Brewers Complete Sweep of Dodgers as Jonathan Lucroy Drive in Five; Alex Gordon, Royals Rule AL Central

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 17, 2014

American League

Alex Gordon

Here's a shocker: The Kansas City Royals are leading the AL Central by 1 1/2 games.

That kind of phrase hasn't been seen in print since the days of George Brett, Willie Wilson, bushy sideburns and pine tar, but, today, that is reality, whether the second-place Tigers want to believe it or not.

On Sunday, the Royals won for the 15th time in their last 18 games, taking the third game of their four-game series in Minnesota by bludgeoning the Twins, 12-6, assuring at least a split.

The middle of their lineup - batters three through six - were a combined 9-for-18, hit three homers and scored eight of the Royals' 12 runs. Alex Gordon tripled and homered, knocking his 13th long ball of the season in the fifth inning with a man aboard and scored three runs in four at-bats. Gordon has hit safely in nine of his last ten games and has had two hits in five of those.

While the Royals were raking, the Tigers were aching, losing to Seattle, 8-1, dropping two of three over the weekend.

Game four of the Twins-Royals series is slated for an 8:10 pm EDT start.

National League

Lucroy: 5 RBI

Milwaukee polished off the Dodgers Sunday, 7-2, completing the three-game sweep of the NL West leaders while maintaining a three-game edge on the Cardinals in the Central division.

Leading the assault was Jonathan Lucroy, who did all his damage early, going 2-for-5 with a two-run homer in the opening frame and a bases-clearing double in the second, for a five-RBI game.

With the big, early lead, Brewer starter, Wily Peralta, cruised through six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and fanning five, tying Adam Wainwright and Johnny Cueto for the major league lead, with 15th victories.

The Brewers have won four straight and have been equally effective on the road as at home. Their home record is 34-28, while they are 36-27 away from home.

Alex Gordon's Grand Slam Buries Tigers; Gio Gonzalez, Danny Espinosa Bury Reds, 8-1

Players of the Day for Thursday, April 25, 2013

American League

Alex Gordon

Roughly 1/8th of the way into the season and the Kansas City Royals - the undisputed champion of the exhibition season - has managed to stay much more than merely relevant in the AL Central; with their 8-3, 10-inning win over the Tigers, they hold a 1 1/2 game lead over Detroit and Minnesota.

James Shields and Justin Verlander hooked into a pretty good pitchers' duel. With Verlander exiting after seven innings with an injured thumb and a 3-2 lead, the Royals tied it in the eighth and eventually won it in the top of the 10th.

After a bases-loaded walk to George Kottaras produced the go-ahead run, Alex Gordon left no doubt with a grand slam, 443-foot bomb to center which iced the game.

Gordon had earlier singled and was stranded, leaving him at 2-for-6 for the game, slightly reducing his .337 batting average. His homer was the second of the season for the leadoff left fielder. He has driven in 15 runs.

The result left matters in an unsettled tie for the brief, two-game series after the opening game Tuesday was rained out. The Tigers won, 7-5, on Wednesday.

National League

Danny Espinosa

Gio Gonzalez

Washinton crept a little closer to NL East leader, Atlanta, picking up 1/2 game on the idle Braves with an 8-1 win over the visiting Reds in the opener of a crucial four-game series.

The Nationals find themselves four games back in the division, tied for second place with the Mets.

Washington got all over Reds' starter, Brandon Arroyo, building a 6-0 lead before Joey Votto's solo home run in the fourth got Cincinnati on the board.

Votto's fourth homer was the only mistake Gio Gonzalez made, allowing just the one hit and two walks while fanning seven over eight sparkling innings on the mound, improving to 2-1.

Danny Espinosa provided the offensive spark for the Nats, doubling in the first run of the game and later in the second inning scoring to open a 2-0 lead. In the fourth, Desmond added to what was already a 4-0 lead with a two-run homer, his second of the season.

Bryce Harper socked his eighth of the season to start the third and Denard Span had three hits and drove in three runs.

Rookie Oscar Taveras Impressive for Cardinals; Alex Gordon's Grand Slam Leads 11-0 Kansas City

Players of the Day for Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Grapefruit League

St. Louis improved to .500 (5-5) in Grapefruit League play, bashing five home runs off Miami hurlers in a 7-2 romp.

ROb Johnson, Ronny Cedeno, Oscar Taveras, Matt Adams and Matt Holliday each belted long balls for the Cardinals. For the two Matts and Taveras, the dingers were their seconds of the season. Taveras also doubled and drove in two runs in three at-bats.

Taveras, a highly-ranked prospect who's been with the Cardinal organization since 2009, led the Texas League (AA) in home runs (23) and doubles (37) and was second, with 94 RBI, in 2012. The Cardinals are giving the 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic an extended look in right field.

Batting .333 with a pair of homers and eight RBI, Taveras is making a solid impression this Spring.

Gordon: GS, 4 RBI

Cactus League

Alex Gordon continued his hot spate of hitting with a 3-for-4 effort Wednesday, smashing a fifth-inning grand slam to go with a single and double in Kansas City's 8-1 rout of Arizona, their 11th straight win without a loss in the Cactus League.

Batting out of the leadoff spot, Gordon has been having a whale of a time at the plate, even though he insists he hasn't found his groove just yet, batting .524 (11-for-21) with a pair of homers, seven runs and five RBI.

The Royals banged out 15 hits and got three scoreless innings from starter James Shields, who won his first game in a Royals uniform.

KC's hot start has them 1 1/2 ahead of Seattle in the standings. The Mariners are 10-2 after losing a 7-6 squeaker to Milwaukee.

Alex Gordon Leads Royals to 9th Straight win; Conor Jackson, Matt Wieters Star for Orioles

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 3, 2013

Grapefruit League

Matt Wieters

Matt Wieters homered and doubled, driving in five runs and Conor Jackson launched a pair and drove in four as the Baltimore Orioles whacked the Phillies, 12-3, in exhibition action.

Conor Jackson

The O's got off fast, scoring four times in the bottom of the first and then added seven more in the fifth. Phillies' starter Kyle Kendrick lasted just two innings, surrendering two homers and four earned runs.

The win put the Orioles atop the Grapefruit League standings with a 7-2 mark. Philadelphia dropped to 4-5.

Jackson, a regular with Arizona from 2005 through 2009, was traded to Oakland in 2010, went to Boston in 2011 and is trying to catch on with the Orioles this Spring. He's a lifetime .271 hitter.

Wieters had his best year as a pro in 2012, hitting .249 with 23 homers and 83 RBI.

Cactus League

Alex Gordon

As often happens during the exhibition season, the Kansas City Royals look like world beaters, winning their ninth straight without a loss in the Cactus League with an 8-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Batting from the leadoff spot, Alex Gordon socked his first home run of the year - a solo shot - singled, stole a base and scored twice for the Royals. He's put up a .500 average thus far, with seven hits in 14 at-bats.

Gordon, who has played all of his major league ball with the Royals, had a solid season in 2012, batting .294 with 14 homers and 72 RBI. He is expected to be the starting left fielder for the Roaysl in 2013.

KC is being hotly pursued by the Seattle Mariners, who have posted a 9-1 record.

Royals Snap 12-Game Losing Streak as Billy Butler, Alex Gordon Star; Jonny Venters, Craig Kimbrel Hurl Braves Past Dodgers

Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 25, 2012

American League

Kansas City is still in last place in the AL Central, but at least they've stopped losing, for now.

Billy Butler

The Royals - which started the season 3-2 - snapped a 12-game losing streak with a convincing 8-2 win over Cleveland, avoiding being swept for a fourth straight series.

Kansas City's losing streak took no particular form. When they scored a lot of runs, the pitching didn't hold up, and when the pitching was solid, the hitters had an off day.

Alex Gordon

On Wednesday, the Royals put together timely hitting - getting eight runs from 11 hits - as Billy Butler led the charge with a pair of homers, his third and fourth of the season, socking a two run shot in the first inning to start the scoring and smacking a solo blast in the ninth to complete it.

Alex Gordon also played a key role, going 3-for-5 with a couple of singles and a three-run, ninth-inning home run that put the game on ice. Gordon had three RBI and scored twice.

The Royals finish their series in Cleveland on Thursday before heading to Minnesota for a three game weekend set.


National League

Atlanta scored three runs in the top of the ninth to upend the LA Dodgers for the second straight time, winning by a 4-2 score and taking the final two games of their three-game series.

Criag Kimbrel

Jonny Venters

The Braves didn't have much luck against Ted Lilly, the Dodger starter who went seven innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run, but the Atlanta bullpen did their job. Jonny Venters (2-0) got the win after striking out the side in the eighth and Craig Kimbrel picked up his seventh save - tying him for the NL lead with LA's Javy Guerra, who was victimized by the Braves, allowing five hits and three runs in just a third of an inning - his second blown save opportunity of the season.

After the Braves took the lead, Kimbrel struck out the first two batters in the ninth, then got Dee Gordon to ground to third for the game-ending out. Kimbrel has appeared in eight games, allowing only one earned run on six hits overall, striking out 14 in eight full innings. Venters has been even better in the set-up role, fanning 15 batters in 7 2/3 innings without surrendering a run.

The Braves have won seven of their last nine, but continue to chase the Nationals in the NL East. They remained 2 1/2 back, as Washington won their fourth straight, beating San Diego, 7-2.

Blanton Blanks Braves Over Six; Alex Gordon on Comeback Trail

Players of the Day for Friday, March 25, 2011

American League

Alex Gordon

Since becoming a major leaguer in 2007, much has been expected of Alex Gordon, but mostly, the Nebraska native has produced more disappointment than highlights.

That may be about to change as Gordon enters his fifth season with the Royals.

As KC was pummeling the Giants, 15-3, Gordon was at the heart of the attack, rapping out a single and two doubles in four at-bats, driving in four runs and crossing the plate three times.

His initial seasons - 2007 and 2008 - were reasonably good, but Gordon's progress was stalled by injuries, which left him playing only 123 games in all of 2009 and 2010. This Spring, however, he's healthy again, and stinging the ball with authority. Through 20 games, he's hitting .368 with 4 homers and 20 RBI. Now, about that beard...

National League

Joe Blanton

As part of a pitching staff that includes multiple Cy Young award winners, Joe Blanton is easily overlooked and dismissed as a viable fifth starter for the Phillies, but the six-year pro has been a steady inning-eater his entire career who always gives a solid effort.

In Friday's 3-1 win over the Braves, Blanton was above average, tossing six shutout innings en route to his second victory of the Spring.

The Braves touched him for just five hits and Blanton fanned four in what might be his final tune-up before the regular season.