Rajai Davis and Yunel Escobar Lead Jays over O's; Brandon Phillips Ready for Reds

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 27, 2011

American League

Yunel Escobar

Rajai Davis

Rajai Davis went 5-for-5 and Yunel Escobar smacked a two-run homer, doubled in two more runs and added another ribbie on a ground out.

Toronto wasn't expected to have a lot of big bats in their lineup, but they managed to string together 20 hits for a 9-5 win over Baltimore.

Davis had more than his share, with two singles, two doubles and a triple. And when he wasn't hitting, he was running, scoring three times and managing to squeeze a stolen base into his schedule.

As Spring training winds to a close, the Blue Jays are a respectable 15-12 in the Grapefruit League and feeling pretty confident heading into what surely will be an AL East campaign full of the usual twists and turns.

National League

Brandon Phillips

A key element in the emergence of the Reds as a powerhouse in the NL Central last season, Brandon Phillips is eventually going to find a sweet spot in the lineup. Phillips batted third in Sunday's 9-6 win over Arizona, but he's equally suited to bat second or leadoff, the spot he held down most of last year.

Phillips singled and homered in three at-bats, driving in three runs and scoring twice. It was just his first home run of the exhibition season, but that's not an issue, as he's batting .341 over 17 games this Spring.

In 2010, Phillips had his usual solid season, batting .275 in 155 games, with 18 home runs, 59 RBI and an even 100 runs.