Phillies' Howard, Tribe's Sizemore Each Smack a Pair

Players of the Day from Friday, June 13, 2008 American League The Indians continued to stay in the thick of things as Grady Sizemore bopped a pair of homers and drove in three runs in Cleveland's 9-5 win over the Padres. Riding a ten-game hitting streak, Sizemore has homered in each of his last three games and has 16 on the season. During the streak, he's raised his batting average from a sub-par .254 to a nearly-respectible .271. Notes: Detroit won their fifth straight, a 5-0 win over the Dodgers. However, with Minnesota, Cleveland and the White Sox all winning, they remain 8 games off the AL Central pace. In the AL East, Boston lost 3-1 at Cincinnati, while the Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays and Orioles all won. Every team in the AL East is playing at least .500 ball, with the O's at the bottom of the division at 33-33, 7 games out. National League Ryan Howard singled, homered twice, drove in 5 runs and scored 4 times in 5 at-bats as the Phillies piled on the Cardinals, 20-2, Fridays night. The game got out of hand quickly as Chase Utley, Howard and Pat Burrell launched back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning off St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer, who was eventually knocked out in the Phillies' 9-run 4th. In addition to Howard's big night at the plate, catcher Carlos Ruiz went 4-for-6 with two singles and two doubles, driving in four runs. The Cardinals used six pitchers in the game, though the best mound performance was recorded by second baseman Aaron Miles, who set down the Phillies in order in the ninth. Notes: The Phillies-Cardinals matchup was the only non-interleague game of the night. Tampa Bay did themselves and the Phils a favor, handing the Marlins a 7-3 loss, increasing Philly's lead in the NL East to 4 games.