Jeter, Granderson Power Yankees to 18-7 Win; McGehee Blasts Three Homers in Milwaukee Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 3, 2011

American League

Handing the White Sox their fifth straight loss while winning their sixth in a row, the New York Yankees jumped all over Chicago early and cruised to a ridiculous 18-7 win.

Granderson: 5 RBI

The top of the order did most of the harm to White Sox pitchers, rocking White Sox starter Gavin Floyd for nine hits and 10 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Jeter passes Brock

Derek Jeter had five hits in six at-bats - four singles and a double - scored four runs and drove in two, while Curtis Granderson, batting right behind the captain, went 4-for-6 with two singes, a double, his league-leading 9th triple, five RBI and two runs.

Jeter passed Lou Brock for 23rd place in hits all-time. Jeter's five hits gives him 3027. Brock retired in 1979 with 3023 career hits.

The diminutive Granderson is keeping pace in the RBI department with teammate Mark Teixeira, who had three RBI himself and leads the team with 85 ribbies to Granderson's 84.

While the Yanks continue to press the issue in the AL East, it has not been easy, as the Red Sox have won four of their last five, including two straight against Cleveland, and continue to hold a one game lead in the division over New York.

Following the completion of their series with the White Sox and Indians, the Yankees and Red Sox meet up for a three-game set in Boston, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which could go a long way toward determining the AL East representative in the playoffs.

National League

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to be heard from come the post-season.

Bouncing back from an 8-7, 11-inning loss to the second place Cardinals on Tuesday, Milwaukee rocked St. Louis 10-5, taking two out of three in the mid-week series and extending their NL Central lead to 3 1/2 games.

McGehee: 3 Bombs

Most of the offense was supplied by Casey McGehee, who has been suffering the throes of a season-long slump. McGehee, who socked 23 homers in 2010, entered yesterday's game with only five long balls in the 2011 season.

Perhaps in an effort to make up for lost time, the Milwaukee third baseman belted three homers and drove in four runs, driving the Brewers to the easy win.