Fielder Leads Brewers to Sweep of Marlins; Boesch Bashes Texas in Tiger Rout

Players of the Day for Monday, June 6, 2011

American League

Brennan Boesch

In the Al Central, the Indians have been faltering of late, losing five straight, the most recent a 6-4 loss to the suddenly red-hot Minnesota Twins, who have now won five straight, though the main beneficiary has been Detroit. The Tigers have won four of five games in June and are 9-4 since May 22.

Taking on the Texas Rangers in the first of a three-game set in Arlington, Detroit sliced further into Cleveland's once-imposing lead with a 13-7 victory, shaving the Indians' edge to a mere 1 1/2 games.

Providing the bulk of the offense was right fielder Brennan Boesch, who went 5-for-6 with five RBI and three runs.

Boesch got the Tigers started with a three-run homer in the 1st inning, then followed up with a solo shot - his 8th - in the 3nd. He singled and scored in the 4th, then doubled in another run in the 6th before singling once more in the 9th.

With the effort, Boesch raised his batting average to a respectable .278 and has now accounted for 32 RBI.

National League

Beware the Brew Crew!

Prince Fielder

The Milwaukee Brewers completed a four game sweep of the Florida Marlins Monday night in Miami with a 7-2 win, drawing to within 1 1/2 games of the Cardinals in the NL Central.

The victory was their 4th straight and 13th in their last 15 games. Not only have the Brewers cut into the Cardinals' lead, but they've put some distance between themselves and third place Cincinnati, now five games off the pace. And even though it's a little early to start keeping tabs, the Brewers are leading the wild card race by one game over Arizona.

In Monday's win, the bat of Prince Fielder provided all the scoring starter Zach Greinke would need to notch his fifth win against one loss. Fielder smacked his 14th homer of the season, a three-run shot off Javier Vazquez in the 3rd inning to stake the Brewers to an early lead.

Fielder also singled home Ryan Braun with the Brewers' final run in the 7th inning. The four RBI put Fielder back on top in the NL RBI category with 49. He leads Matt Kemp by one and Rya Howard by two.

The Brewers head back to Milwaukee for a six-game home stand on Tuesday. They take on the Mets before three games with the Cardinals over the weekend, a series will impact the top of the Central division.