LAst Night's Action: USC Dominates Cal

USC Trojans defeat California Golden Bears 48-14. After consecutive conference losses against Washington and Stanford, the Trojans decided to take their frustrations out on the Bears. The first half belonged to the Trojans as they racked up 42 points and 372 of their total 589 yards while shutting down Cal in every phase of the game.

Cal didn’t get a first down until their first drive in the second quarter, but by then the Trojans already had a 21-0 lead. Quarterback Matt Barkley was on his way to 352-yard passing game with a school record-tying five touchdown passes going 25-for-37 with Robert Woods receiving seven of those passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Colorado Rapids defeat LA Galaxy 3-1.

NOTABLE NOTES

Battle of Aces. The historic battle of the aces between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants didn’t quite pan out. The Phillies had Roy Halladay who pitched a no-hitter in his first postseason start in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds while the Giants brought out Tim Lincecum who struck out 14 batters for a complete-game two-hitter in his postseason debut against the Atlanta Braves. It was a matchup that had every sports-loving fan wetting their panties picturing dueling perfect games going into the tenth inning.

Instead what we got was the battle of the No. 8 hitters - Carlos Ruiz for the Phillies and Cody Ross of the Giants. Their first time in the batter’s box, both batters hit solo homers. However Ross did Ruiz and Phillies one better - in the fifth inning he hit another solo homer off of Halladay to give the Giants the 2-1 lead. It was quite shocking that this former Dodger whom the Giants obtained in July from the Florida Marlins for two minor leaguers up to that point in the game was the sole reason the Giants were winning.

The Giants would add another run in the sixth inning, and never straying far from their playoff script they allowed the Phillies to come back to within one run thanks to Jayson Werth’s two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. But that was all the Giants would allow for their 4-3 win.

So that duel between the aces? Both pitchers went seven innings with Lincecum giving up three runs while striking out eight and walking three and Halladay giving up four runs striking out seven and walking none. Not bad, but hardly earth shattering pitching matchups of all pitching matchups.

Lilly To Return in Blue. Taking time out of his devoted coverage of the NLCS for the LA Times, Dylan Hernandez reported that the Dodgers have agreed to a three-year deal with Ted Lilly. Lilly, who turns 35 in January, was acquired by the Dodgers on July 31 from the Chicago Cubs and went on to a 7-4 record with a 3.52 ERA in the final two months of the season.

TONIGHT’S ACTION

Phoenix Coyotes (3 pts., 1-1-1) at Anaheim Ducks (3 pts., 1-3-1). 5:00 pm FS Prime Ticket, AM 830 KLAA.

NFL Action

10:00 am
San Diego Chargers at St. Louis Rams. CBS, AM 570 KLAC.
Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles. Fox.

1:00 pm

Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings. Fox, AM 570 KLAC.
Oakland Raiders at San Francisco 49ers. AM 710 KSPN.

5:30 pm

Indianapolis Colts at Washington Redskins. NBC, AM 570 KLAC.