The Sports Mac: The Daily Fives for September 7th, 2010

Top 5 Stories From Yesterday

1.    Boise State takes a huge first step toward playing for the National Championship in January coming from behind to beat Virginia Tech in Washington, D.C.

2.    The Padres ended their 10 game losing streak beating the Dodgers 4-2 and maintained a one game lead in the NL West as the Giants beat the Diamondbacks in extra innings.

3.    The Pittsburgh Steelers will start Dennis Dixon at QB in their season opener, and Ben Roethlisberger was not named one of the team’s captains for this season.

4.    The Phillies closed to within a half-game of the Braves in the NL East splitting a double header with Florida while Atlanta lost to the Pirates on the road.

5.    The Ravens sign T.J. Houshmanzadeh to a one-year deal after he was cut by the Seahawks over the weekend.

Top 5 Games From Yesterday

1.    No. 3 Boise State 33, No. 10 Virginia Tech 30: Kellen Moore led the Broncos on a game winning 56 yard drive in 40 seconds to plant Boise State firmly in the BCS Championship discussion.

2.    Maryland 17, Navy 14: The Terrapin defense stopped Navy on a 4th and goal with 37 seconds left to preserve an exciting win in the first meeting between the teams in 45 years.

3.    Giants 2, Diamondbacks 0, 11 innings: San Francisco gets a two-run triple from Nate Schierholtz to keep the pressure on in the NL West and Wild Card races

4.    White Sox 5, Tigers 4, 10 innings: A.J. Pierzynski had the game winning RBI single in the 10th to keep Chicago within 3.5 games in the AL Central

5.    Cardinals 8, Brewers 6: St. Louis scores six in the 8th inning and then has to hold off Milwaukee for the win

Top 5 Performances From Yesterday

1.    Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks SP: 0 runs on 2 hits with 6 K’s over 8 IP in ARI’s 2-0 loss to SF

2.    Danny Espinosa, Nationals SS: 4 for 5 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs in WAS’s 13-3 win over NYM

3.    Corey Hart, Brewers RF: 3 for 4 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs in MIL’s 8-6 loss to STL

4.    David Meggett, Maryland RB: 8 carries for 105 yards and a TD in Maryland’s 17-14 win over Navy

5.    Madison Bumgarner, Giants SP: 0 runs on 5 hits with 7 K’s over 7.1 IP in SF’s 2-0 win over ARI

5 Performances That Weren’t So Good From Yesterday

1.    Jeff Niemann, Rays SP: 6 runs on 4 hits in 1.2 IP in TB’s 12-5 loss to BOS

2.    Mike Pelfrey, Mets SP: 6 runs on 5 hits in 3.2 IP in NYM’s 13-3 loss to WAS

3.    Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks C: 0 for 5 with 3 K’s in ARI’s 2-0 loss to SF

4.    Ryota Igarashi, Mets RP: 5 runs on 2 hits in 1 IP in NYM’s 13-3 loss to WAS

5.    Jeremy Jeffress, 2 earned runs on 1 hit facing 3 batters in MIL’s 8-6 loss to STL

Top 5 Events To Follow Today

1.    MLB: Marlins (70-67) at Phillies (79-60), 7:00 PM: Philadelphia tries to retake the NL East lead at home; (Volstad (FLA) vs. Blanton (PHI)

2.    MLB: Rangers (75-62) at Blue Jays (71-66), 7:00 PM: Slumping Texas tries to right the ship north of the border; (Feldman (TEX) vs. Marcum (TOR))

3.    MLB: Rays (83-54) at Red Sox (77-61), 7:00 PM: Boston looks to win its second in a row over the wildcard leading Rays; (Price (TB) vs. Matsuzaka (BOS))

4.    MLB: Reds (79-58) at Rockies (73-64), 8:30 PM: Colorado tries again to get closer in their playoff races; (Good match-up: Cueto (CIN) vs. Chacin (COL))

5.    MLB: Dodgers (69-69) at Padres (77-59), 10:00 PM: San Diego tries for its second win in a row; (Great match-up: Kershaw (LAD) vs. Latos (SD))