Will Middlebrooks, Carlos Santana Star in 13-0 Romps by Boston, Cleveland; Matt Carpenter Leads Cardinals over Giants

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 7, 2013

American League

Carlos Santana

Will Middlebrooks

If you're in a 13-run club pool, you got a double dose on Sunday, as the Indians dumped Tampa Bay and Boston wrecked Toronto by identical 13-0 scores.

Each game produced a no-doubt-about-it player of the day, splitting the AL variety of the award.

At Tropicana Field in Tampa, as the Indians banged out 17 hits, Carlos Santana went 5-for-5 with two doubles and two singles, capping off his night with a ninth-inning, two-run homer off Rays' reliever, Fernondo Rodney. Santana drove in three runs and scored three times.

In Toronto, the Red Sox took over sole possession of first place in the AL East with their 13-0 rout, spearheaded by third baseman Will Middlebrooks' 4-for-4 performance, which included three home runs and a double, resulting in four RBI and four runs scored.

National League

Playing the rubber game of their three-game series in San Francisco, the St. Louis Cardinals made an early season statement to the defending world champs with a resounding, 14-3, victory.

Matt Carpenter

After the Giants nicked starter Adam Wainwright for two runs in the bottom of the third, St. Louis bats exploded for nine runs in the top of the fourth, chasing Giants' starter, Matt Cain after just 3 2/3 innings.

Matt Carpenter got to the plate twice in the inning, singling with a man aboard and later scoring, just moments before he went plate-ward again, delivering a two-out, bases-loaded singled which plated two more runs and sent Cain to the showers.

In the seventh, Carpenter doubled with two outs, driving in Jon Jay, later scoring on Adam Craig's single, finishing up a 3-for-5 effort with three runs and three RBI.

St. Louis took the final two games of the series after losing the opener, leaving both teams with 3-3 records. Carpenter ended the day with a .320 batting average.