Sunday, August 30, 2009

Fox Slam Drops Mets; Mitre, Gaudin 1-Hit ChiSox

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 29, 2009 American League Just what the Yankees need - already leading the AL East by a comfortable 6 games - is more quality pitching, and they got a good measure of that with starter Sergio Mitre (left) and reliever Chad Gaudin (right). Mitre, who has started just seven times this season, worked a perfect game into the 5th inning, ending with a 1 hit, 1 walk, 2K performance over 6 1/3 innings. After being hit by a line drive in the 6th, reliever Chad Gaudin came on for the final 2 2/3rds, allowing just one baserunner, an 8th inning walk to shortstop Alexei Ramírez, sealing the 10-0, 1-hit win over the White Sox. Gaudin struck out 4, giving him 19 over his last 19 innings of work. Jim Thome had the only hit for the White Sox, a 5th-inning double down the right field line. National League The Cubs have struggled mightily over the past three weeks, going 7-12 since August 9, but they got a little bit of a boost on Saturday from rookie Jake Fox, who busted open a 4-4 game with a grand slam in the 5th inning, sending the Cubs to an 11-4 victory over the injury-riddled Mets. Fox, who has appeared in 61 games for the Cubs this season, mostly at 3rd base replacing the oft-injured Aramis Ramirez, was in left field Saturday and is getting the attention of more than a few scouts. In addition to his 4-RBI round-tripper, Fox also doubled in a run and scored in the 7th. The 2-for-4, 5-RBI effort boosted Fox's batting average to an even .300. He has 10 homers, 11 doubles and 39 RBI in just 160 at-bats. The Cubs, already thinking about "next year" as has been the case for over a century, might consider Fox a keeper. NOTES: The wild card race in the National League has suddenly gotten a whole lot more interesting after the Giants bopped the Rockies for the second straight day. San Fran is now just one game behind Colorado in the wold card race, with the final game of their 3-game series on tap Sunday by the Bay. After Tim Lincecum stopped the Rockies, 2-0, Friday, Barry Zito stepped up and gave the Giants 8 1/3 strong innings, allowing just one run on 8 hits while fanning seven. The Giants go for the sweep and a tie for the wild card with Matt Cain (12-4, 2.39) heading to the mound against the Rckies' Jason Hammel (8-7, 4, 43).

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