Greg Dobbs, Mark Buehrle Snap Marlins Losing Streak; Cody Ross Homers Twice of Boston

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 24, 2012

American League

Good baseball continues to be played by the Boston Red Sox, winners of seven of their last eight with Sunday's 9-4 win over Atlanta.

Cody Ross

The Sox have managed to clamber out of last place - that position now occupied by Toronto - but gaining ground in the rugged AL East is no easy feat. Boston is still 5 1/2 behind the division-leading Yankees, with Baltimore and Tampa Bay sandwiched in between.

Cody Ross was the hero of their latest win, driving in five runs with a pair of homers in four at-bats for Boston. Ross delivered a three-run shot in the fourth inning, and, after Atlanta battled back to trail by just one run, Ross, in his next plate appearance, went deep again, socking a two-run homer over the Green Monster as the Red Sox put up three runs in the fifth.

Boston fans said farewell to Kevin Youkilis, a longtime staple at third base, as he was dealt to the White Sox. Apparently, Red Sox brass was willing to replace Youkilis with the younger Will Middlebrooks and his .326 batting average.


National League

Greg Dobbs

Mark Buehrle

Avoiding being swept at home by the Toronto Blue Jays, the Miami Marlins took a 9-0 win in the finale of their three game series but still have plenty of work to do to get back into the NL East race.

Sunday's victory snapped a six-game Marlin losing streak. Despite their win and Washington's 2-1 loss to Baltimore, Miami is still eight games off the pace in the division.

Greg Dobbs went 3-for-4 in the contest with a pair of singles and a two-run homer - his first of the season - scored twice and drove in two runs while Mark Buehrle Held the Blue Jays scoreless over seven innings, scattering seven hits and fanning seven, getting his record to 6-8 on the year.

With interleague play ended, the Marlins will host St. Louis beginning Monday, in a three-game series.

INTERLEAGUE SCOREBOARD: With interleague play wrapping up Sunday, the AL emerged the better of the rival leagues, winning 11 of 15 games, including a double-header sweep by Tampa Bay over the Phillies.

The final tally had the American League winning 140 games to the NL's 110.