Thursday, June 11, 2009

Meche, Callaspo Power Royals; Steady Molina Leads Giants

Players of the Day for Wednesday, June 10 American League The Kansas City Royals have fallen to the usual spot near the bottom of the AL Central, but there are signs of life and hope for the future, especially after Gil Meche (left) and Alberto Callaspo (right) combined to tear up the Indians, 9-0, pushing Cleveland into last place in the division. Meche (3-5) worked seven innings of shutout ball, allowing 4 hits and 3 bases on balls, while fanning 11. Meanwhile, Callaspo, one of the promising young players with the Royals, went 4-for-4, with three singles and a fifth-inning grand slam homer, which completed the scoring for the Royals. It was his third homer of the season and also the third of his career. Callaspo seems to have found a limited power stroke this season as the Royals regular second baseman after hitting .305 in 74 games with the Royals in 2008. Meche's 11 Ks matched his career high. National League Since May 24, the San Francisco Giants are 11-4, winning their second straight Wednesday as Benjie Molina smacked a two-run homer in the third and added an insurance run in the ninth inning in a 6-4 Giants' victory over Arizona. Molina, whose 9 home runs and 37 RBI lead the youthful Giants, has been a steadying influence for both the pitching staff and around the clubhouse. Now in his 11th season, the stout Puerto Rican native looks to be on his way to career highs in both home runs and RBI. His previous highs are 19 homers (2006 and 2007) and 95 RBI (2008). He is just the kind of veteran the Giants can begin building a new post-Bonds-era team. The Giants have closed to within 7 1/2 games of NL West-leading Los Angeles.

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