Derek Holland Blanks A's for 8 as Rangers Take Series; David Freese Leads Cardinals in 15-2 Win over Reds

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 4, 2013

American League

Derek Holland threw eight innings of shutout ball at the home-standing Oakland A's as the Texas Rangers took the rubber game of their three-game series with the A's, 4-0.

Derek Holland

The Rangers scored single runs in the first and second innings and two in the seventh to back the four-hit pitching of Holland (9-6). Joe Nathan came on for the ninth, in a non-save situation, gave up a hit and a walk, but kept the A's off the scoreboard to end the game.

Holland threw 77 of 110 pitches for strikes, walked two and fanned 10. On the season, Holland has 145 Ks, good for sixth in the AL.

The win cut the A's lead in the AL West to 2 1/2 games, the 2-1 series win giving the Rangers confidence that they can still run down Oakland in the division.

The Rangers head down the coast to open a series in Anaheim with the Angels, while the A's head to Cincinnati, where they play a series with the Reds, beginning Tuesday.

National League

David Freese

Still trailing the Pirates in the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinal made their case that they're easily the second-best team in the division, with a stunning, 15-2 win at Cincinnati.

St. Louis banged out 19 hits - 10 for extra bases - against five Cincinnati hurlers, pounding starter Mike Leake for eight runs over the first five innings.

All eight of the starting position players for St. Louis had at least two hits, backing the pitching of Lance Lynn, who earned his 13th win against five losses, allowing just two runs on four hits over eight innings from the mound. Lynn's 13 wins are tops in the NL, along with teammate Adam Wainwright and Washington's Jordan Zimmermann.

David Freese went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and single, driving in a pair of runs and scoring three times.

Pittsburgh leads the Cardinals by 1 1/2 in the division; Cincinnati is 6 1/2 games out.

Today's Trivia: With Alex Rodriguez in the news, the question is, does A-Rod have a lifetime average over .300? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: FALSE. There are only 206 players who managed to hit .300 or better in their major league careers.