Josh Reddick's Homers, Five RBI Lead A's Rout of Tigers; Corey Hart Serves Up Highlights for Brewers

Players of the Day for Friday, May 11, 2012

American League

Josh Reddick

The Oakland A's are doing their nest to keep the Rangers from running away with the AL West, but the effort seems futile as 20-11 Texas has the best record in the league and leads the A's by five full games.

Oakland evened their home series with the Tigers at a game apiece as Josh Reddick cracked a pair of home runs to go with a couple of singles, going 4-for-4, scoring four times while driving in five runs in the A's 11-4 romp.

Reddick scored the A's first run in the opening frame, then knocked a solo shot to right center in the third, putting the A;s ahead, 3-2. In the sixth, he singled in a run and scored, capping his perfect night at the plate with a three-run homer in the seventh which put the game completely out of reach.

Having been a part time player in Boston from 2009 through last season, the A's snatched up Reddick and made him their starting right fielder in 2012. He's responded with a .292 batting average, eight homers and 18 RBI. Over his last ten games, he's been red hot, batting .350 (14-for-40) with five dingers and 13 ribbies.


National League

Corey Hart

Brewers fans got more than their money's worth as the Cubs opened a three-game series against Milwaukee at Miller Park - a 13-inning come-from-behind thriller that kick-started the Brewer home stand with an 8-7 win that sent the Cubs reeling into last place in the NL Central division.

David DeJesus tripled and homered for the Cubs, driving in five runs, but Corey hart outdid him, launching a two-run, one out homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.

Hart had singled twice and scored an earlier run to keep the Brewers close, and finished the game 4-for-7 when he singled in the winning run with no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th.

The homer was Hart's seventh of the season and his three RBI upped his total to 17.

The win helped the Brewers avoid being in the division cellar, though they still trail the Cardinals by six games with the Reds and Astros in second and third place, respectively.