Haren, Trumbo Lead Angels Past Twins; Cliff Lee Tosses 5th Shutout of Season

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 4, 2011

American League

Mark Trumbo

Dan Haren

Continuing their relentless pursuit, the LA Angles took the rubber game of their series with Minnesota by a 7-1 score.

Dan Haren went eight innings, allowing five hits andjust one run - Jim Thome's 598th career home run - and Mark Trumbo singled, scored and homered, driving in four runs to keep the Angels one game behind Texas in the AL West.

The win was Haren's 12th, against six losses. He fanned six Twins and did not allow a walk. Trumbo's homer - a three-run shot that put the Angels up 5-0 - was his 21st of the season.

National League

Cliff Lee

The pennant race in the NL East might as well be over. Nobody's catching the Phillies.

Proving that they have the best pitching staff in the majors, again, Cliff Lee worked his mound magic to record his fifth shutout of the season, a 7-hit gem in a 3-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Lee (11-7) didn't allow a walk and struck out eight en route to improving his record to 11-7. Amazingly, almost half of his wins came via shutouts.

The Phillies lead the NL East division by 8 1/2 games over the Braves. It is the largest lead in any of baseball's six divisions and the Phillies sport the best record in baseball, at 72-39.