Aaron Hill's Two Homers Help D-Backs to 4th Straight; Michael Young Drives in Five to Power Rangers

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 19, 2012

American League

The way the Texas Rangers are going, they're a cinch to make the playoffs, as the AL West champion, or, even if they stumble a bit, as one of the two AL wild cards.

Texas maintained their five game lead over the A's in the division with an 11-2 romp over the Blue Jays, banging out 19 hits, nine of which went for extra bases.

Michael Young

One of the big advantages the Rangers hold over all opposition in the American League is their power-laden lineup. When you can put a former batting champion in the six hole, like Michael Young was on Sunday, you have no holes in your batting order. Young won the AL batting crown in 2005 with a .331 average.

Young delivered five RBI for the Rangers, going 3-for-5 with a single, double and a three-run homer in the five-run fifth inning, which put Texas up 8-1, and, with Matt Harrison tossing bullets from the mound (8 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), the Rangers cruised to the win, taking two of three from the Jays.

The Rangers return to Arlington Monday for a 10-game home stand, with four games against the lowly Twins sandwiched in between a pair of three-game series with the top two wild card teams from the AL East, Baltimore and the red hot Tampa Bay Rays, who just did the Rangers a big favor over the weekend, taking four straight from the Angels and dropping them nine games behind Texas in the division.


National League

With the Dodgers taking first place in the NL West with a 5-0 win over the Braves, the Arizona Diamondbacks crept a little it closer in their quest to reach the top spot in the division.

Aaron Hill

Arizona won its fourth straight, with an 8-1 rout of the Astros, sweeping the three-game series at Houston by a combined score of 23-6. Houston has the worst record in the majors, a distressing 39-83 mark (.320).

Aaron Hill banged a pair of solo homers for the Diamondbacks, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and three runs. Hills homers were his 16th and 17th of the season, and raised his batting average to a robust .298, which, if he maintains it, would be the best in his eight year pro career.

With the win and the Giants' 7-1 loss to the Padres - which dropped them 1/2 game behind the Dodgers - the Diamondbacks are 4 1/2 off the pace in the division and have a trio of three games series at home against Miami, Chicago and Cincinnati before heading to LA for a four-game showdown with the Dodgers, August 30 through September 2, followed by a three-game set at San Francisco, so the NL West could begin to sort itself out right after Labor Day.

R.A. Dickey Throws Second Straight One-Hitter; Aaron Hill Hits for Cycle; Lonnie Chisenhall Leads Indians in 10-9 Win

Players of the Day for Monday, June 18, 2012

American League

Like it or not, interleague play has its effects on both leagues, and, not insignificant is what has happened in the AL Central, where the race has tightened up over the past two weeks.

Chisenhall: 3-4 3RBI

For the Cleveland Indians, playing the National League has had mixed blessings. After taking two of three from the Cardinals, Cleveland was swept by the Reds and lost two of three to Pittsburgh before opening their three games series at home against those same Reds with a wide-open, 10-9 victory.

It was only Cleveland's second win in seven games, but, because the White Sox were hammered by the Cubs, 12-3, the Indians find themselves only 1/2 game out of first place in the division.

Batting out of the bottom spot in the order, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall provided just enough of a spark with a single, triple and home run in four at-bats for the Indians to prevail.

Called up from AAA less than a month ago, Chisenhall's two-run homer in the second inning put the Indians up 4-3. After tripling and scoring in the fourth inning, his RBI single in the sixth broke a seven-all tie. He finished 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI.


National League

R.A. Dickey and his tricky knuckleball are making history and Mets fans are loving it, as the crafty right-hander threw his second straight one-hitter in a 5-0 whitewash of the visiting Orioles.

Dickey: 1-Hitter

Dickey walked two, fanned a season high 13, and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, when Wilson Betemit delivered the only hit for the O's, a weak single to right field with two outs.

Dickey proceeded to get the final out of the inning and set down 13 of 14 to close out the game, walking Betemit in the eighth.

At 11-1, Dickey leads the majors in wins, his 2.00 ERA tied for the best with Atlanta's Brandon Beachy and his 103 strikeouts are equalled only by Detroit's Justin Verlander.

Hill: Cycle

Over the last 42 2/3 innings, Dickey has not allowed an earned run, and his back-to-back one-hitters make him the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat since Dave Steib did it for Toronto in 1988.

Ike Davis' grand slam in the sixth inning broke a scoreless tie and was more than enough cushion for Dickey's impressive outing.

In Arizona, the Diamondbacks won their series opener against Seattle, 7-1, as Aaron Hill hit for the cycle, scored three times and drove in a run.

Hill singled and scored in the first inning as the D'Backs posted three runs, tripled to lead off the third inning and scored again, doubled in the bottom of the fifth and capped his 4-for-4 effort with a solo homer in the seventh.

INTERLEAGUE SCOREBOARD: The American League continues to dominate their Naional League counterparts. On Saturday and Sunday, the AL won 10 and lost 4 for a combined 20-8 mark over the weekend. The NL won 5 to the AL's 3 on Monday, though it still left the American League with a seemingly-insurmountable lead, at 98-78. Interleague play continues through June 24.

Granderson Gone Wild; Jennings, Price Power Relentless Rays; Diamondbacks Win 6th Straight

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 28, 2011

American League

Curtis Granderson

How special a season is Curtis Granderson having?

Pretty special, it appears, as Granderson homered twice in the nightcap of the Yankees' double-header at Baltimore, socking a three-run homer in the 3rd inning to erase an early 2-0 Baltimore lead, then smashing an opposite field shot in the 7th inning to complete the scoring in New York's 8-3 victory at Camden Yards.

Price: 14 Ks

The first homer tied him with Toronto's Jose Bautista for the AL and major league lead in home runs, the second gave the 185-pound center fielder the outright lead in that category. His four RBI put him ahead of all others with 107. He also leads the majors in runs with 121 and has stolen 24 bases this season.

Granderson's HR and RBI totals are already career bests for the 7-year pro. He's one shy of matching his 2007 total for runs and he'll match his personal best for swipes with two more stolen bases.

With the Yankees splitting with the O's and Boston idle, David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays were keeping pace, 8 1/2 games back, but just 6 1/2 behind the Yankees for the wild card spot.

Desmond Jennings

Price (12-11) set a personal high mark with 14 Ks, shutting out the Blue Jays over seven innings on three hits and two walks as the Rays hammered Toronto, 12-0. Rookie outfielder Desmond Jennings provided early offense, homering to lead off the game and smacking another seat-finder in the 3rd to put the Rays up 5-0.

Jennings also walked and stole second in the 4th and singled home a run and scored in the 9th as the Rays piled on six more runs.

Kennedy: 17-4

National League

Arizona's Ian Kennedy topped all National League pitchers with his 17th win as the Diamondbacks won their 6th straight, defeating the Padres, 6-1.

Kennedy allowed just one run on seven hits over seven stellar innings. He fanned seven and did not issue any walks.

Aaron Hill

While Kennedy was mowing down the opposition, recently acquired second baseman Aaron Hill singled, tripled and homered, driving in three run in five at-bats.

Collin Cowgill

Rookie Collin Cowgill hit his first double and home run, going 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI and two runs.

The Arizona win pushed them to a four-game lead over San Francisco in the NL West. The Giants dropped a 4-3 decision to Houston in 11 innings.

Arizona is one of just three NL teams to have winning records at home, on the road and against all three divisions. The other two both hail from the East: Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Nady, Johnson Winfree Torch Cubs; Aaron Hill Rounds Out Blue Jay Lineup

Players of the Day for Tuesday, March 29, 2011

American League

Aaron Hill

With the regular season just a few days from opening, the Toronto Blue Jays appear to have their starting lineup in good shape now that Aaron Hill has returned to action.

Sidelined for most of the exhibition season with tightness in his right quad, Hill returned to duty about a week ago and has been tearing up opposing pitchers.

In Tuesday's 7-4 win over Baltimore, the spunky second baseman went 3-for-4 with two singles and a double, scored twice and drove in three runs. That pushed Hill's average up to .524 (11-for-21) in seven Spring games.

One of Toronto's rising stars, Hill hit 36 homers and drove in 108 runs in 2009, before backtracking in 2010 with a .205 batting average with 26 homers and 68 RBI.

National League

Kelly Johnson

Xavier Nady

Not generally considered a team with a wealth of hitters, the Arizona Diamondbacks woke u their bats with a barrage of 19 hits in a 15-8 win over the Cubs.

Xavier Nady was 4-for-5 with three singles and a grand slam home run, scoring three times and driving in four runs against the team he played for last year.

Teammate David Winfree went 3-for-6 with two homrs and four RBI and Kelly Johnson added a 3-run shot in addition to his double and two singles in four at-bats.

The Diamondbacks finished last in the NL West in 2010 and are hoping that some of their power strokes translate into wins in 2011.