Fielder Blasts a Pair in Comeback Win; Miguel Olivo Produces Win for Mariners

Players of the Day for Wednesday, June 8, 2011

American League

Miguel Olivo

The Seattle Mariners avoided being swept at Chicago by the White Sox with a 10-inning, 7-4 victory in the thind and final game of the series.

Winning the game could have been easier were it not for Carlos Quentin, who crushed a couple of home runs and drove in three runs to keep the Sox in the contest, but Seattle catcher Miguel Olivo rose to the occasion with a solo homer in the 8th and a two-run double in the top of the 10th inning, later scoring the final Seattle run, producing the final tally.

The victory kept Settle on pace with the front-running Rangers in the West. They are 2 1/2 back at 32-30. The scuffling White Sox remain six back of Cleveland, at 30-34, with Detroit ahead of them, only 1 1/2 behind the Indians.

National League

Fresh Prince
of Milwaukee

It looked like the Brewers were about to lose their second straight home game to the Mets when Ronnie Paulino blasted a grand slam in the top of the 8th, but Prince Fielder was having none of that.

Fielder, who socked a two-run homer in the 4th inning to give Milwaukee a 2-1 edge, followed Ryan Braun's two-run double in the bottom of the 8th with his second two-run shot of the game, a booming drive to left center which tied the game at 6-6.

Fielder's blast set up the dramatic finish in the 10th, as Nyger Morgan doubled home Craig Counsell from second base with the game-winner and a comeback 7-6, 10-inning victory.

The win was important for the Brewers to keep in touch with the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who are just 1 1/2 ahead after losing to Houston, 4-1, Wednesday. Milwaukee will host a three-game weekend series with the Cardinals beginning Friday, an early showdown in the Central division.

JETER 3000 WATCH: Another loss to the Red Sox, this one by an 11-6 score, saw Jeter collect his 2989th base hit, a 5th inning RBI double. The Yankee captain also scored later in the inning, but it was not enough to prevent the Yankees losing their second straight home game to the Red Sox.

Jeter's two-bagger was the 476th of his career, second in Yankee history to the great Lou Gehrig, who knocked 534 doubles in many fewer at-bats (about 1500) than Jeter. Gehrig is also the career team leader in triples, with an amazing 163. Ballparks, particularly Yankee Stadium, were much more spacious back in Gehrig's time, which partially accounts for the high number of three-base hits. Even Babe Ruth legged out 106 triples during his tenure as a Yankee. By comparison, Jeter has 62 triples, tied for 16th on the Yankees' all-time list with Phil Rizutto and Birdie Cree, who played from 1908-1915.