Kevin Correia Shuts Down Cubs; Adam Jones, Matt Wieters Power Orioles to 10-4 Win

Players of the Day for Monday, September 17, 2012

American League

Back in July, when the Yankees had opened a sizable lead on the rest of the division, conventional thinking was that the Baltimore Orioles had begun their annual ritual of fading into the the depths and out of contention.

That thinking was incorrect, as August saw a revival of the "birds" and September brought forth the call, "they're not going away."

On Monday, the Orioles got even with the front-running Yankees in the win column and a game worse in the loss column to trail by just 1/2 games, beating the Mariners in Seattle by a 10-4 score.

Matt Wieters

Adam Jones

Beyond the steady managerial hand of Buck Schowalter, the Orioles have been led throughout the season by two of their bright, young stars, 26-year-old Matt Wieters and Adam Jones, 27.

In their win over Seattle, Wieters continued his hot streak with a pair of singles and his 22nd homer - a two-run, fourth-inning blast - three RBI and a couple of runs in five at-bats. Jones went 3-for-4, with a double and two singles, a lone RBI and four runs.

In his last ten games, Wieters has hit safely in seven, with multi-hit games in five, socking four homers with 12 RBI. Over the same span, Jones has batted at a steady .293 clip (12-for-41) and scored ten runs.

The series continues Tuesday in Seattle, where an Oriole win could land them in sole possession of first place, should the Yankees lose their series opener at Toronto.

National League

Having hit a bit of a speed bump in September, the Pittsburgh Pirates remain in the hunt for the wild card after splitting their series in Chicago, 2-2, topping the Cubs in the finale, 3-0.

Correia: 7IP 2H 0ER

Kevin Correia twirled two-hit ball over seven innings for his 11th victory against nine losses, giving way to relievers Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan, who each worked an inning of hitless, scoreless relief, Hanrahan picking up his 36th save, one behind Atlanta's Criag Kimbrel, who leads the league.

Striking out the first four batters he faced, Correia fanned six total, walking only one. Darwin Barney was the only Chicago batter to hit safely, getting two singles off Correia, but erased by double plays both times he reached.

The win left the Pirates still very much alive in the wild card race, tied with Milwaukee, 2 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second wild card.

Pittsburgh, 4-11 in September, hosts a three game series with the Brewers beginning on Tuesday.