Marco Scutaro Drives in 7 for Giants; Josh Hamilton Provides Power in 10-9 Texas Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 8, 2012

American League

Josh Hamilton

Adrian Beltre broke a 9th inning 9-9 tie with a sac fly, scoring Elvis Andrus with the game winner as the Texas Rangers topped the Red Sox, 10-9, but Josh Hamilton kept the Rangers in the game, going 3-for-5 with a single, triple and his 30th home run. Adam Dunn leads the AL with 31 homers, followed by Hamilton and Curtis Granderson, who also knocked his 30th on Wednesday night.

Hamilton knocked in four runs for the Rangers through the slugfest, tying him with Miguel Cabrera for league leadership in RBI, with 95.

The Rangers retained their 5 1/2 game lead over Oakland in the AL West. The A's eeked out a 9-8 win over the Angels, dropping them seven behind the Rangers.

Having taken two of three from Boston, the Rangers have a day off Thursday, then welcome in the Detroit Tigers for a three-game weekend set. On Monday, Texas heads to New York for a four game series with the Yankees.


National League

Scutaro: 3-5 GS 7RBI

The Giants have been making all the right moves since the all star break, and broke out the lumber in a 15-0 whipping of St. Louis, keeping them 1 1/2 games clear of the Dodgers in the NL West.

While Ryan Vogelsong was mowing down Cardinal hitters, allowing just three hits over seven innings en route to his 10th win against five losses, Marco Scutaro was clearing the bases for San Francisco.

Not normally viewed as a power hitter or RBI guy, Scutaro drove in seven runs with a third inning, run-scoring single, a bases loaded double in the eighth and a ninth inning grand slam, accounting for nearly half of the Giants' output.

Acquired from the Rockies in late July, Scutaro is batting .347 in 12 games with the Giants, his seven RBI giving him 13 in a San Fran uniform.

The Giants have taken two of three in St. Louis. The series completes with an afternoon clash at Busch Stadium Thursday afternoon.