The Sports Mac: The Daily Fives: September 2nd, 2010

Top 5 Stories From Yesterday

1.    The Big Ten announced their division alignments in football starting with the 2011 season with Ohio State and Michigan in separate divisions, but will still play each year.

2.    Andy Roddick gets ousted in the second round of the U.S. Open as well as Tomas Berdych and Ivan Ljubicic in New York on Wednesday.

3.    San Francisco wins a pitchers duel between Tim Lincecum and the Rockies Ubaldo Jimenez to creep closer in the NL West.

4.    The Padres and Cardinals continue their struggles as San Diego loses its seventh in a row and St. Louis gets swept by the Astros for the second time this year.

5.    For the first time in his 45 years as Penn State’s head coach, Joe Paterno announces that he will start a true freshman, Robert Bolden, at QB on Saturday vs. Youngstown State.

Top 5 Games From Yesterday

1.    Giants 2, Rockies 1: San Francisco gets a great start from Tim Lincecum and comes from behind to beat Colorado and close within three games of the slumping Padres in the NL West.

2.    Rays 2, Blue Jays 1: Evan Longoria hits a game winning RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to make a winner out of David Price and keep Tampa on New York’s heels in the AL East.

3.    Twins 2, Tigers 1, 10 innings: Minnesota gets a walk-off RBI single from Danny Valencia to maintain its four game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central.

4.    Diamondbacks 5, Padres 2: Brandon Allen hits a game-winning grand slam in the seventh inning to send San Diego crashing to its seventh straight defeat.

5.    Marlins 16, Nationals 10: 26 runs, 31 hits, and a bench-clearing brawl made for a wild night in South Florida.

Top 5 Performances From Yesterday

1.    Max Scherzer, Tigers SP: One run on four hits with nine K’s over nine IP in DET’s 2-1 loss to MIN

2.    Tommy Hanson, Braves SP: Zero runs on one hit with three K’s over seven IP and the victory in ATL’s 4-1 win over NYM

3.    Tim Lincecum, Giants SP: One run on five hits with nine K’s over eight IP and the victory in SF’s 2-1 win over COL

4.    David Price, Rays SP: One run on four hits with seven K’s over eight IP and the victory in TB’s 2-1 win over TOR

5.    Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies SP: Two runs on four hits with ten K’s over eight IP in COL’s 2-1 loss to SF

5 Performances That Weren’t So Good From Yesterday

1.    Scott Olsen, Nationals SP: Nine runs on eight hits in 1.2 IP in WAS’s 16-10 loss to FLA

2.    Craig Stammen, Nationals RP: Six runs on five hits over 3.1 IP in WAS’s 16-10 loss to FLA

3.    Mark Hendrickson, Orioles RP: Three runs on three hits over 1.1 IP in BAL’s 9-6 loss to BOS

4.    Todd Coffey, Brewers RP: Three runs on three hits without retiring a batter in MIL’s 6-1 loss to CIN

5.    Brian Roberts, Orioles 2B: 0 for 4 with three K’s in BAL’s 9-6 loss to BOS

Top 5 Events To Follow Today

1.    MLB: Phillies (75-58) at Rockies (69-63), 7:00 PM: NL wildcard leading Philadelphia finishes its road trip with a makeup game in Colorado; (Blanton (PHI) vs. Chacin (COL))

2.    MLB: Mets (65-68) at Braves (78-55), 7:00 PM: Atlanta looks for the sweep and take back the best record in the NL; (Great match-up: Santana (NYM) vs. Hudson (ATL))

3.    NCAA FB: Southern Mississippi (0-0) at South Carolina (0-0), 7:30 PM, ESPN: On the opening night of college football, Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks look to win their sixth straight opener

4.    NCAA FB: #15 Pittsburgh (0-0) at Utah (0-0), 8:30 PM, Versus: A real test for the Big East favorites to start the season having to travel the thin air of Salt Lake City

5.     NCAA FB: #14 USC (0-0) at Hawaii (0-0), 11:00 PM, ESPN: The first game for the Trojans without Pete Carroll and on probation is a road game out on the Big Island