Rangers Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli Batter Boston, 18-3; Gio Gonzalez Gets 1st NL Win, 1-0 over Astros

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 17, 2012

American League

Hamilton: HR, 5RBI

The Texas Rangers thundered into Beantown for a quick two-game series, and, like their lawmen namesakes, delivered quick and crushing Texas justice to the home-standers, routing the Red Sox by an 18-3 score.

Napoli: 2HR, 4RBI

Banging out 21 hits, seven of the nine Texas starters had at least two hits. Josh Hamilton was chief among the run-producers, going 3-for-5, with a pair of singles and a three-run homer to start off an eight-run uprising in the 8th. Hamilton's homer was his fifth of the year as he tallied five RBI for the game.

Mike Napoli added to Boston's woes, also going 3-for-5, with a single, a couple of home runs and four RBI.

The win was the fifth straight for Texas. Their 9-2 mark has them 3 1/2 games in front of Seattle in the AL West and is tied with the LA Dodgers for the best record in the majors.


National League

Internet Sports Betting
Get FREE Baseball Picks from NSAwins.com.

Your eyes aren't deceiving you; those are the Washington Nationals atop the NL East, with a 1 1/2 game lead over the Mets after topping the Houston Astros, 1-0, in D.C.

Gonzalez: 7IP 2H 8K

The Nats have a throng of good young hitters, but they've been getting the job done mostly from the mound. On Tuesday, Gio Gonzalez out-dueled Houston's Wandy Rodriguez over seven innings, for their fifth win in six home games.

Gonzalez allowed only two hits in his seven innings of work, fanning eight with two walks. Rodriguez was victimized in the fourth inning for the only run of the game when Jayson Werth doubled and Adam LaRoche singled him home. Rodriguez, despite a 1.96 ERA, is 2-0. Gonzalez, acquired from Oakland after the end of last season, earned his first win in the National League in his third start for Washington. Ty Clippard worked the ninth and Brad Lidge picked up the save, getting the final three outs.

The Nationals have two more games with the Astros, Wednesday and Thursday. They are 7-2 against the NL Central.