R.A. Dickey Throws Second Straight One-Hitter; Aaron Hill Hits for Cycle; Lonnie Chisenhall Leads Indians in 10-9 Win

Players of the Day for Monday, June 18, 2012

American League

Like it or not, interleague play has its effects on both leagues, and, not insignificant is what has happened in the AL Central, where the race has tightened up over the past two weeks.

Chisenhall: 3-4 3RBI

For the Cleveland Indians, playing the National League has had mixed blessings. After taking two of three from the Cardinals, Cleveland was swept by the Reds and lost two of three to Pittsburgh before opening their three games series at home against those same Reds with a wide-open, 10-9 victory.

It was only Cleveland's second win in seven games, but, because the White Sox were hammered by the Cubs, 12-3, the Indians find themselves only 1/2 game out of first place in the division.

Batting out of the bottom spot in the order, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall provided just enough of a spark with a single, triple and home run in four at-bats for the Indians to prevail.

Called up from AAA less than a month ago, Chisenhall's two-run homer in the second inning put the Indians up 4-3. After tripling and scoring in the fourth inning, his RBI single in the sixth broke a seven-all tie. He finished 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI.


National League

R.A. Dickey and his tricky knuckleball are making history and Mets fans are loving it, as the crafty right-hander threw his second straight one-hitter in a 5-0 whitewash of the visiting Orioles.

Dickey: 1-Hitter

Dickey walked two, fanned a season high 13, and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, when Wilson Betemit delivered the only hit for the O's, a weak single to right field with two outs.

Dickey proceeded to get the final out of the inning and set down 13 of 14 to close out the game, walking Betemit in the eighth.

At 11-1, Dickey leads the majors in wins, his 2.00 ERA tied for the best with Atlanta's Brandon Beachy and his 103 strikeouts are equalled only by Detroit's Justin Verlander.

Hill: Cycle

Over the last 42 2/3 innings, Dickey has not allowed an earned run, and his back-to-back one-hitters make him the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat since Dave Steib did it for Toronto in 1988.

Ike Davis' grand slam in the sixth inning broke a scoreless tie and was more than enough cushion for Dickey's impressive outing.

In Arizona, the Diamondbacks won their series opener against Seattle, 7-1, as Aaron Hill hit for the cycle, scored three times and drove in a run.

Hill singled and scored in the first inning as the D'Backs posted three runs, tripled to lead off the third inning and scored again, doubled in the bottom of the fifth and capped his 4-for-4 effort with a solo homer in the seventh.

INTERLEAGUE SCOREBOARD: The American League continues to dominate their Naional League counterparts. On Saturday and Sunday, the AL won 10 and lost 4 for a combined 20-8 mark over the weekend. The NL won 5 to the AL's 3 on Monday, though it still left the American League with a seemingly-insurmountable lead, at 98-78. Interleague play continues through June 24.