Zack Greinke, Travis Ishikawa Lead Brewers Past Mets; AJ Pierzynski Goes 5-for-5 in Loss to Tigers

Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 15, 2012

American League

The AL Central has turned into quite the dogfight, with all teams, except the underperforming Twins, within 4 1/2 games of Cleveland, which leads by two games over the Tigers.

While the Indians were shutting out the Twins, 5-0, on Tuesday, the Tigers and White Sox were doing their best to keep fans interested, banging out a combined 27 hits in a 10-8 Detroit triumph.

AJ Pierzynski

The Tigers rocked starter Jake Peavy for nine hits and six runs as they rebounded from a 6-0 deficit with an eight run sixth inning, hitting three homers in the frame, two off Peavy who retired only one batter in the inning before heading to the clubhouse.

While the Tigers won the game and evened the two game series, White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski was the hitting star of the game, going 5-for-5 with a double, four singles, three RBI and two runs.

At 35, Pierzynski has put together an solid career spanning 15 seasons, including a .285 batting average.

The White Sox head to LA for a two-game set with the Angels starting Wednesday, while the Tigers host the Twins, who have the worst record in the majors, at 10-26, for a pair of games.


National League

Zack Greinke

Milwaukee earned a split in their two-game series at Citi Field with an 8-0 romp over the Mets, as Zack Grienke tossed seven shutout innings and Travis Ishikawa delivered five RBI from the bottom of the lineup.

Travis Ishikawa

Greinke allowed five hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out seven as he improved to 4-1 on the season. while he was mowing down the Mets - at one point retiring eight in a row - Ishikawa was having a blast playing fisrt base and right field, going 3-for-4 out of the seven hole with a single and a pair of home runs - both of Mets' starter, Dylan Gee.

Not known for his power stroke, Ishikawa socked a pair of bombs to center field - a solo shot in the fifth and a three-run bomb in the sixth that essentially put the game away.

The win left the Brewers in fourth place in the Central, five ames back of the Cardinals, while the Mets remained in third place in the East, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves, winners of four of their last five.