Morgan gets eight games, Volstad six after Nats/Marlins brawl

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09/03/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan was suspended for eight games and Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad was given a six-game penalty for their roles in Wednesday's benches-clearing incident.

Morgan's stiff penalty, as well as an undisclosed fine, is also the result of actions in previous games.

On August 28, Morgan unnecessarily ran into St. Louis Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson in the bottom of the eighth inning while scoring a run. On August 31 in Miami, Morgan directed inappropriate comments toward the fans during the 10th inning, in the wake of a home-plate collision with Marlins catcher Brett Hayes, who suffered a separated left shoulder as the result of the play.

Things then got ugly on September 1. After Morgan was hit with a pitch and took his base in the fourth inning, he proceeded to steal a pair of bases despite a 14-3 Florida lead. On his next trip to the plate in the sixth, Volstad threw a pitch behind Morgan, who slammed down his bat and charged the mound.

Volstad threw his glove down and Morgan appeared to connect with a left hand to the pitcher's neck. Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez then raced in and delivered a hit to Morgan, who immediately tumbled to the ground. Players for both teams scuffled near the mound and then Pat Listach, the third base coach for the Nationals, joined the fray by piling on Volstad.

Morgan was ejected by home plate umpire Marvin Hudson. Upon leaving the field with the front of his jersey unbuttoned, Morgan motioned to the crowd and banged his chest with his fist.

Volstad was also ejected as were Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez and relief pitcher Jose Veras.

The discipline for Morgan is in addition to the seven-game suspension and undisclosed fine he was issued for inappropriate actions in an August 21 game at Philadelphia when he intentionally threw a ball into the seats. Morgan appealed the suspension, issued on August 25, and that discipline is being held in abeyance until the process is complete.

In addition to Morgan and Volstad, Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia was hit with a five-game suspension for fighting and Sanchez was suspended three games for his role in the incident. Veras was fined.

Nationals pitcher Doug Slaten was suspended three games for throwing a pitch at Sanchez in the bottom of the seventh after warnings had been issued.

The suspensions of all players are scheduled to begin Friday, unless appealed, with the exception of Sanabia, whose suspension is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, pending appeal, in order to avoid overlapping with Volstad's scheduled suspension. If any players choose to appeal, their discipline will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.

Nationals manager Jim Riggleman was suspended two games and fined for his aggressive actions during the fight, while Rodriguez was also hit with a one- game penalty and a fine.

Listach was suspended three games and fined. In order to avoid overlapping with the suspension of Riggleman, Listach's suspension will be scheduled to begin on Sunday.

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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.

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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