Reynolds Keeps D-Backs Winning; Barton Homers in A's 14-2 Romp

Players of the Day from Monday, April 28, 2008 American League Looking for Rookie of the Year candidates? Keep an eye on the A's Daric Barton who smacked his first home run of the season (he hit four in 18 games last year with the A's), went 3-for-6, drove in 3 runs and scored twice in the A's 14-2 rout of the Angels, boosting Oakland into sole possession of first place in the AL West one game ahead of the Angels. Usually batting third in the lineup, Barton has Mark Ellis hitting in front of him and the recently-acquired Frank Thomas behind him, so he's likely to be seeing plenty of RBI opportunities. Before his call-up last September, Barton hit .293 with nine home runs and 70 RBI in 136 games with the triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Notes: The A's and Angels will continue their battle for the AL West top spot as the 4-game series continues through Thursday. National League There are plenty of reasons why the Diamondbacks have the best record in the majors, but one of them surely has to be the hot start by third baseman Mark Reynolds. On Monday, Reynolds went 1-for-3 with a 2-run double in the 4th, helping Dan Haren to his 4th win as the Diamondbacks beat Houston 5-3. Reynolds, overshadowed last season by sensational rookies Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki, hit .279 with 17 homers and 62 RBI in 111 games. This year, he's second in the NL with 24 RBI and tied for 5th in the league with 7 home runs. Notes: Dominant D-Backs. Arizona leads the NL West with a 19-7 record and has opened a 6 1/2 game lead. They are one of only two teams with less than 10 losses thus far, the other being the Cubs, at 16-9.