Jesus Aguilar Knocks In 7, Brewers Bomb Yankees; George Springer Leads Astros In 11-2 Romp Over Jays

Players of the Day for Friday, July 7, 2017

American League

What the Houston Astros are doing to the West division and the rest of the American League is almost embarrassing.

After dropping the opener of a four game series in Toronto, 7-4, on Thursday, the Astros came roaring back on Friday night with an offensive outburst, plating eight runs in the first two innings en route to an 11-2 smackdown of the Blue Jays.

As has been the case all too often this season, leadoff hitter George Springer was at the center of the action, going 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, five RBI and four runs.

Springer: 4-4, 2HR, 5RBI

Springer, who is averaging .307, led off the game with a single and scored on a Carlos Correa's home run to open what turned into a rout.

In the second, Springer launched a three-run blast - his 26th - as the Astros scored six runs in the inning. He doubled and scored on a single by Josh Reddick in the third, drove in another run with a sac fly in the fifth and capped off his perfect night at the plate with a his 27th home run, a solo shot to right center in the seventh.

The win left the Astros with an absurd 16 1/2 game lead over the Angels and Rangers in the West. Toronto remained tied with Baltimore for last place in the AL East, 9 1/2 games behind Boston.

On Saturday, the Blue Jays and Astros play game three, at 1:07 pm ET at the Rogers Centre.

National League

Extending their winning streak to five straight, the Milwaukee Brewers rolled into New York for a three=game series against the Yankees with their bats booming, taking game one with a 9-4 knockout.

Aguilar: 2 HR, 7 RBI

While the Yankees are being called the "Baby Bombers" the Milwaukee squad is also one of the youngest teams in the league, surprisingly leading the NL Central by 4 1/2 games over the Cubs.

One of those young stars is 27-year-old Jesus Aguilar, who broke out for a career high seven RBI, swatting a pair of home runs, adding a single to go 3-for-4.

Technically a rookie, Aguilar spent small parts of the last three seasons with the Indians, spending the bulk of this time with Colorado in the AAA International League. After getting just six plate appearances in 2016, the Indians dealt him to the Brewers, who brought him right up to the bigs at the start of the season, though he's platooned at first base with veteran Eric Thames, getting primary playing time against left-handers.

In the fourth inning, Aguilar put the Brewers up 2-1 with his first homer of the game, a two-run belt off Yankee starter, Jordan Montgomery. The Yankees made it 4-2 on Aaron Judge's 30th homer of the year in the fifth, but the Brewers tied it in the sixth when Ryan Braun scored on a wild pitch by Tyler Clippard and Aguilar brought home Travis Shaw with a sac fly.

In the seventh, Aguilar went to the plate against Clippard again, this time reaching the seats for a grand slam, his ninth home hun of the year, essentially ending the contest.

The Milwaukee bullpen held the Yankees scoreless the remainder of the game. Overall, New York totaled only four hits, although two of them were home runs, accounting for three of the four runs they scored.

The loss was the third straight for the Yanks, who have been absolutely horrible over the past three weeks, losing 17 of 23 since June 13. They trail the Red Sox by 4 1/2 in the AL East.

Milwaukee is headed in the opposite direction, winning eight of their last nine. Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 1:05 pm ET, Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.