A.J. Pollock Leads Arizona over Pirates; Brandon Moss Helps A's to 7th Straight Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 10, 2013

American League

With their 11-5 win over the Angels, Oakland has won seven in a row, launching themselves to the top of the AL West standings with a one-game lead over Texas.

Brandon Moss

Spearheading the A's 16-hit assault was Brandon Moss, who tripled in a pair of runs in the third inning, stroked a solo homer in the fifth, walked and scored in the A's five-run sixth and singled home another run in the seventh to finish off Oakland's scoring.

Moss was 3-for-5 with four RBI, scoring twice. The capable first baseman is batting a cool .400, with 10 RBI and two home runs.

After starting the season with two losses to Seattle, the A's came back to win the final two games of that series, then swept the Astros three straight and have won the first two games of their series with the Angels, which culminates tonight at 7:05 PDT in LA. The A's are 5-0 on the road while the Angels are still searching for their first home win (0-2).

National League

A.J. Pollock

While Buster Posey and Barry Zito (2-0, 0.00 ERA) were busy busting one on the Rockies with a 10-0 win, their third straight, Arizona kept pace with a 10-2 win at home, leaving the Diamondbacks and Giants tied atop the NL West with identical 6-3 records.

Pace by rookie center fielder A.J. Pollock's best game as a pro, Arizona blew away the visiting Pirates with three runs in each of the first and second innings and four more in the fourth.

Pollock who was 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs, doubled and scored the first run for the Diamondbacks in the first on a wild pitch, socked a three-run homer in the second and led off the fourth with a solo shot.

Pollock played 17 games with Arizona in 2012, and has stuck as the regular center fielder.

Avoiding the sweep in Pittsburgh, the D'Backs get a day off Thursday before opening a three-game home set with the Dodgers on Friday.