Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Matt Garza No-Hits Tigers; Joe Mauer Goes 5-for-5 with 7 RBI; Dan Uggla Leads Surging Marlins

Players of the Day for Monday, July 26, 2010 American League Tampa Bay has been relentless in their pursuit of the NY Yankees since being overtaken by them prior to the all star break. The Rays remained three games behind New York in the AL East on Monday thanks to the first no-hitter in Tampa franchise history, twirled by their ace Matt Garza in a 5-0 win over Detroit. While the Yankees were wrapping up a 3-2 win at Cleveland, down in Tampa, Garza was putting the finishing touches on a splendid pitching performance in which - thanks to a 5-4-3 double play that erased the only Tiger baserunner of the night, Brennan Boesch, who walked with one out in the second inning. After that Garza was the picture of perfection, setting down the next 21 straight batters for the fifth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. Garza (11-5) threw 120 pitches, of which 80 went for strikes. Striking out six, the only flaw was that 2nd inning free pass. In Kansas City, the Royals and Twins were playing an entirely different kind of game as the Twins sought to keep the pressure on front-running Chicago in the AL Central. Minnesota amassed 20 hits - including 7 doubles, 2 triples and 2 homers - in a 19-1 rout. A double and a three-run homer were part of the package Joe Mauer brought to the plate, going 5-for-5 with seven RBI and three runs, raising his batting average to somewhat pedestrian - for him, a three-time AL batting champ - .305. The Twins remained one game behind the White Sox, 6-1 victors over Seattle. National League The Florida Marlins hit a mid-season soft patch, but are putting together a nice second half run, winning their second straight and 8th of their last 11 since the all star break with a 4-3 win at San Francisco. The victory pulled the Marlins above the .500 mark - at 50-49 - and tied them with the Mets for 3rd place in the NL East, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves. Dan Uggla was instrumental in the win, banging his 19th home run of the season in the 4th inning and scoring on a sac fly in the 6th. Uggla went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. The Marlins used six different pitchers to fend off the Giants in the first of a fur game series.

No comments: