Ricky Romero, Felix Hernandez on Schedule for Jays, Mariners

Players of the Day for Friday, March 16, 2012

Grapefruit League

Ricky Romero

Things are looking up for Ricky Romero and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Romero blanked Tampa Bay over the first four innings of Toronto's 5-0 whitewash of Rays, walking two batters while fanning four without surrendering a hit.

It was Romero's thrid start of Spring and his first win. Over three starts and nine full innings, Romero has given up just two hits and two walks, striking out 8 and keeping opposing hitters to a minuscule .071 batting average.

The Blue Jays have won 12 of 14 Grapefruit League games, and are the best team in the Florida league behind 10-1 Detroit.

Romero is getting set for his fourth season with the Blue Jays, having compiled an enviable 42-29 record with a 3.60 ERA in his first three seasons.

Cactus League

Felix Hernandez

Seattle's Felix Hernandez put in his longest mound stint of the Spring, working six scoreless innings in the Mariners' 6-1 win over Milwaukee, in which the Brewers mustered only two hits.

Hernandez allowed just one of those hits, while striking out six Milwaukee batters and walking one. It was his third start, and his second win against one loss.

The 2009 Cy Young award winner, when he was 19-5 with a 2.43 ERA, Hernandez suffered through 2011 with a pedestrian 14-14 record, a 3.47 ERA, though he did manage to finish 4th in the league in strikeouts with 222.

Hernandez has a career record of 85-67 in seven seasons, all with Seattle.

Jemile Weeks, Cliff Pennington Lead A's; Garrett Jones, Alex Presley Part of 19-Hit Pirate Attack

Players of the Day for Thursday, March 15, 2012

Garrett Jones

Grapefruit League

Alex Presley

Pittsburgh scored ten times in the first inning and banged out 19 hits en route to a 17-6 trampling of the Twins, at Minnesota's Springtime home in Fort Myers, Florida.

Garrett Jones was the rudest of the guests, going 3-for-4 with a single, double and his second home run of the season. Leadoff hitter Alex Presley also singled, doubled and homered in four at-bats, driving in a pair and scoring three times. A rookie, Presley is vying for the Pirates' center field position and is having a solid Spring, hitting .429 through nine games.

Jones is also off to a strong start, batting .400 with eight RBI.

Cactus League

Jemile Weeks

Cliff Pennington

Oakland second baseman Jemile Weeks socked a pair of home runs and shortstop Cliff Pennington went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two singles and two RBI as the A's topped the Rangers, 11-7, in exhibition action.

Both of Weeks' home runs - his second and third of the Spring - were solo shots, the first blast led off the game. He later singled and scored as the A's pounded out 14 hits against seven Texas hurlers.

The 1-2 batters in the lineup, Weeks and Pennington are batting .419 and .464, respectively.

Pennington is back for his third full season with the A's after batting .264 last year. Weeks returns following a successful rookie campaign in which he hit .303 and swiped 22 bases in 97 games.

Edwin Encarnacion Homers Twice in Blue Jay Win; Albert Pujols, Howard Kendrick Combine for 7 RBI in Angel Loss

Players of the Day for Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Grapefruit League

Edwin Encarnacion

Edwin Encarnacion hit two home runs in Toronto's 7-5 win over the NY Yankees and may have put one of New York's starters out of the rotation for a while. Encarnacion was at the plate when Yankee starter Fredddy Garcia opened the fourth inning, smacking a sharp comebacker that hit Garcia on his pitching hand. Encarnacion was credited with a single, but Garcia left the mound and the game. X-rays were negative, but, according to reports, the hand swelled up significantly.

Back at the ballpark, Encarnacion scored on JP Arencibia's two run homer and an inning later, in the fifth, he belted a three run banger, to go with the solo shot he had off Garcia in the second.

For Encarnacion, it was an excellent day at the plate; 3-for-3, two homers, four RBI and three runs. For Garcia and the Yanks, not so much.

Cactus League

The LA Angels lost another Spring exhibition game on Wednesday, losing to the White Sox, 9-7, but the XXX paying customers at Chicago's Glendale, Arizona pre-season home got a glimpse of Albert Pujols' awesome power.

Pujols: 2 HR, 4 RBI

Pujols socked a three-run homer and a solo shot in his two official at-bats, his first two of the Spring in his seventh game with the Angels. His run-producing, and that of Howie Kendrick, who went 3-for-3 with a homer, two singles and three RBI, accounted for all of the Angels' runs, but it wasn't enough as the Sox scored none runs on 10 hits and sent starter Ervin Santana to an early shower with a line drive that struck the hurler on his right shoulder in the second inning.

Kendrick: 3-3 HR 3RBI

Santana was considered day-to-day with a bruised shoulder.

Pujols, who took the free agency route from St. Louis to LA after last year's world series triumph by St. Louis, is expected to provide an extra boost at the plate for the Angels. The slugger, entering his 12th year in the bigs, may make a run at 500 homers and 500 doubles. He will open the regular season with 455 doubles and 445 home runs.

As for Kendrick, his Spring performance is in line with his usual consistent play. In 2010, he hit .285 with 18 long balls, 63 RBI and 86 runs in 140 games.

Ryan Raburn, Tigers Tearing Up Grapefruit League; Dan Haren Fans Seven in Angels Win

Players of the Day for Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Grapefruit League

Raburn: HR, 3 RBI

Detroit's Ryan Raburn went 2-for-5 on Tuesday in Detroit's 6-3 win over Washington and actually lowered his batting average. The left fielder socked a two-run homer in the first inning off Nationals' starter Edwin Jackson and later added an RBI single, giving him four home runs and 14 RBI with a .467 batting average.

In six games this Spring, Rayburn has had seven hits in 15 at-bats. Besides the four wall-jumpers, he's had a single, double and a triple, making him the most productive Tiger on a team filled with big bats like Miguel Cabrera and the of-season acquisition, Prince Fielder.

Raburn normally comes to Spring training in good shape. In 2011 he hit .316 and posted a .370 average in 2010's exhibition season.

The Tigers are 7-1 in Florida's Grapefruit League - an .875 winning percentage. They trail the 9-2 Blue Jays in the standings by 1/2 game.

Cactus League

Haren: 3 IP, 7 Ks

Dan Haren wasn't fooling around on the mound in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Arizona. The Angel ace also wasn't hiding any of his good stuff from Diamondback batters, as he worked three scoreless innings, allowed one hit and struck out seven without issing a walk.

Taking the win - his second of the Spring without a loss - Haren has worked five innings, allowed just one hit and one walk while fanning 10.

Having previously toiled for the Cardinals, A's and Diamondbacks, Haren is coming off his first complete season with the Angels, having posted a 16-10 record with a 3.17 ERA and 192 Ks in 2011.

Coupled with Jered Weaver, the Angels have a powerful 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation. If Albert Pujols - acquired via free agency from the Cardinals in the off-season - can revitalize the Angels' offensive attack, LA should provide a strong challenge to Texas in the AL West.

Lucas Duda Slams for Mets; Juan Rivera, Dodgers, Rough Up Weaver, Angels

Players of the Day for Monday, March 12, 2012

Grapefruit League

Lucas Duda

Lucas Duda's 5th inning grand slam helped the Mets take a 7-3 lead over the Tigers, but Detroit rallied back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, then added the game-tying run in the 8th.

The game remained tied at 7-7 and ended that way after one extra inning.

Duda had just the one hit in two at-bats on the day, his first homer of the Spring.

Flourishing for the oft-injured Mets last season, Duda batted .292 with 10 homers and 50 RBI in 100 games. He is expected to be the Mets' regular right fielder this season.

Cactus League

Juan Rivera

Don't talk to Juan Rivera about singles. This Spring, Rivera has four hits in 16 at-bats, all of them for extra bases. In the Dodgers 9-1 win over the Angels on Monday, Rivera doubled in the first inning off Angel ace Jered Weaver, bringing home two runs. It was his first hit that wasn't a home run of the exhibition season.

Later on, Rivera got his home run groove on, socking his third fence-clearing smash of Spring, driving in two more runs.

Rivera left the Angels for the Toronto after the 2010 season, and then went to the Dodgers after playing in 70 games for the Blue Jays. A skilled RBI guy, Rivera had 23 doubles and 11 homers last season, driving in 74 runs with a .258 batting average.

The Dodgers lead the Cactus League with a 6-1 record.