Adam Dunn, Chris Sale Lead 10-1 White Sox Rout of Houston; Jerry Hairston Drives in Five for Dodgers

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 9, 2012

American League

Dunn: 19 HRs

Adam Dunn is launching moon shots again and the Chicago White Sox are winning, taking a 1 1/2 game lead over Cleveland in the Central division after their 10-1 blasting of the Astros Saturday in Chicago.

Dunn socked his 19th homer of the season - an eighth inning grand slam - and drove in five runs, going 2-for-4 with a sac fly to lead the White Sox to even their weekend interleague series with Houston at a game apiece.

Sale: 8-2, 2.05 ERA

Dunn trails runaway leader, Josh Hamilton, of the Texas Rangers, by three homers, and his 45 RBI are third-best in the league. Hamilton leads with 59, while Detroit's Miguel Cabrera has 51.

Starter Chris Sale limited the Astros to just four hits, blanking them over eight strong innings, to notch his fifth straight win and improve to 8-2 on the season. Jed Lowie homered in the ninth inning off reliever Zach Stewart for Houston's only run. Sale, who leads the AL with a 2.05 ERA, struck out seven without issuing a walk.

The Astros and Cubs square off in the rubber game of the series Sunday afternoon.


National League

Jerry Hairston homered and doubled twice to lead the LA Dodgers to an 8-3 win at Seattle, evening their series with the Mariners at a game apiece with the rubber to be played Sunday afternoon.

Jerry Hairston

Not generally regarded as a potent power hitter, Hairston wasted no time at all getting his bat working, belting a three-run homer to deep left in the top of the first, staking Clayton Kershaw to the early lead.

When he doubled in another run and scored on James Loney's single in the third, the Dodgers were up 5-0 and on their way to maintaining their four game lead over the Giants in the NL West division.

Hairston finished 3-for-4 with five RBI, capping his performance with an opposite field, run-producing double in the eighth inning.

Now playing the infield with regularity, Hairston is having one of the best years of his career at the plate, batting .366, a number that would be leading the NL if Hairston had enough qualified plate appearances. He has played in just 34 games, but, if his hot hitting continues, should remain a staple on the Dodger diamond.

INTERLEAGUE SCOREBOARD: The cross-league games ended in a 7-7 split for the second straight day on Saturday, leaving the AL with a 38-32 lead over their rivals from the senior circuit.