Matt Wieters, Mark Reynolds Lead O's to Sweep of Pirates; Brandon Phillips Has 4 RBI in Reds' Win

Players of the Day for Thursday, June 14, 2012

American League

Baltimore completed their three-game home sweep of Pittsburgh with a 12-6 win over the Pirates.

The two teams combined for 26 hits, 16 of them belonging to the winning Orioles, who closed to within 1/2 game of idle AL East leader, New York.

Matt Wieters

The heart of Baltimore's lineup had the best of Pittsburgh's pitching staff, as Mark Reynolds and Matt Wieters each went 4-for-5.

Mark Reynolds

Reynolds had a single, a pair of doubles and a solo home run, scoring three runs and driving in two. Wieters singled twice and doubled twice, driving in five runs, including the first of four Baltimore's first inning runs.

After that, the game was mostly Baltimore's. The Orioles had a 10-0 lead before the Pirates finally got on the board with three runs in the fifth.

The Orioles embark upon a weekend road trip to Atlanta while the Pirates, now tied with St. Louis, three games behind the NL Central-leading Reds, head to Cleveland.


National League

With Pittsburgh dropping three straight, the Cincinnati Reds took full advantage, completing their sweep of the Indians with a 12-5 victory over Cleveland, Thursday.

Brandon Phillips

Brandon Phillips was key to the Reds' win, going 3-for-5 with a home run, a pair of singles and four RBI.

After Cleveland scored two runs in the top of the first, Joey Votto erased their lead with a three-run blast in the bottom half, his 15th of the season.

Phillips broke the game wide open after that, socking a solo homer in the third - his 8th - singling in two runs in the fourth and singling in another as the Reds put up a 5-spot in the fifth.

The win put the Reds three games ahead of Pittsburgh and St. Louis in the Central division.

INTERLEAGUE SCOREBOARD: The National League finally cut a bit into the AL's interleague lead, winning six of ten games on Thursday, leaving the tally for the season at 68-58 in favore of the American League.