Friday, June 19, 2009

Young's 4-for-4 Boosts D-Backs; Lind Helps Surging Blue Jays

Players of the Day for Thursday, June 18, 2009 American League The Toronto Blue Jays completed a 3-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with an 8-7 win on Rod Barajas' pinch hit solo homer in the 9th, but the guy who got them there was 3rd year player Adam Lind, who is one of the reasons the Jays are in the division hunt. Lind went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a home run, driving in two runs and scoring twice to keep the Blue Jays in the game. The homer was Lind's 14th of the season and his RBI total of 48 leads the team. A .308 hitter, Lind was 6-for-13 in the series with Philly, with two home runs and 3 RBI. The Jays trail the Red Sox by 4 games in the AL East, in third place, just one back of the Yankees. National League Arizona's Chris Young exploded with a 4-for-4 night as the Diamondbacks coasted past the Royals, 12-5. Young stroked a single, two doubles and a triple, scored a run and drove one in and stole his 11th base of the season. Young's totals could have been even more impressive had the batters in the weak Arizona lineup done anything. But Young should not be complaining. The 4 hits boosted his batting average to .206, the first time he's been over .200 since April 29th. The reason nobody's heard much from the Diamondbacks this season is their 29-38 record, which has left them in last place in the NL West, 17 games behind the Dodgers. NOTES: The Washington Nationals humbled the mighty Yankees in their own yard, taking 2 of 3 from the Bombers at Yankee Stadium with a 3-2 win Wednesday and a 3-0 win on Thursday. The Nats are probably unlikely to contend in their division, but they can play spoiler. Those who mentioned that if the Mets miss the playoffs by one game, they can look to the loss induced by Luis Castillo's dropped fly ball last weekend. Since the Yankees were the beneficiaries of that win, one can safely assume that they feel like they've given one or two back with the losses to the Nationals. The Yanks are 3 behind Boston in the AL East. Toronot is 4 back, and Tampa Bay 6 behind. Meanwhile, the Mets didn;t help themselves much as the Phillies were being swpt by the Blue Jays, dropping two of three in Baltimore. The bullpen is still the issue with the Mets, as they gave up a run in the 8th and 2 in the 9th in last night's 5-4 loss to the O's. Francisco Rodriguez blew his second save in his last three tries, allowing the 2 9th inning runs. The Mets still trail Philly by 3 games in the NL East.

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