Carlos Gonzalez Socks 20th Homer, Leads Rockies over Phils; Josh Reddick Powers A's past M's

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 16, 2013

American League

Teams in the American League better start taking the Oakland A's seriously.

Josh Reddick

Despite losing the first two games of their series against the Mariners, the A's came back to win Sunday's finale, 10-2, to remain in first place in the West, three games up on the Rangers, losers of six in a row.

Every batter in the A's starting lineup had at least one hit, totaling 17 over the course of the lopsided victory, and ageless Bartolo Colon gave them seven innings of work, allowing just two runs on eight hits, improving to 8-2.

At the top of his game was Jason Reddick, who went 4-for-5, slugging his third home run, tripling, singling twice, scoring two runs and driving in a pair. Reddick, despite his anemic .211 average, extended his personal hitting streak to four games, and he's hit safely in eight of his last ten. He's emblematic of the type of player the A's have all over the field: unassuming, non-superstars who put in their best effort game after game, day after day.

Over the past month, the A's have gone 22-7, rising to the top of the division as they prepare for a showdown with the second place Rangers. The four game series begins Monday night in Arlington at 8:05 pm EDT.

National League

Carlos Gonzalez

Colorado pulled to within 1/2 game of Arizona in the NL West, taking two of three from the visiting Phillies, with Sunday's 5-2 win.

Sending Philly starter, Cole Hamels, to his 10th loss in 12 decisions, the Rockies broke open a 1-0 game with two runs in the seventh inning and sealed the deal in the eighth as Carlos Gonzalez banged his league-leading 20th home run with a man aboard to make the score 5-0.

Gonzalez also singled and scored in the seventh, going 2-for-4 on the day with two runs and two RBI, tying him with Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips with 56 on the year, three behind league leader, Paul Goldschmidt.

Having a sound campaign, Gonzalez is batting a stout .316, putting him in contention for a run at a triple crown. A one-man wrecking crew of Philadelphia pitching, Gonzalez went 8-for-12 in the three-game series, scoring five runs, with two homers and four RBI.

The Rockies got eight scoreless innings from starter Jhoulys Chacin (5-3), who surrendered two runs in the ninth, getting to within one out of a complete game. Rex Brothers came on to get the final out and his third save.

The Rockies begin a nine game road trip starting Monday night in Toronto, where they open a three-game series with the Blue Jays, at 7:07 pm EDT. They then head to Washington for four games with the Nationals, followed by two in Boston.

Today's Trivia:: Who led the National League in hits in 2011? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Boston's Adrian Gonzalez and Michael Young each had 213 hits - tops in the majors - in 2011.