Chris Davis' Two Homers Powers Orioles over Yankees; Matt Adams, Adam Wainwright Lead Cardinals past A's, 7-1

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 29, 2013

American League

Chris Davis

In their 11-3 rout of the visiting New York Yankees, the Baltimore Orioles hammered out 15 hits, nine of them against start David Phelps, who gave up nine earned runs in 2 1/3 innings on the mound.

Chris Davis had but two of those hits, but they were both home runs: a three-run bomb in the first inning and a two-run jolt in the sixth. Those gave Davis 30 on the year, well ahead of his closest pursuer, which just happens to be last season's triple crown and MVP award winner, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, who has 24.

Davis also closed the gap in RBI, where Cabrera leads, 81-79. The two power-pushers are also 1-2 in batting, though Cabrera's lead is substantial, at .375, to Davis' .333.

The victory was Baltimore's second straight over the Yankees at Camden Yard and helped close the gap on first place Boston, the AL East leader by 2 1/2 games over the O's. New York fell to 5 1/2 back in third place.

The series concludes at 8:00 pm EDT on Sunday, the game nationally-televised by ESPN.

National League

Matt Adams

Rookie first baseman, Matt Adams, struck a pair of homers and drove in four runs in support of Adam Wainwright's five-hit complete game pitching as the Cardinals tamed the Oakland A's, 7-1.

Adams belted a three-run shot in the sixth inning, upping St. Louis' lead from 3-0 to 6-0, then added a solo job in the eighth for the Cardinals' last run. Adams also scored the first St. louis run of the game when he scooted home of David Descalso's sac fly in the fifth.

Wainwright: 11-5

Oakland didn't score off Wainwright (11-5) until the eighth inning. Rebounding from two straight losses, Wainwright walked two and struck out eight for his fourth complete game of the season, tops in the National League. Wainwright also lowered his ERA to 2.22, tied for fourth in the league with Arizona's Patrick Corbin.

The win kept St. Louis a game behind the Central division-leading Pirates, 2-1 winners over Milwaukee on Saturday.

The Cards and A's will settle their differences in the rubber game of the three-game series, Sunday at 1:05 pm PDT in Oakland.

Today's Trivia: The longest winning streak by a major league pitcher is 24, spanning two seasons. Who accomplished this amazing feat? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The record of 16 straight wins in a season by an AL pitcher is a four way tie between Smokey Joe Wood of Boston, and Walter Johnson of Washington AL, both in 1912, Lefty Grove of Philadelphia in 1931, and Schoolboy Rowe of the Tigers in 1934.