Chris Dickerson, Adam Jones Power O's to Comeback Win over Tigers; Jonathan Lucroy Helps Snap Brewers' Skid with 5-for-5 Effort

Players of the Day for Friday, May 31, 2013

American League

Adam Jones

As the Yankees snapped out of a five-game losing streak - their longest of the season - with a 4-1 win over the first place Red Sox, right behind them, the AL East was getting even tighter.

Chris Dickerson

New York's victory in the first of a three-game, weekend series at Yankee Stadium, moved them to within one game of the Sox, but Tampa Bay and Baltimore also won - the Rays, 9-2 over Cleveland, Baltimore a 7-5 victor over Detroit, moving the Orioles to 1 1/2 back with the Rays another 1/2 game behind them.

While the Rays sixth straight win was assured early on, Baltimore's had all the appearances of a defeat before the O's rallied for four runs in the ninth, overcoming a 5-3 Detroit lead, as they wrecked closer Jose Valverde with four hits in 2/3rds of an inning, two of them homers, one of them a walk-off, three-run shot by DH Chris Dickerson.

The finishing blast was Dickerson's only hit of the night, in four at-bats, after Nick Markakis led off the inning with a solo homer - his seventh - and Adam Jones and Chris Davis each singled. Jones was instrumental in keeping the Orioles in the game, socking his 11th of the season in the third inning with a man aboard, after getting the Orioles on the board in the second, singling and scoring on Matt Weiters' sac fly. Jones finished 3-for-4 with three runs and a apir of RBI, giving him 37 on the year.

Boston meets New York in the second game of their series, Saturday at 7:15 pm, but before that, the Rays play at Cleveland at 1:05 pm and the O's host the Tigers with a 4:05 pm start, all games EDT.

If the Yankees, Orioles and Rays all win, there would be four teams within a game of each other in the division.

National League

Jonathan Lucroy drove in four runs with a pair of homers, a double and two singles in a perfect, 5-for-5 night, helping the Milwaukee Brewers end a six-game losing streak that sent them to the basement of the NL Central division.

Lucroy: 5-5, 2HR, 4RBI

Opening a three-game series in Philadelphia with an 8-5 victory, the Brewers remain in last place, as the Cubs remained three games better with their fifth straight win, topping the Diamondbacks by a 7-2 score.

Lucroy entered the game in a .229 season-long funk, but emerged with a .253 average after hitting safely in his sixth straight game, the swing evidently coming around, as the Milwaukee catcher has batted a rocking .424 (14-for-33) over his last nine games.

Philly hosts the Brewers in game two of the series, Saturday at 4:05 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: Who holds the dubious distinction of holding the career mark for losses by a pitcher? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Then with the Boston Red Sox, Roger Clemens tossed eight shutouts in 1988.