Rookie A.J. Pollock Leads Arizona over Rockies; Omar Infante Drives Detroit to 7-4 Win over Braves

Players of the Day for Saturday, April 27, 2013

American League

With all the power in the middle of Detroit's lineup, one wouldn't expect the team to be carried to victory by the guy all the way down at the bottom, but that's exactly what happened when #9 hitter Omar Infante took over the game in in the fourth inning.

Omar Infante

The Braves and Tigers forged a 3-3 tie until Infante came to the plate in the fourth and smacked a two-run homer - his first of the year - off Atlanta starter, Kevin Medlen, putting the Tigers up by a pair and ahead to stay as Rick Porcello steadied after a shaky beginning and closed the door on the Braves, working into the seventh.

Justin Uptin's MLB-leading 12th homer brought the Braves back to within one, but Infante appeared again, doubling home a run and later scoring, putting the finishing touch on a 7-4 victory, the second straight in the three-game series with Atlanta.

Infante finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and a pair of runs. The Braves and Tigers finish up Sunday night at 8:00 pm EDT, the game to be televised nationally by ESPN.


National League

A.J. Pollock

While San Francisco was losing their second straight to the Padres - 8-7 in 12 innings - the Arizona Diamondbacks took over sole possession of second place in the NL West with a 3-2 win over the first place Rockies, closing to within one game, with the finale of their four-game series set for Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.

Arizona got off to a quick start, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning off Colorado starter, Jeff Francis, on rookie A.J. Pollock's solo jack and a Cody Ross triple which plated Miguel Montero.

The Rockies eventually tied the score at 2-2 with single runs in the sixth and seventh, the game eventually headed to an extra inning as the two teams combined to use 11 pitchers.

In the bottom of the tenth, Pollock led off with a clean single and stole second with one out, moving to third on catcher Wilin Rosario's throwing error. After an intentional walk to Montero, Cody Ross cooly delivered the game-winning blow, drilling a sac fly to center which plated Pollock with the deciding run.

Pollock, who played in 31 games for the D'Backs in 2012, finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs, the first and last for Arizona.

A win Sunday by the Diamondbacks would result in a tie for first with the Rockies. Game time is 4:00 pm EDT.