Adam Jones Buries Angels in O's Win; Ian Desmond 5-for-5 for Nationals

Players of the Day for Monday, July 21, 2014

American League

Jones: 2HR, 4RBI

Adam Jones is having a solid season, belting two more homers on Monday to give the Orioles' center fielder 19 on the year, accounting for all of Baltimore's runs in their 4-2 victory over the Angels.

Jones cracked a two-run shot in the opening frame and broke a 2-2 tie with another two-run bomb in the sixth, chasing Angels' starter Matt Shoemaker, who took the loss.

The win boosted the Orioles lead to four games in the East, as the Yankees and Blue Jays each lost and remained tied for second.

Batting .300 with 19 homers and 63 RBI, Jones is among AL leaders and makes the O's a threat for October baseball.

Game two of the three-game series commences Tuesday at 10:05 pm PDT.

National League

Desmond: 5-for-5

With Atlanta losing 3-1 in 10 innings to Miami, Washington took a tenuous one-game lead in the NL East Monday with a 7-3 win at Colorado, losers of six striaght and dead last, 15 games out in the NL West.

While the Nats cranked out a cumulative 13 hits, much of the damage at the plate was done by Ian Desmond, who went 5-for-5 with four singles and a two-run homer, giving him 62 RBI on the season.

Desmond also scored three times in his five at-bats.

The Nationals will try to send the Rockies to their seventh straight defeat when game two of the three-game series begins Tuesday at 8:40 pm EDT.