Baltimore's Wellington Castillo Crushes Blue Jays; Jake Lamb, Arizona Tear Up Padres' Jered Weaver

Players of the Day for Friday, May 19, 2017

American League

Castillo Tears Up Toronto

In the off-season, Baltimore fans wondered how Wellington Castillo would fare as a replacement for longtime catcher Matt Wieters, who was released and ended up down the highway in Washington.

Castillo endeared himself to many a skeptic Friday night as he belted a pair of home runs, each of them critical in Baltimore's 10-inning, 5-3 victory over Toronto.

Acquired from Arizona after the 2016 season, Castillo socked a two-run home run in the sixth inning which tied the score at 3-3, then delivered the game-winner in the tenth, another two-run blast. Both times, Mark Trumbo was on base when Castillo drove the ball out of the park.

The homers were Castillo's second and third of the season. He's batting .356 with 13 RBI in 20 games.

Baltimore was in need of a win, as the Yankees were losing at Tampa Bay, 5-4, and the Orioles had lost six of their last seven heading into the three-game series with the visiting Blue Jays. At the end of the night, the Yanks held a 1/2 game lead on Baltimore. Toronto, beset by injuries, is eight back.

Toronto will try to even things up when they meet the O's at Camden Yards, Saturday at 7:35 pm ET

National League

Lamb: 2HR, 5RBI

There was a time, not long ago, that Jered Weaver was one of the best pitchers in the majors. From 2009 to 2014, Weaver compiled a record of 96-50, going 20-5 in 2012. A three-time all-star, it's safe to say that the 34-year-old's best days are behind him.

Evidence of his demise occurred Friday night as the Arizona Diamondback bombed him for five hits, two walks and seven runs in just 2/3rds of an inning en route to a 10-1 romp. His shortest outing of the season left Weaver at 0-5 with an ERA of 7.44.

Chief among the Arizona protagonists was Jake Lamb, who opened the scoring for the Diamondbacks with a three-run homer and finished Weaver's stint by walking, forcing in the seventh run of the inning. Lamb was far from finished, socking a solo homer in the sixth to complete Arizona's scoring, finishing with five RBI for the game and 11 home runs with 34 RBI (5th in NL) for the year.

Arizona's win opened a three-game series in San Diego and left them tied for second place in the NL West with the Dodgers, two games behind Colorado. The win was Arizona's fourth straight and they'll look for number five when they meet the Padres Saturday at 7:10 pm PT at Petco Park.