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Ohio State passed Michigan and moved up to No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, a week before the Big Ten rivals play another top-five matchup, and No. 4 Washington flip-flopped with No. 5 Florida State.

Georgia remained No. 1 and received a season-high 61 first-place votes. The Bulldogs have been atop the rankings for 23 straight weeks, the second-best streak in the history of the poll and 10 behind the record held by USC (2003-05).

The top five teams, all unbeaten, had held their places for five straight weeks. All improved to 11-0 on Saturday, but the order changed Sunday.

Michigan had been No. 2 since the preseason but slipped a spot after playing its closest game yet. The Wolverines, without suspended coach Jim Harbaugh, beat Maryland 31-24.

The Buckeyes received one first-place vote after blowing out Minnesota.

Washington moved up a spot after a 22-20 win on the road against Oregon State, which slipped five spots to No. 15. The Huskies have their highest ranking since reaching No. 4 in 2016, their lone playoff season and the last time the Pac-12 had a team in the College Football Playoff.

Florida State dropped a spot after beating FCS foe North Alabama 58-13, but it suffered a far more significant loss. Quarterback Jordan Travis was carted off the field in the first quarter with what appeared to be a serious injury to his lower left leg.

No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Alabama and No. 9 Louisville all held their spots after victories, and Missouri moved up to No. 10.

Michigan and Ohio State will be a matchup of top-five teams for the 13th time, the most of any rivalry. The Buckeyes are 7-4-1 in those games.

Oklahoma-Texas is the only other rivalry that has double-digit top-five matchups. The Sooners and Longhorns have met 10 times as top-five teams.

Nebraska and Oklahoma are next at eight top-five matchups.

MOVING IN; MOVING OUT

Utah (7-4) is out of the AP Top 25 for the first time this season. The Utes plummeted from No. 16 after losing 42-18 at Arizona. Utah has lost three of four. The Wildcats are up to 16th.

The Utes saw their streak of 33 straight poll appearances dating back to the 2021 season snapped. It was the fifth-longest active streak in the country behind Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan.

North Carolina also fell out again after losing to Clemson.

Moving into the poll was No. 23 Toledo (10-1) for the first time since Nov. 1, 2015.

Iowa is back in at No. 20 after clinching the Big Ten West division title with a 15-13 victory against Illinois.

CONFERENCE CALL

Toledo’s entry increased the number of schools from non-Power 5 conferences in the Top 25 to a season-high four.

The Rockets from the Mid-American Conference join No. 18 Tulane from the American Athletic Conference, No. 22 Liberty from Conference USA and No. 24 James Madison from the Sun Belt.

James Madison stayed in the poll after taking its first loss of the season, 26-23 in overtime to Appalachian State.

SEC: 6 (Nos. 1, 8, 10, 12, 14, 25)
Pac-12: 4 (Nos. 4, 6, 15, 16)
Big 12: 4 (Nos. 7, 13, 19, 21)
Big Ten: 4 (Nos. 2, 3, 11, 20)
ACC: 2 (Nos. 5, 9)
American: 1 (No. 18)
Conference USA: 1 (No. 22)
Sun Belt: 1 (No. 24)
Mid-American: 1 (No. 23)
Independent: 1 (No. 17)

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Michigan: The Buckeyes and Wolverines also lead in ranked matchups (this will be 49) and top-10 matchups (26).

No. 15 Oregon State at No. 6 Oregon: Sixth meeting (and second consecutive) with both teams ranked.

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rookie phenom got the last word.

After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”

Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.

It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.

“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”

Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.

“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”

Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.

“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”

In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.

“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”

The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.

He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.

He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.

It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.

“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”

He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.

Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.

“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”

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Giants walk off on Bailey’s inside-the-park homer

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Giants walk off on Bailey's inside-the-park homer

SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.

Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.

Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.

Casey Schmitt began the rally with a leadoff double. After Jung Hoo Lee popped out, Wilmer Flores lined a single to center.

Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.

Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.

Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.

Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mets’ Mendoza: Snubbed Soto ‘an All-Star for us’

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Mets' Mendoza: Snubbed Soto 'an All-Star for us'

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”

Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.

Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.

“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”

Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.

“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”

Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.

“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”

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