Friday, August 7, 2009

Posada's 3-for-5 Lifts Yanks; Zimmerman Leads Nats to 5th Straight

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 6, 2009 American League The showdown in the AL East between the Red Sox and Yankees opened Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, but the rivalry qucikly turned into a laugher as the Yanks pounded Boston starter John Smoltz for eight runs in 3 1/3 innings to win going away, 13-6. Jorge Posada provided the Yankees with a boost, as he singled, doubled and homered in his first three at-bats, snapping out of a 1-for-14 skein, scoring twice and driving in 3 runs, all on his 4th inning homer to center field. Posada, sidelined most of May, has played in just 75 games this season, but walloped his 14th home run and upped his RBI total to 50. The Yankees increased their lead in the division to 3 1/2 games and play the Red Sox three more times this weekend. Idle Tampa Bay dropped another 1/2 game off the pace. They are 6 back. National League The Washington Nationals extended their season-high win streak to five games and Ryan Zimmerman hit safely for the 10th straight game, as the Nats hooked the Marlins, 12-8. Zimmerman finished just a double short of hitting for the cycle, going 4-for-4 with a pair of singles, a triple, and a 2-run homer as the Nationals rallied from a 6-0 deficit for the victory. Zimmerman finished with 3 RBI and 3 runs. He is batting an even .300 on the year, with 23 home runs and 73 RBI. Florida's loss dropped them to 7 games behind the NL East leading Phillies, who got their second straight quality effort from Cliff Lee, beating the Rockies, 3-1. Lee was acquired just before the trading deadline in late July and has already produced two wins for his new team. Florida is now just 1/2 game ahead of the Braves, who lost at LA, 5-4.

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