Alfonso Soriano Belts Two Homers, Leading Yankees over O's; Michael Cuddyer Ties for NL Batting Lead as Rockies Stun Giants

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 10, 2013

American League

Alfonso Soriano

The Yankees knotted their series with Baltimore at a game apiece when Alfonso Soriano cranked a couple of home runs, leading to a 7-5 victory Tuesday night.

After Chris Davis launched his 49th of the year to give Baltimore a 4-1 advantage, Soriano hit the first of his two homers, a solo shot, cutting the lead to two runs.

In the eighth, after Robinson Cano singled home Alex Rodriguez to tie the game at 4-4, Soriano mashed his second of the game, putting the Yankees ahead for good, with a 6-4 lead.

Acquired from the Cubs prior to the July 31 trading deadline, Soriano has been a firebrand for the Yankees, hitting 15 homers with 47 RBI in 43 games. Including his stats with the Cubs, he has 32 home runs and 98 RBI on the year.

The win moved New York closer in the chase for the second wild card position, as Tampa Bay lost, 2-0, to Boston. The Yankees are two games out, while Baltimore and Cleveland are tied, 1 1/2 back of the Rays. Boston, meantime, has surged to an 8 1/2 game lead in the division, their magic number to clinch the title at 10.

The Orioles host New York in game three of their four-game set Wednesday night at 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

Michael Cuddyer is having one heck of a season at the plate for the Colorado Rockies. Unfortunately, the rest of the team is not enjoying the same success, mired near the bottom of the NL West with a 67-79 record, 19 games behind the LA Dodgers, who are streaking toward the playoffs.

Michael Cuddyer

Cuddyer socked his 19th and 20th home run of the season and added a single in five at-bats, raising his batting average to .330 and tying Atlanta's Chris Johnson for the NL batting lead. He drove in four runs and scored twice as the Rockies bumped off the Giants, 9-8, rallying from a 6-0 deficit.

Cuddyer's first homer came in the fifth inning, after the Rockies had already plated two runs. His three-run shot put Colorado down by a run, at 6-5. The two teams traded leads, eventually ending up in an 8-8 ties when Hunter Pence drove in a pari of runs for the Giants in the eighth, but Cuddyer provided the game-winner in the top of the ninth, a 427-foot bomb to left with the bases empty.

The Rockies and Giants will settle their differences in the series finale Wednesday afternoon at 3:45 pm EDT at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

Magic Numbers: The Dodgers need a combination of six wins or six Arizona losses to clinch the NL West, while the Braves knocked their magic number to clinch the East division down to seven with a 4-3 win over Miami. The Braves lead Washington by 12 games.

Today's Trivia: Who won more home run titles, Barry Bonds or Mike Schmidt? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Barry Bonds had 601 doubles in his major league career, compared to 401 for Mike Schmidt.