Holliday Leads Rockies in 18-17 Win over Marlins; Young, Twins Rock Tribe

Players of the Day from Friday, July 4, 2008 American League The surprising Minnesota Twins simply will not go away in the race for the top spot in the AL Central. On Independence Day, Delmon Young singled twice and hit a three-run homer in five at-bats, scoring three times and driving in four to lead a 15-hit Minnesota attack as the Twins pummeled Cleveland, 12-3. Notes: Coupled with the White Sox's 7-1 loss to Oakland, the win moved the Twins to within 1 game of first place. In the East, Tampa Bay hammered KC, 11-2, while Boston handed the Yankees their second straight loss, 6-4. While the Red Sox remained 3 games behind the Rays, the Yanks dropped into a tie with the Orioles, 9 out. National League In this season's highest-scoring game, Rockies, 18, Marlins,17, Matt Holliday homered twice - the second blast a grand slam - singled and scored the winning run in the 9th, helping the Rockies come all the way back from a 13-4 4th inning deficit. Holliday contributed 5 RBI to the Colorado attack, but certainly wasn't the only star in the lineup. Ryan Spilborghs went 4-for-5, scored four times and had 3 RBI; Clint Barnes also was 4-for-5, while Garret Atkins went 5-for-6 with 3 RBI and 3 runs. For the Marlins, Jorge Cantu was 4-for-5 and scored 4 times, and Cody Ross drove in 5 runs with a pair of singles and a bases-loaded double. Notes: The Phillies benefited from Florida's flop, beating the Mets 3-2 (their 4th straight win), to pull 3 1/2 ahead of the Marlins in the East. The Cubs also increased their advantage to the same margin in the Central with a 2-1 win over the Cardinals. However, in the West, Arizona lost while the Dodgers won, leaving the D-Backs just 1/2 game in front of Los Angeles.