Cleveland Wins 5th Straight on Yan Gomes' Walk-Off Homer; Patrick Corbin Goes Distance for 1st Place Diamondbacks

Players of the Day for Monday, May 20, 2013

American League

Yan Gomes

Having surged to the lead in the AL Central by winning 12 of their last 15 games and their last five straight, the Cleveland Indians completed a four-game sweep of Seattle with a thrilling, 10-8 victory in 10 innings, capped by Yan Gomes' walk-off, three-run homer in the bottom of the final frame.

A rookie catcher who played 43 games with Toronto in 2012, Gomes elevated his game with two homers (his third and fourth), the first of which was a solo shot in the second inning when the Indians plated four to take an early lead. He also singled, going 3-for-5 on the night.

The Mariners trailed most of the way, but tied the game in the eighth and took a brief lead in the ninth on Endy Chavez's solo homer before Cleveland scored a single run to send it to extra innings.

Seattle re-took the advantage when Justin Smoak belted a 422-foot solo shot with two down in the top of the tenth to lead 8-7.

Batting out of the nine-hole, Gomes appeared at the plate with two aboard and nobody out in the 10th, taking an offering from Seattle reliever, Charlie Furbush, over the wall in left field.

Seattle remained nine game behind the Rangers in the West, while the Indians increased their lead to 2 1/2 games over idle Detroit.

National League

Patrick Corbin

Despite the fact that the season is only 1/4 of the way through, the battle in the NL West has intensified, with three teams within 2 1/2 games of each other and San Diego lurking just 4 1/2 out.

While the Giants were trashing Washington, 8-0, Arizona opened a big, three-game series at Colorado with a 5-1 win in which the Diamondbacks banged out 16 hits, each of the position players getting at least one hit.

The fact that his teammates left 10 runners in scoring position didn't seem to bother starting pitcher Patrick Corbin, who cruised to his seventh win without a loss with his first major league complete game, allowing just three hits, fanning 10 while walking one.

The lone run came in the eighth, after the Diamondbacks had already put up their five runs.

Corbin tied Washington's Jordan Zimmermann for the NL lead in wins, is second in ERA, at 1.44, and upped his strikeout total to 51 with a career-high in the game.

Arizona's win left them a game to the good on the Giants and 2 1/2 ahead of the Rockies. Game two of the series is Tuesday at 8:40 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: Miguel Cabrera's .389 batting average was the highest in the majors since 1994, when the major leagues were led with a .394 average. Who accomplished this hitting marvel?

Yesterday's Answer: The two teammates who had 200 or more hits in 2009 were Derek Jeter (212) and Robinson Cano (204) of the NY Yankees.