David Freese, Matt Holliday Lead Cards to Sweep of Astros; Rays Win 5-0 Over A's on Alex Cobb Shutout

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 23, 2012

American League

Tampa Bay just keeps on winning, getting their 14th victory in the last 17 games, courtesy of a four-hit shutout by Alex Cobb - the first shutout of his career - in a 5-0 blanking of the Oakland A's.

Cobb: 4-hit shutout

Cobb struck out eight, walked a pair and didn't allow any runners past second base, throwing 79 of 113 pitches for strikes while getting two double plays from his infield.

Cobb evened his record at 8-8 with his second career complete game, both of them coming this season.

The Rays scored all of their runs in the fifth inning and Cobb continued mowing down A's, as the Rays reached to within 2 1/2 games of the idle Yankees in the AL East, the closest they've been since June 16.

New York, which opens a thee game series at Cleveland Friday, has dropped three straight and five of their last seven.

The Rays opened home series with a win and hope to keep winning when they host the A's Friday and Saturday, followed by a rare Sunday day off.


National League

Matt Holliday

Heating up at the right time, the St. Louis Cardinals won their third straight, sweeping the Houston Astros with a 13-5 trouncing in the series finale Thursday.

David Freese

MVP of last season's World Series, David Freese drove in four runs with a three-run homer and a pair of singles in four at-bats. Matt Holliday also drove in four with a bases-loaded double in the fifth inning and an RBI single in the eighth.

Having taken over second place from the Pirates, St. Louis trails Central division leader, Cincinnati, by seven games, but is in line for the second wild card spot, trailing wild card leader Atlanta by 2 1/2 games.

The Cards begin a tough stretch on Friday, with three games at Cincinnati, three at Pittsburgh, and finally finish the 10-game road trip with four at Washington.