Granderson Gone Wild; Jennings, Price Power Relentless Rays; Diamondbacks Win 6th Straight

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 28, 2011

American League

Curtis Granderson

How special a season is Curtis Granderson having?

Pretty special, it appears, as Granderson homered twice in the nightcap of the Yankees' double-header at Baltimore, socking a three-run homer in the 3rd inning to erase an early 2-0 Baltimore lead, then smashing an opposite field shot in the 7th inning to complete the scoring in New York's 8-3 victory at Camden Yards.

Price: 14 Ks

The first homer tied him with Toronto's Jose Bautista for the AL and major league lead in home runs, the second gave the 185-pound center fielder the outright lead in that category. His four RBI put him ahead of all others with 107. He also leads the majors in runs with 121 and has stolen 24 bases this season.

Granderson's HR and RBI totals are already career bests for the 7-year pro. He's one shy of matching his 2007 total for runs and he'll match his personal best for swipes with two more stolen bases.

With the Yankees splitting with the O's and Boston idle, David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays were keeping pace, 8 1/2 games back, but just 6 1/2 behind the Yankees for the wild card spot.

Desmond Jennings

Price (12-11) set a personal high mark with 14 Ks, shutting out the Blue Jays over seven innings on three hits and two walks as the Rays hammered Toronto, 12-0. Rookie outfielder Desmond Jennings provided early offense, homering to lead off the game and smacking another seat-finder in the 3rd to put the Rays up 5-0.

Jennings also walked and stole second in the 4th and singled home a run and scored in the 9th as the Rays piled on six more runs.

Kennedy: 17-4

National League

Arizona's Ian Kennedy topped all National League pitchers with his 17th win as the Diamondbacks won their 6th straight, defeating the Padres, 6-1.

Kennedy allowed just one run on seven hits over seven stellar innings. He fanned seven and did not issue any walks.

Aaron Hill

While Kennedy was mowing down the opposition, recently acquired second baseman Aaron Hill singled, tripled and homered, driving in three run in five at-bats.

Collin Cowgill

Rookie Collin Cowgill hit his first double and home run, going 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI and two runs.

The Arizona win pushed them to a four-game lead over San Francisco in the NL West. The Giants dropped a 4-3 decision to Houston in 11 innings.

Arizona is one of just three NL teams to have winning records at home, on the road and against all three divisions. The other two both hail from the East: Philadelphia and Atlanta.