Ronny Cedeno Drives in 5 in 9-1 Win over SF; Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler Lead Rangers past Angels

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 2, 2012

American League

Ian Kinsler

Completing their four game series with the Angels, the Texas Rangers, after losing the first two games, won the last pair, 11-10 in 10 innings on Wednesday, and 15-9, Thursday, in an offensive show which included 31 combined hits for both teams.

The Rangers banged out 18 hits against five LA hurlers. Angel starter C.J. Wilson was tagged for 10 hits and eight runs in 5 1/3 innings as the Rangers tied the game in the sixth at 8-8 when Elvis Andrus singled home Ian Kinsler. Texas added four more in the seventh and three in the eighth, outdistancing their opponents in the late innings.

Josh Hamilton

Kinsler got the Rangers started with a solo homer in the second inning. He eventually finished 3-for-5 with a single, double, home run, four runs and a pair of ribbies, giving him 51 RBI on the season, four behind the Angels' Mike Trout, who leads AL leadoff hitters with 55.

Josh Hamilton singled and doubled in six at-bats, driving in four runs to take over the RBI lead in the AL with 88, one better than Detroit's Miguel Cabrera.

The back-to-back Ranger wins dropped the Angels into third place, five games out, and 1/2 game behind the surging Oakland A's. The A's and Angels will meet for three games in Oakland starting Monday. The two are currently 1-2 in the wild card race.

National League

Ronny Cedeno

July was not a very good month for the Mets, as they went 4-14 after the all star break and fell out of contention in the NL East, but August is off to a better beginning, with two straight wins over the NL West-leading Giants, including Thursday's 9-1 romp.

Chris Young (3-5) had a strong outing, allowing four hits and one earned over seven innings. Meanwhile, Ronny Cedeno was clearing the basepaths, going 3-for-5 (two doubles and a single) with five RBI, leading the offensive assault.

After Jason Bay doubled home a pair in the first, Cedeno doubled home two more, for a quick, 4-0, lead. Cedeno singled in another run in the fifth and completed the Mets' scoring with a two-run double in the seventh.

While the Mets remained 11 games behind the Nationals in the East, the two losses by the Giants left them just 1/2 game ahead of the Dodgers, who were swept three straight by Arizona, now just two games behind the Giants.

San Francisco goes on the road for the next seven games, with three in Colorado over the weekend, followed by a four game series in St. Louis.

Likewise, Arizona hits the road with three games at Philadelphia and four in Pittsburgh, while the Dodgers host a pair of three-game series with the Cubs and Rockies.