Edinson Volquez Tosses One-Hitter for Padres; David Price, B.J. Upton Lead Rays to Win

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 19, 2012

American League

Volquez: 1-hitter

In San Diego, Alexi Amarista opened the Padres' first inning with a double. The next batter, Logan Forsythe, singled him home and that was about it, as Houston hurler, Lucas Harrell, gave up just two more hits over seven full innings, but San Diego starter, Edinson Volquez, proved even better, protecting the slim lead with a complete game one-hitter as the Padres triumphed, 1-0.

Volquez (6-7) allowed the one hit to Matt Downs with two down in the fourth. Other than three walks, Volquez was pretty magnificent, throwing 75 of 117 pitches for strikes and striking out five for his first major league shutout.

Despite playing for a team that's 16 games under .500 and 13 games out in the NL West, Volquez is having a solid year, sporting a 3.34 ERA and striking out 109 batters in 121.1 innings.

The Padres are in fourth place in the division, just 2 1/2 games ahead of last place Colorado. The win was the third straight for the Padres, who lost the opener of their four game series with the Astros, but won the remainder.

National League

B.J. Upton

David Price

Tampa Bay, trailing the Yankees by 9 1/2 games, may not win the AL East, but they are mired in a seven-team shootout for the two wild card slots. Currently, the Angels are leading the pack, but the Rays are just two back after B.J. Upton and David Price led them to a 6-0 victory over Cleveland - another team in the wild card mix - earning a split in their series, two games apiece.

Upton went 3-for-5, two doubles and a single, and plated three in the sixth inning when he doubled with the bases loaded. He later scored, giving Price more than enough runs to support his seven inning, two-hit effort for his league-leading 13th win.

Price, who's suffered defeat only four times this season, walked three and struck out seven, in the process lowering his ERA to a very respectable 2.64, fourth-best among AL starters.

The Rays next host Seattle for three games before embarking on a nine-game road swing that will take them coast-to-coast, from Baltimore to LA and then on to Oakland.