Boston Downs LA on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's Two Homers; Dexter Fowler Polishes off Padres for Rockies

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 9, 2013

American League

Jerrod Saltalamacchia

With a splendid balance of pitching and hitting, the Boston Red Sox keep winning, over the weekend taking another series from the Angels, two games to one, with Sunday's rubber game going Boston strong, 10-5.

At 39-25, the Red Sox have the league's best record and are 1 1/2 clear of the Yankees in the AL East. Baltimore is 3 1/2 back; Tampa Bay, four out.

Sunday's romp at Fenway was a mini home run derby, as LA socked two, but the Red Sox put four out of the park, two of them off the bat of catcher Jerrod Saltalamacchia, who was on the front end of back-to-back solo jacks by him and Mike Carp in the sixth inning, followed by a three-run rip that capped Boston's scoring in the seventh.

Saltalamacchia's homers were his seventh and eighth of the year. David Ortiz got things going with a three-run donk in the third inning, his 12th.

The Angels continue to languish in the West, 10 1/2 behind the Rangers. Boston heads to Tampa Monday, for a series with the Rays, starting at 7:00 pm EDT.

National League

Dexter Fowler

After missing the opener of the Rockies' four-game series with the Padres, Dexter Fowler made his presence felt from the leadoff spot with three superior efforts, going 9-for-16 (.563) with six runs as Colorado earned a split and cut into Arizona's lead in the NL West.

Fowler finished off the Padres with a 4-for-6 performance Sunday, slapping three singles and a double, scoring three runs and driving in the game-winner in the top of the tenth in Colorado's 8-7 triumph.

Down, 7-4, in the ninth, Fowler scored the tying run after singling - sending Tyler Colvin to third - and swiping second base, on a double by Carlos Gonzalez, then slashed the game-winner with two down in the tenth and runners on first and third, singling to center.

The three games against the Padres boosted Folwer's batting average 20 points, to .304.

With the Giants knocking off the Diamondbacks, 6-2, San Francisco and Colorado each picked up a game, ending the weekend 1 1/2 behind the Daimondbacks in the West.

Today's Trivia: The modern era (1900-present) record for stolen bases in a season is 118. Who accomplished that fleet-footed feat?

Yesterday's Answer: Albert Pujols led the majors in runs three straight years (2003-2005) and then led again two straight, 2009 and 2010.