Sunday, August 20, 2017

Grand Slam By Scooter Gennett Lifts Reds; Rougned Odor 2 HR Lead Ranger Rout Of White Sox

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 19, 2017

Odor: 2 HR, 5 RBI
American League

Rougned Odor led a 20-hit assault by the Texas Rangers, as they hammered the visiting White Sox, 17-7, in the third of their four-game series.

Odor belted two home runs, giving him 26 on the year, and drove in five runs in the rout. The first of his two blasts capped a six-run third inning outburst by the Rangers and erased a 5-1 deficit. Odor's three-run homer came after the Rangers had already plated three in the inning.

Odor also homered in the fourth, a solo shot that added to the Texas lead, but, the real insult came in the seventh, when he walked with the bases full, giving him his fifth RBI of the game, upping his season total to 58.

The win put the Rangers at .500, with a 61-61 mark, and left them 1 1/2 games behind the Twins and Angels, presently co-owners of the second wild card spot. The Yankees have a good grip on they top wild card, with a 3 1/2 game lead.

The Rangers conclude their series with Chicago at 3:05 pm ET on Sunday.

National League
Gennett Slams Braves

Not probable as a playoff team this season, the Cincinnati Reds (53-71) will be in the midst of the teams trying to make it to October via either the NL Central title or the wild card route.

To that end, Saturday's 11-8 defeat of the Braves in Atlanta may be of instruction to teams that will be facing the power-laden Reds in the days and weeks ahead.

The Reds were taking it to the Braves pretty well, leading, 7-2, after Scooter Gennett knocked in Joey Votto on a sac fly.

Atlanta would not go easily, however, scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning to close the gap. In the ninth, Gennett again was at the plate with a runner on third - and ones on first and second as well - when he uncorked his 21st home run of the season, a grand slam that put the Braves up comfortably, 11-4.

Atlanta would score four more in their final at-bat and put the tying run at the plate. Cincinnati reliever, Michael Lorenzen, slammed the door shut to close out the game.

Gennett is one of the reasons other teams should beware when facing the Reds. He's having the best season of his five year major league career, driving in 75 runs with a .292 batting average, surpassing his seasonal home run and RBI numbers in fewer games than in any of his previous years, all of which, prior to this year, were with the Brewers.

The victory gave the Reds a 2-0 lead in the series, which concludes Sunday at 1:35 pm ET. Atlanta has taken a severe blow to what slim playoff hope they may have had, falling 12 games out of the second spot over the past two games.

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