Neil Walker Goes 5-for-5 in Pirate Win; Rajai Davis Helps Jays Down Yanks with 5 RBI

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 12, 2012

American League

Ravaged by injuries, the Toronto Blue Jays found themselves in last place as they welcomed the first place Yankees to the Rodgers Centre for a three game set this weekend, and, after losing their first two, had fallen further off the pace.

Enter Rajai Davis, hero of Toronto's 10-7 sweep-avoiding win the the series finale.

Davis: 5 RBI

Davis, batting from his usual leadoff spot in the order, tied a career-best five RBI in the Blue Jay win with a pair of doubles in five at-bats, leading to a one-sided win that the Toronto relief staff nearly gave away.

Davis doubled in a pair of runs and scored in Toronto's six-run fourth inning, which put the Jays up by a 7-1 score, then cleared the bases with another double an inning later, finishing the scoring by the Blue Jays.

The Yankees fought back, however, with a run in the fifth and three each in the sixth and seventh. Davis made a spectacular catch in the seventh inning, robbing Casey McGehee of a home run as he leapt to make a catch above the 10-foot-high wall in left center.

The Jays still remain in last place, 14 1/2 games out; the Yankees lead the AL East by five games over the Rays and 5 1/2 over Baltimore.


National League

Walker: 5-for-5

Continuing to dog Cincinnati in the NL Central and the Braves in the wild card, the Pittsburgh Pirates got back on track Sunday with an 11-5 win over San Diego, avoiding being swept at home by the lowly Padres, who had taken the first two games of the series.

Neil Walker had a banner day at the plate, going 5-for-5 with a homer, double and three singles. Walker scored twice and drove in a pair of runs as the Pirates erased a 5-0 Padre lead with a run in the third inning (courtesy of a Walker RBI single) and nine runs in the fourth.

Leading off the seventh, Walker sent a blast into the right field stands for his 14th home run of the year, completing the Pirates' scoring.

Pittsburgh picked up a game on Atlanta in the wild card and now trail by two games, but are in line for the #2 wild card spot, ensuring at least a one-game post-season playoff.

With the Reds winning, 3-0, in Chicago, they remain 4 1/2 behind the Reds in the division as they open a four game series with Los Angeles on Monday in Pittsburgh.