Romero Shuts Out Cards; Longoria Bangs a Pair; Reyes Runs Wild; Halladay Gets 10th Win

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 26, 2011

American League

Evan Longoria

Tampa Bay pounded out 19 hits and scored 7 runs in the final two innings as they grounded the Houston Astros, 14-10. The top three hitters in the lineup, Johnny Damon, Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria had 11 hits between them with Longoria going 4-for-6 with a double, two homers - his 8th and 9th - three runs and five RBI.

Longoria's numbers (.253, 9, 33) are down this season due to having missed almost all of April due to injury, but he's coming around fine, with 8 hits, 3 homers and 10 RI in his last three games.

Ricky Romero

The Rays trail the Yankees by two games in the AL East and Boston by 1 1/2.

In St. Louis, Ricky Romero evened his record at 7-7 with a four-hit, 5-0, shutout of the Cardinals. It was Romero's sixth career complete game and second shutout. He walked two and struck out five, using 106 pitches to get the much-needed win for the Blue Jays, who have fallen seven games off the pace in the AL East, though they are playing .500 ball, at 30=9-39.

National League

Roy Halladay picked up his 10th win of the season against three losses, leading the first place Phillies to a 3-1 win over Oakland. It was Hallady's fifth complete game of the season, despite not having thrown a shutout.

Roy Halladay

It wasn't the prettiest performance by the two-time Cy Young award winner, who scattered eight hits and only struck out four batters, though he did not issue any walks. Halladay is second in the NL in strikeouts, with 123, behind Clayton Kershaw's 128. He is also tied for wins with Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens.

Jose Reyes

The Phillies have the largest lead in the majors, a five-game bulge over Atlanta.

Down in Texas, the Mets won their second straight after dropping the opener of the series, whipping the Rangers, 8-5. Jose Reyes continued his remarkable season, going 4-for-5 with an RBI a stolen base, three runs and his 14th triple of the year, easily tops in the majors.

Reyes leads the NL not only in triples, but also in hits (113), runs (61) and batting average (.341).

INTERLEAGUE TALLY: The AL continued to stretch its narrow lead on the NL, winning eight, while the NL won six, putting the AL up by four, at 86-82.