Travis Shaw Drives Red Sox to Third Straight Victory; Clayton Kershaw keeps Dodgers in Frist Place

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 1, 2015

American League

Shaw: 4-4, 2 HR, 5R

Even though the Red Sox are virtually out of the AL East and post-season races, there are still two months of baseball ahead, with plenty of possibilities.
Boston won their third straight, an 11-7 triumph over division-rival Tampa Bay on Saturday. A 16-hit onslaught was highlighted by third baseman Travis Shaw, a player to keep eyes upon as the season progresses.

Kershaw: 9-6, 2.37 ERA

Shaw, who's spent the majority of the season with AAA-affiliate Pawtucket, went 4-for-4 on the night, with a single, double and a pair of home runs, his first two as a major leaguer. Shaw drove in three runs and scored five times as the Red Sox took their second straight from the Rays at Fenway Park. He's batting a cool .368 in 10 games.

Boston is still 12 games behind the division-leading Yankees, but, they have 10 games remaining with the New Yorkers, including a three-game series beginning Tuesday in the Bronx.

Boston will be seeking the series sweep when they host the Rays at 1:35 pm EDT on Sunday.


National League

The Giants came within a hair's breadth of the first-place Dodgers this past week, but LA responded to the challenge with three straight wins, the most recent a 3-1 win, Saturday, over the visiting Angels.

Just short of brilliant, Clayton Kershaw was on the mound for the Dodgers, allowing two hits and no earned runs over a solid eight innings. Kershaw fanned seven and walked one. Kelley Jansen gave up a run in the ninth, but managed to hold the fort and pick up his 19th save.

Kershaw threw 115 pitches, improving to 9-6 on the year, while adding to his league-leading strikeout total. His 192 Ks is 20 better than Washington's Max Scherzer.

The Dodgers hold a 1 1/2 game lead over San Francisco in the NL West and can sweep the series from the Angels with a win on Sunday. Game time is 1:10 pm PDT.