Mariners Win 5th Straight On Marco Gonzales' Complete Game; Nats Bury Phils, 17-7, As Juan Soto Drives In 5

Players of the Day for Friday, June 29, 2018

American League

Gonzales: Complete game

Seattle's been on the move this week, winning five straight after Marco Gonzales pitched his first major league complete game, stopping the Royals on six hits in a 4-1 Mariners' win.

Gonzales threw 96 pitches, of which 71 went for strikes. The 26-year-old lefty fanned seven without issuing any walks, improving to 8-5 on the year. Having pitched just 2 2/3 innings in 2015 and missing all of 2016, St. Louis traded Gonzales to Seattle after just one start in 2017. He finished out the year with the Mariners, going 1-1 in 10 games (seven starts) with a 5.40 ERA.

This season has seen a complete turn-around, with the ERA down to 3.77 and 87 strikeouts in 100 1/3 innings with just 20 walks.

The victory was Seattle's fifth straight and sixth in their last seven. They're 18-9 in the month of June and now trail the first-place Astros by 2 1/2 games as Houston's 11-game road win streak was snapped by Tampa Bay in a 3-2 loss Friday. The Mariners have the fourth-best record in the American League (52-31). Their mark is better than any NL team.

Seattle hosts the Royals in game two of their three-game series, Saturday at 7:10 pm Pacific.

National League

Soto: 4-for-5, 2HR, 5RBI

Expected to run away with the NL East, the Washington Nationals have struggled through the first half, trailing both Atlanta and Philadelphia in the division, but they took out a lot of their frustration against the Phillies Friday night, hammering out a 17-7 win in which they belted seven home runs.

Two of those seven homers were belted by 19-year-old outfielder Juan Soto, who has been in the majors for just 35 games but has already made a big impact.

After Trey Turner socked a two-run shot in the first, Soto repeated the effort with his seventh homer of the season, knocking in Anthony Rendon, and the rout was underway. In the ninth, with the game already well in hand for the Nats, Soto launched a three-run shot sandwiched between solo shots by Brian Goodwin and Mark Reynolds.

Soto also singled twice, going 4-for-5, scoring three times. In just 116 at-bats, Soto has nine doubles, eight homers and has driven in 21 runs to go with a .336 batting average. He's already getting respect from pitchers, having drawn 23 walks.

On Thursday, the Nationals dropped a 4-3 decision in the opener of their four-game series in Philly. Game three is scheduled for Saturday at 6:05 pm EDT. The Nationals are close, just four games out of first, with Philadelphia trailing the Braves by three.