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YESTERDAY…

Angels 5, Tigers 4:  Joe Saunders pitched 6.1 effective innings, giving up just three runs, Torii Hunter had three hits and three RBIs, and Mark Teixeira hit a go-ahead sac fly in the ninth to help the Halos kick off their six game roadie with a victory. K-Rod picked up his 54th save and now stands just four shy of breaking Bobby Thigpen’s all-time saves record.

Dodgers 8, Padres 4:  Manny Ramirez continued to knock the cover off the ball with a homer and three RBIs. Andre Eithier smacked his 19th home run and collected three hits to back Clayton Kershaw’s seven innings of three-run ball. The win moved LA to within 1.5 games of first place Arizona.

TODAY…

Angels at Tigers (4:05 p.m., FSW): The Halos look to go 2-2 on the road trip Jon Garland takes the mound in search of his 13th win of the season. Zach Miner gets the nod for Jim Leyland’s Tigers.                      

Dodgers vs. Padres (7:10 p.m., PRIME): Hiroki Kuroda takes the hill and will try to help the Blue to their fifth consecutive victory as they continue their pursuit of Arizona. Wade LeBlanc will go for the Padres as he makes his Major League debut.

NEWSWORTHY…

• With their dominating win over Virginia last Saturday, USC is the new AP No.1 in the latest poll released yesterday. UCLA cracked the top 25 and is ranked #23.
• Jeff Kent had successful arthroscopic knee surgery and could be back before the season ends.
• USC’s LB Rey Maualuga is dealing with a broken right ring finger.  But he won’t let that keep him off the field, meaning he’ll be there to tackle Ohio State’s Beanie Wells, who appears on track to be ready for the USC-OSU showdown.
• UCLA’s win over Tennessee gives coach Rick Neuheisel some more firepower when it comes to recruiting.

ON SPORTSHUBLA…

• After UCLA’s impressive opening game victory over Tennessee, SportsHubLA.com’s Brian Kamenetzky gives an apology to Bruins head coach Rick Neuheisel for ever doubting them.

IN THE BLOGS…

• The Lakers Blog on ocregister.com makes mention of David Kalb of La Habra and the game of H-O-R-S-E that he set to play against Lebron James today. I wonder how that game is gonna turn out.
• Trojan Wire’s Devon Pollard demonstrates how UCLA’s win over Tennessee is just another example of the Pac-10 not getting the respect it deserves against the SEC.

COLUMNS…

• Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports lists Dodgers minor league pitcher James McDonald as one of the top 28 September call-ups to watch out for.
• Gregg Patton of the Press Enterprise shines the light on Albie Pearson, a former Angel who founded The Father’s Heart Ranch in Desert Hot Springs to help abused and neglected boys ages 6 to 12.
• SportsHubLA.com Column of the Day: Ned Colletti, the 2008 Executive of the Year? Before you take a second to clean the coffee you just spit out of your mouth after reading that statement, take a look at T.J. Simers’ explanation as to why Colletti is a lock for the award.

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