Jason Kipnis Powers Indians to Doubleheader Win over White Sox; Michael Young, Delmon Young Lead Phillies' 16-1 Rout of Dodgers

Players of the Day for Friday, June 28, 2013

American League

With a doubleheader on Friday, the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox played seven hours and 53 minutes of baseball, churned out 59 hits and 46 runs, and two wins by the visiting Indians, 19-10 and 9-8.

Jason Kipnis

Cleveland's Jason Kipnis had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three doubles, two RBI and four runs in the opener, then going 1-for-3 in the nightcap, driving in Cleveland's first run and the tying run in the ninth on a sac fly as the Indians scored four times, rallying to take both games.

In the opener, the Indians totaled 21 hits, each starter getting at least two, except for right fielder Mark Reynolds, who singled in four at-bats. Other than Asdrubel Cabrera, all nine starters had at least one RBI; all nine scored at least once.

With the pair of wins, the Indians picked up 1/2 game on Detroit and trail the Tigers by just two games in the Central division. The White Sox fell deeper into last place, 10 1/2 off the pace.

The two teams will resume hostilities on Saturday. Game time is 4:100 pm EDT.

NOTABLE: Detroit's Max Scherzer won his 12th straight decision to open the season, the first time any pitcher has done that in 27 years, as he gave up three runs on four hits over seven innings, fanning nine in Detroit's 6-3 win over Tampa Bay. Roger Clemens started 14-0 for the Red Sox in 1986. Miguel Cabrera went 4-for-4 with a pair of homers and three RBI.

Scherzer is 12-0 with a 3.10 ERA. In 110 1/3 innings, he's struck out 131 batters, second most in the AL, behind Texas' Yu Darvish.

National League

Delmon Young

Michael Young

After dropping the opener of their four-game series in LA, 6-4, the Phillies came back with a vengeance in the second game, hammering out 21 hits to bury the Dodgers, 16-1.

LA starter Chris Capuano (2-5) to the brunt of the beating, allowing seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits in just 3 2/2 innings. All of the Philly starters got at least one hit, including starting pitcher John Lannan, who was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Lannan (1-2) worked seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits for the win.

Michael Young, batting out of the leadoff spot, stroked four singles in six at-bats, driving in a pair of runs and scoring four times. Delmon Young was 3-for-6 with six RBI, driving in runs in the first, second, sixth and seventh innings.

The win kept the Phillies on pace in the NL East, as both Atlanta and Washington were victorious on Friday. The Braves lead the nationals by 5 1/2, and the Phillies by 7 1/2. Despite the loss, LA is just six games back in the NL West, though they are still in last place in the division.

Game three of the series starts at 7:10 pm PDT on Saturday.

Today's Trivia: What pitcher holds the AL record for most consecutive wins in a single season? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: No Cleveland player has won the AL MVP award since Al Rosen in 1953.