigger on one or two more moves at the trade deadline.

"I think the danger in this game is looking at any juncture in time and taking that as a conclusive evaluation," Shapiro told the team's official site over the weekend. "It doesn't feel good at the moment. That's the reality of the emotions of the last four-to-six weeks. But we need to put that behind us and focus on (winning from) here on out and recognize the opportunity we've got."

Wedge said he was more than happy to have received Kenny Lofton prior to the trade deadline. But there were a few potential deals that could have ultimately hurt the team. One involved reliever Octavio Dotel, who is now on the DL.

"I don't think we missed an opportunity," Wedge said. "We looked hard at every opportunity. I'm thankful for some of the trades we didn't do. Ninety percent of the cases, when you examine July trades, you're going to win or lose ultimately with the club you built in the offseason and the depth you've got."

WHO'S HOT

First baseman Ryan Garko is hitting .326 over the last 25 games, a span of 86 at-bats. Despite some less-than-stellar run support, Carmona has turned in a rock-solid 1.84 ERA over his last six starts.

WHO'S NOT

Grady Sizemore (.192) is hitting below the Mendoza Line over the last six games.

A LOOK AHEAD

The Tribe had an off-day on Monday, but now welcome the Tigers to Jacobs Field to begin a two-game set. Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia (14-6, 3.52) faces Jeremy Bonderman (10-5, 4.75) in Tuesday's opener. On Wednesday, Carmona (13-7, 3.26) will square off with Jair Jurrjens, who will be making his first big-league start.

Cleveland gets another day of rest Thursday before traveling to Tampa Bay for a weekend series with the Devil Rays.

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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.

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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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