Mark Trumbo Eyeing AL Rookie Honors; Mets Complete 4-Game Sweep of Reds

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 28, 2011

American League

Mark Trumbo

Mark Trumbo went 3-for-5, missing hitting for the cycle for the absence of a single, as the LA Angels continued their relentless pursuit of the Texas Rangers with a 12-7 win at Detroit.

Trumbo, quietly having a smashing year (.256, 19, 53) as the Angels' rookie first baseman, socked his 19th homer in the 2nd inning to get the Angels on the board, then followed up with an RBI triple in the 4th and a run-scoring double in the 7th. He scored three times and drove in five runs.

The race in the AL west has come down to a contentious battle between the top two teams. The Angls have won three straight and seven of their last ten to pull to within two games of the front-running Rangers. Trumbo is looking more and more like the choice for AL Rookie of the Year.

National League

David Wright

Defending champions of the NL Central, the Cincinnati Red are looking less likely to repeat in the most competitive division in the majors, especially now that they've dropped a four-game home series to the NY Mets.

Angel Pagan

Playing without Carlos Beltran - traded to the Giants - the past two games, the middle of the Mets lineup quickly picked up the slack, taking the final two games of the series without much help from their pitching staff.

Following Wednesday's 8-2 romp, New York came through with a 9-8 squeaker, souring the local Reds fans with the sweep. David Wright, Angel Pagan and Jason Bay each collected three hits in the victory, sending the Reds to a 50-55 record, good for fourth place in the Central, 6 1/2 games behind Milwaukee with the Cardinals and Pirates tied for second, 1 1/2 back.

Jason Bay

Catching one team in a divisional race is hard enough, but rallying past three teams in August and September would amount to a Herculean achievement. Meanwhile the Mets continue to chase Atlanta and Philly in the East, though they remain 6 1/2 back of Atlanta and 11 1/2 behind the Phillies.

Wright and Pagan both went 3-for-5, all singles, and drove in a run apiece. Wright scored twice and Pagan three times. Bay was 3-for-4, with two doubles and a single, and drove in three runs.

STREAKS: Florida's Emilio Bonifacio extended his hitting streak to 26 games, going 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and his 24th steal of the season as the Marlins topped the Nationals, 5-2.

In Boston, Dustin Peroia socked an 8th inning home run to extend his hitting streak to 25 games, though it was not enough to overcome the Royals, who won, 4-3.