David Wright Leads Mets with 5 RBI in 17-1 Win; David Murphy Powers Texas past Detroit

Players of the Day for Wednesday, June 27, 2012

American League

With the Angels pounding the Orioles, 13-1, the Texas Rangers knew that if they wanted to maintain their 4 1/2 game lead in the AL West, they'd need to finish their three-game series with Detroit with a victory.

Mission accomplished. While the Rangers matched the run output of their closest rival, the pitching wasn't nearly on par, as Detroit piled up nine runs, but, a win is a win, and so the 13-9 Texas victory was good enough and produced a 2-1 series win over a potential future playoff team.

David Murphy

David Murphy was the main catalyst for the Rangers' outpouring of runs. In the second inning, Murphy cam to the plate with two aboard and a run already in, and promptly deposited an offering from Detroit starter Doug Fister over the right field wall for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers chipped away at the Texas advantage, though they would never tie the game or take the lead after Murphy's blast. The Tigers scored a run in each of the third and fourth innings, but Murphy's second homer of the game - a solo shot - made it 5-2, and Ian Kinsler socked a two-run job that put the Texas lead at 7-2.

Murphy singled in another run and scored in the fifth and added another single later to go 4-for-5 with three runs and five RBI.

The Rangers remain home to start a four-game series with Oakland on Thursday, while the Tigers - now four games behind the White Sox in the Central - head to Tampa for four games with the Rays.


National League

Usually, when a team scores 17 runs, the RBI get spread around, but in Wednesday's 17-1 thumping of the Cubs, four players produced all of the runs.

David Wright

Three players totaled four RBI each for the Mets. Scott Hairston hit a grand slam; Ike Davis had a three-run homer and an RBI double; and Daniel Murphy hit a solo homer, a two-run blast and drove in his fourth run on a ground out in the eighth for the Mets' last score.

David Wright topped them all in just three at-bats - the three others each had five - driving in five runs with a sac fly in the first and two two-run doubles, one each in the fifth and sixth innings before taking a seat on the bench and allowing Justin Turner to finish up the sixth through ninth innings at third base.

With the 2-for-3 effort, Wright raised his already-gaudy batting average to .357, second in the NL behind Philly's Carlos Ruiz. He also leads the Mets with 47 RBI, which is tied with six other players at seventh in that category.

The Mets snapped a four-game losing streak and remain in third place in the NL East, 4 1/2 behind the Nationals, but just one game back of Atlanta.

It was the Mets highest scoring total since they put up 18 at Wrigley Field on Sept. 5, 2010. Apparently, a number of Mets' hitters have found a comfort zone at Wrigley Field.