Mathis Drives in 6 as Angels Up Lead to 10; Sabathia 3-Hits Cards

Players of the Day from Wednesday, July 23, 2008 American League News Flash: The AL West race is over. On Wednesday, Jeff Mathis singled twice, doubled and hit a grand slam in 5 at-bats, driving in 6 runs as the Angels outlasted the Indians, 14-11. The win, coupled with losses by the A's and Rangers, gave the Angels 10 and 10 1/2 game leads over their closest competition. Seriously. It's over. LA could play less than .500 for the rest of the season and still finish with more than 90 wins. See you in the playoffs. Notes: The Yankees won their 10th straight at home and 6th overall, remaining 3 1/2 off the pace in the AL East as the Rays and second place Boston (1/2 game back) both won. In the Central, Carlos Quentin crushed a pair of homers and drove in 4 runs in the White Sox's 10-8 win over Texas. Chicago is 2 1/2 to the good over Minnesota. Detroit, 7-1 winners at KC, have won 4 straight and are 5 1/2 out. National League If the Brewers win the Central division and maybe more, they can point to one mid-season move that brought the magic to Milwaukee - the trade that brought C. C. Sabathia over from the Cleveland Indians. Since joining the Brewers, Sabathia has been nothing but special. He is 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA and last night tossed his third straight complete game, a 3-hit, 3-0 shutout of St. Louis, their third straight over the Cardinals and 7th straight win overall. Sabathia struck out 7 and walked two, at one point - from the 1st through 6th innings - setting down 17 consecutive victims at the plate. Notes: The Cubs remain in first place in the Central after winning 10-6 at Arizona, but the Brewers are hot on their heels, 1 game back, with the Cardinals now reeling, 3 off the pace. The Mets re-tied the race in the East with a 6-3 win over the Phillies on Jose Reyes' 3-run homer in the 7th. Arizona stayed a game better than LA in the West, but the Rockies continue to close the gap - now 6 games - by beating the Dodgers, 5-3.