Brett Lawrie Launches Pair of Homers to Keep A's in First Place; Pirates All Over Phillies in 18-4 Rout, Pedro Alvarez Slams

Players of the Day for Monday, March 30, 2015

Grapefruit League

Pedro Alvarez

In their eventual 18-4 win over the Phillies, the Pirates put on a slugging display, banging out six home runs, but, prior to the bottom of the fifth, the slugging nearly came to the style done with fists instead of bats.

Down 6-0 at the time, tensions were rising in the Philadelphia dugout, and both benches cleared before order was restored. No punches were thrown, but Phillies first base coach Juan Samuel and Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield were ejected.

Matters just got worse for the Phillies, as the Pirates exploded for 12 more runs. Pedro Alvarez smacked a pair of home runs - one of them a grand slam - and drove in six runs.

In 13 exhibition games, Alvarez is batting .325 with four homers and 15 RBI.

The Pirates improved to 14-10 with the win, drawing to within one game of the Grapefruit League-leading Mets. Pittsburgh is tied for second place with the Blue Jays.

Cactus League

Brett Lawrie

Just in case nobody noticed, it's beginning to look like some teams are actually serious about winning the race in the Cactus League.

The top three teams - the A's, Dodgers and Royals - were all in action on Monday, each producing a win to keep the competitive juices flowing.

The Dodgers topped the Diamondbacks, 4-2; Kansas City roughed up the Rangers, 11-7, with Mike Moustakas hitting a grand slam, and the first-place A's pummeled the Rockies, 11-2, helped along by two homers from Brett Lawrie.

Lawrie delivered a solo shot in the fifth inning, followed by a three-run blast in the sixth.

Penciled in to be the A's starting third baseman this season, Lawrie was picked up from Toronto, where he had played all of his major league career, beginning in 2011.

The Athletics have a one-game edge over the Dodgers and lead the Royals by 1 1/2.

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Brett Lawrie, Adam Jones Star as Jays Down O's; Homer Bailey Shuts Down Pirates as Reds Cruise

Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 29, 2012

American League

As May slowly turns to June and a long hot summer of baseball commences, it's getting a bit streaky in the American League.

Brett Lawrie

In the West division, the Angels took a 5-1 win over the Yankees to extend the longest current winning streak in the majors to eight games. The Angels now trail Texas by 5 1/2 and are 3 1/2 clear of third place Oakland, losers of seven in a row.

Winners of seven straight, the White Sox have assumed command by 1/2 game over Cleveland in the Central division. In the East, first place Baltimore has lost four straight and are tied with Tampa Bay, though the Rays haven't taken advantage of the Orioles' losses, as they've lost two in a row, but are tied for the top spot. The Yankees have also lost two consecutive games - to the Angels - but, Toronto and Boston have each won their last two, making the Al East baseball's most competitive division, with all teams over .500 and within 3 1/2 games of each other.

Adam Jones

The latest of those two straight Toronto wins came last night, as the Blue Jays held on for an 8-6 win over Baltimore and will look for the sweep Wednesday at the Rogers Centre. Brett Lawrie, recently returned from a suspension, got his bat working with a 3-for-4 effort (two singles and a double). Lawrie, who played in 46 games for the Blue jays last season, so is still technically a rookie, drove in three runs and scored three times, personally accounting for six of Toronto's eight runs.

Toronto scored all of its runs by the fifth inning and had an 8-1 lead, but the O's battled back gamely, getting three in the sixth and two more in the ninth, on Adam Jones' 2-run shot in the ninth, his 16th homer of the year. Jones had a solo homer in the first, but his teammates didn't provide enough extra offense, falling short as Jones went 3-for-3, drove in three and scored three times.


National League

Homer Bailey

Having won nine of their last 11, including Tuesday's 8-1 rout of Pittsburgh, the Reds have taken command in the Central division of the NL, 1 1/2 games up on St. Louis.

The Reds' recent surge has been fueled mostly by exceptional pitching. Reds' hurlers have allowed opponents three or fewer runs in seven of their last nine wins, including a four-game sweep of the Braves in which Atlanta scored just eight runs.

Homer Bailey has picked up three wins during the current hot streak, and was on the bump Tuesday, throwing a complete game - the second of his career - at the Pirates, allowing just four hits and one earned run. Bailey needed only 103 pitches to keep Pittsburgh batters in check, as he fanned five and issued only one walk.

After a rough start to the season, Bailey's three straight wins have him above water, at 4-3. During his personal win streak, Bailey has allowed just six earned runs, over a span of 21 1/3 innings.

Cincinnati will be looking to complete the sweep when they conclude their series in Pittsburgh Wednesday night.

Jemile Weeks Leads A's to 9-2 Win; Brett Lawrie Drives in Four for Blue Jays

Players of the Day for Saturday, March 3, 2012


Grapefruit League

Brett Lawrie

Brett Lawrie socked a pair of two run doubles for the Toronto Blue Jays in a 7-1 Spring training opening day win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lawrie, who is vying for the 3rd base position with Edwin Encarnacion, drove in four runs - two in the second and two more in the sixth - and stole a base, his first of the Spring.

In 2011, Lawrie played in 46 games for the Jays, batting .293 in 150 at-bats, with nine homers, 25 RBI and seven steals.

Cactus League

Jemile Weeks

After batting .303 and stealing 22 bases in 97 games as a rookie with the Oakland A's last year, Jemile Weeks may be looking forward to a breakout season as the A's regular second baseman and leadoff hitter.

Weeks singled, homered, stole a base, scored twice and drove in two runs as the A's dropped the Mariners, 9-2, in their second Spring game.

Oakland banged out 16 hits against six Mariner hurlers after Hector Noesi pitched two hitless innings. Especially hard hit was Kevin Millwood, who gave up three runs on three hits, working the third and fourth frames.