Scooter Gennet Stays Hot, Leads Reds Past Miami; Mookie Betts Powers Red Sox To AL East Crown

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 20, 2018

American League

Betts: 4-for-5, HR, 5 RBI

Clinching the AL East at the home of their long-standing rival, the Boston Red Sox took charge late in the concluding game of their series in New York, topping the Yankees, 11-6.

Mookie Betts was at his very best after the Red Sox dropped the first two games of the series. Betts, who leads the AL in batting with a .339 average. Teammate J.D. Martinez is second at .331. The two are the leading candidates for AL MVP.

The Red Sox leadoff hitter singled, doubled twice and concluded a 4-for-5 effort by rapping his 30th home run with two aboard off Yankee reliever Aroldis Chapman in the seventh inning. Betts scored three times and drove in five runs.

With the best record in the majors (104-49), the Red Sox are assured of home field advantage throughout their playoff run. The 104 wins ties the franchise record, but Boston still has nine games left to play. It's the third straight division title for Boston, which has held onto first place in the division since July 2.

For the Yankees, the loss hurt. They're clinging to a 1 1/2-game lead over the Oakland A's in the wild card after the A's banged out 22 hits in a 21-3 win over the Angles (no, that's not a football score).

In a potential league championship preview, Boston heads to Cleveland Friday for a three-game series. The Yankees host Baltimore and Oakland welcomes in the Twins. Houston, with a 3 1/2 game lead over the A's in the West, is home for a three-game series with the Angels.

National League

Gennett: 2-for-3, HR, 4RBI

There was limited action in the National League on Thursday, the only impactful game being Atlanta's 8-3 victory at Philadelphia and the Mets' 5-4, 12-inning triumph over Washington.

Those results left the Braves with a seemingly unassailable 6 1/2-game lead in the NL East over the Phillies, with the Nationals nearly eliminated, eight games out with just nine to play. The magic number for the Braves to clinch the division is four. Theirs is the largest lead in the National League.

In Miami, Scooter Gennett did his part to keep heat on Milwaukee's Christian Yelich as the two vie for the batting title. Gennett drove in all four runs in the Reds' 4-2 victory with a double and home run in three at-bats.

The Cincy second baseman drove in a pair of runs in the second with his double to left field and knocked in two more in the seventh inning with his 23rd home run. Like Yelich, Gennett is much more than a high-average singles hitter. His 92 RBI is among the league's leaders. He's tied at #10 with Atlanta's Freddie Freeman and Philadelphia's Rhys Hoskins. Yelich has 93.

Gennett trails Yelich by the barest of margins. He's at .318, Yelich has a .319 average.

All 15 NL teams will be in action Friday through Sunday with pennant races in each division and wild cards still up for grabs.