Clayton Kershaw, Carl Crawford, Dodgers Reach Playoffs with 9-1 Win over Giants; Toronto's Mark Buehrle Leaves Seattle Sleepless in 1-0 Victory

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 24, 2014

American League

Strong-armed Mark Buehrle nearly ended Seattle's post-season chances with eight shutout innings in a 1-0 win by Toronto.

Buehrle: 200+ IP

Reaching a milestone of 14 consecutive seasons with 200 or more innings pitched, Wednesday's effort was vintage Buehrle, allowing three hits, fanning ten and issuing one walk before turning over the ball to Aaron Sanchez, who picked up his third save with a perfect ninth inning.

From 1966 to 1980, Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry each had 14 consecutive seasons of 200 innings or more, but the streaks of both pitchers were snapped by the 1981 player's strike.

Buehrle went past the 200-inning mark in the sixth. Now finished for the season, Buehrle logged 202 innings for the Blue Jays with a 13-10 record, an ERA of 3.39. His career mark stands at 199-152, a record achieved over 15 seasons with the White Sox, Marlins and Blue Jays.

Seattle's loss, their fifth in a row, did not officially finish off the Mariners, though it might as well have. Seattle still trails the A's and Kansas City by three games in the wild card race, but there are only four games left to play. Both Kansas City and Oakland lost on Wednesday, putting any celebration of clinching a wild card temporarily on hold. Kansas City lost to Cleveland (also just barely alive in the wild card race, 3 1/2 games behind the co-wild card leaders), 6-4, while the A's fell, 5-4, to the Angels.

Looking ahead, Oakland and Kansas City can each clinch a wild card on Thursday. The A's are at Texas, while the Royals open a four-game series in Chicago with the White Sox.

National League

Kershaw: 21-3

The Dodgers clinched the NL West Wednesday night and did it in style, pounding their fiercest adversary, the San Francisco Giants, 9-1, in the final game of their three-game series, taken by the Dodgers, two games to one.

Carl Crawford

Carl Crawford punished the Giants with a 2-for-2 effort, singling, doubling, driving in two runs, scoring three times with a stolen base. Starter Clayton Kershaw became the major league's only 21-game winner, holding the Giants to one run on eight hits, striking out 11 without issuing any walks.

Kershaw is almost certain to win the league's Cy Young award, which would be his third (2011, 2013). He is 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA. His win over the Giants put the Dodgers into the post-season. In one of the most remarkable seasons ever compiled by a pitcher, Kershaw has won his last seven starts, and has 239 strikeouts, the fifth straight season he's fanned 200 or more.

Kershaw leads the NL in Ks, with four more than Johnny Cueto and Stephen Strasberg. Cueto, who has 19 wins, is slated to pitch on Sunday, while Strasberg is scheduled to start for the Nationals on Saturday, but, with the post-season looming and Washington 2 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers for the league's best record, Strasburg could be rested.

Adam Wainwright of St. Louis, currently 20-9, could tie Kershaw with wins if he appears as scheduled, on Sunday, at Arizona, in the final game of the season for the Cardinals, but he also could be benched, especially if the Cardinals wrap up the NL Central, which they currently lead by 1 1/2 over the Pirates.

Big Game James Shields Stops Tigers, KC Re-Takes 1st in AL Central; Dan Haren, Carl Crawford Lead Dodgers over Padres

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 10, 2014

American League

James Shields

Game three of the showdown series between Kansas City and Detroit was going to be decisive, as the Tigers had taken the first two games on their home field and tied the Royals for the lead in the AL Central.

Detroit trotted out another of their ace hurlers, Rick Porcello, the 15-game winner that had been so effective during the first half of the season, while the Royals sent "Big Game" James Shields to the mound.

At the end of seven innings, it was obvious why Shields had earned his moniker. That's when Shields took a seat on the bench, after throwing seven innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits, walking one and fanning nine en route to a 3-0 Royals win and first place in the division.

Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis pitched hitless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, leaving the Detroit hitters wondering whether their bats had holes in them.

Though the Tigers are a game behind KC in the division, they still qualify currently as the #2 wild card, 1 1/2 games behind the A's in the top spot and just 1/2 game better than Seattle. Working against the Tigers is the schedule. They have just 16 games remaining, while the A's and Mariners each have 17 left. Kansas City still has 18 to play and has a two-game bulge in the loss column.

National League

Dan Haren

Carl Crawford

Not about to be caught by the San Francisco Giants, the LA Dodgers took the rubber game of their series with the Padres by a 4-0 score, thanks to seven shutout innings from Dan Haren and a 4-for-4 performance by Carl Crawford.

Haren improved to 13-10 on the season, notching his fifth win in his last seven starts. He allowed just fur hits, walked one and fanned five.

Crawford was perfect at the plate, stroking three doubles and a single, driving in a pair of runs and scoring one.

The result, coupled with the Giants' 5-0 win over Arizona left the two teams fighting for first place in the NL West, the Dodgers holding a 2 1/2 game advantage as the teams head to AT&T Park in San Francisco for a three-game weekend showdown. In the penultimate series for both teams, the Giants will travel to Los Angels for a three-game series on September 22, 23 and 24.

Currently holding firmly to the top wild card spot, the Giants have a four-game lead over #2 wild card, Pittsburgh, with Atlanta and Milwaukee both another 1 1/2 back.

Crawford Has 4 Hits Again as Boston Chases Yanks; Albert Pujols Seems to Be OK

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 4, 2011

American League

Carl Crawford

Carl Crawford was up to his old tricks again Saturday in Oakland, getting four hits for the third time in his last ten games.

Crawford and the Red Sox topped Oakland in 14 innings, 9-8, to pull to within one game of first place in the AL East, currently occupied by the NY Yankees.

It took Crawford until the 5th inning to get going, but after that, there was no stopping him. He singled, stole second and scored on a J.D. Drew single in the 5th, singled home a run in the 6th, and doubled in two more in the 8th.

The two teams battled into extras, but, with two outs in the bottom of the 14th, Crawford raked his second double of the day and came around to score the game winner, again off the bat of J.D. Drew.

Crawford finished 4-for-5, with two runs, three RBI a steal and the second win over Oakland in the series. The Red Sox will be looking for the sweep Sunday afternoon.

National League

Albert Pujols
A pretty good player

Albert Pujols must have heard or read the whining of some worried St. Louis fans and writers who thought he wasn't producing the same way he normally does, because all of a sudden, there's no good reason to pitch to the three time NL MVP - unless you like losing, that is.

On May 29 - just six games ago - Pujols was batting .257, with just 8 homers and 28 RBI, well off his usual pace and that of the leaders in each of the categories.

After Saturday's 3-for-4, two home run performance, his numbers all of a sudden look a lot better: .275, 12 homers, 37 RBI. My, how a week can change things.

Pujols cracked his 11th home run of the season in the 4th inning against the Cubs to stake St. Louis to a 2-0 lead. After the Cubs took a 4-2 lead with four runs in the 6th, Pujols doubled in one run and scored another to tie the game in the bottom of the frame.

Finally, in the 12th, Pujols smacked a lead-off, walk-off game winning homer for the 5-4 victory.

To recap: Two homers, 3-for-4, three runs, four RBI, and, by the way, the Cardinals are still two games in front of the Brewers in the NL Central.

The whiners have been silenced.

Crawford Stays Hot, Red Sox Win 14-1; Marlins Sweep Giants on Sanchez Shutout

Players of the Day for Thursday, May 26, 2011

American League

Carl Crawford

Mother Nature imposed her own form of the Mercy Rule, stopping the Boston onslaught after eight full innings, granting the Red Sox a 14-1 victory at Detroit.

Just a day pounding out 20 hits in a 14-2 win over the Indians, the Red Sox punched out 16 more hits against another AL Central squad and once again, it was Carl Crawford leading the charge.

Crawford, 4-for-4 on Wednesday, went 4-for-5 on Thursday with a pair of triples, two singles, three RBI and two runs. In the past two games, Crawford's batting average has gone from .212 to .244.

Better yet, by winning 11 of their last 13 games, the Red Sox have run down the Yankees and are tied with them for first place in the AL East. The Yankees were idle on Thursday.

For Detroit, it was another setback in the quest to catch the runaway White Sox. Prior to Thursday's outing, they had drawn to within five games of Chicago, but fell back to six out as the White Sox defeated Toronto, 3-1.

National League

Anibal Sanchez

Pennant races in both the NL East and NL West just got a whole lot more interesting as Anibal Sanchez and the Florida Marlins stopped the Giants 1-0, completing a sweep of their three-game series.

The Giants were without catcher Buster Posey, who is likely out for the season after suffering multiple injuries in a home plate collision on Wednesday. Without him in the lineup, the Giants could muster just five hits off Sanchez, who walked two but struck out eight for his second complete game and first shutout of the season. Ryan Vogelsong allowed eight hits over eight innings for the Giants, the Marlins breaking through for the only run of the game in the 6th inning.

The Phillies beat Cincinnati, 10-4, to maintain their slim, one-game edge over the Marlins in the East, while Arizona won for the 9th time in their last 10 games, topping the Rockies, 6-3, and have drawn to within 1 1/2 of the suddenly-vulnerable Giants in the West.

Crawford 4-for-4 in BoSox 14-2 Win at Cleveland; Ian Kennedy Goes to 6-1

Players of the Day for Wednesday, May 25, 2011

American League

Carl Crawford

Just in case anyone was thinking that Boston's three-game series at Cleveland was a preview of the playoffs, the Beantown boys made sure they had the last word, humbling the current AL Central division leaders with a 14-2 beat-down for a 2-1 series win.

Boston batters doled out 20 hits, led by Carl Crawford's 4-for-4 effort, which included his third home run of the season, two doubles, three runs and a pair of RBI.

Crawford, who entered the game batting just .212, hasn't quite lived up to Boston's expectations since being acquired in the off-season from the Rays, but showed definite signs of heating up along with the weather.

The Red Sox scored their runs in bunches, getting seven in the 1st inning and plating five more in the 6th. The win moved them into sole possession of second place in the AL East, just a half game behind - you guessed it - the NY Yankees.

National League

Ian Kennedy

All of a sudden, everybody in the NL West is paying attention to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In the scrambled race to keep pace with the reigning world champion Giants, the Diamondbacks have shown up in second place. After losing five straight earlier in the month, Arizona has gone red-hot, winning nine of their last eleven, including Wednesday's 2-1 victory over Colorado, displacing the Rockies in second place in the division.

One reason for Arizona's success has been the performance of starting pitcher Ian Kennedy, who won his third straight, improving to 6-1, as he limited the Rockies to seven hits over eight innings. Kennedy walked two and struck out three, throwing 74 of 104 pitches for strikes. He was definitely not fooling anybody as he lowered his ERA to 3.01 to go with a 1.02 WHIP. J.J. Putz worked a perfect ninth inning for his 12th save.

Arizona will attempt to leave Colorado on a winning note when the two teams complete their four-game series Thursday. The Diamondbacks lost the first encounter, but have come back with two straight wins. They trail the Giants by 2 1/2 games and are over .500 (25-24) for the first time this season.

Crawford Gets Rays into Tie with Yankees; Stauffer Delivers for Padres; NL West, Wild Card up for Grabs

Players of the Day for Saturday, October 2, 2010

American League

Jumping on the Royals in the first inning, B.J. Upton singled to lead off and moved to third on Carl Crawford's hit. Crawford then stole second before Matt Joyce tripled them both home for a 2-0 lead.

Crawford smashed his 19th homer of the season, a solo shot in the 3rd inning to put the Rays up, 3-0, and eight Tampa Bay pitchers combined for an eight-hit shutout and the 4-0 road win.

The Rays' victory, which snapped a three-game skid, combined with the Yankees' split with Boston at Fenway Park, left the two teams tied for the AL East lead with one game remaining.

Both games in New York's day/night doubled-header with Boston went to an extra inning, with the Yankees winning the day game, 6-5, but losing the nightcap, 7-6.

If the Rays and Yankees finish the regular season tied, Tampa Bay would take the division on the strength of winning the head-to-head season series 10-8. The Yankees would be the wild card.

In that scenario, the Rays would start the best-of-five division series at home Wednesday against Texas. If the Yankees win the division, the Rays would play the AL Central champion Twins beginning Wednesday, with the Yankees hosting Texas in New York.

National League

With some help from the Phillies, San Diego has made the NL West division and wild card race a one-day affair, with everything hinging on their final regular season date at San Francisco.

Tim Stauffer kept the Giants in check for 6 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits while his teammates scored four runs off Giants' starter Barry Zito. Padres' closer Heath Bell allowed the second Giants' run in the 9th, but still managed to pick up his 47th save as the Padres held on, 4-2.

That left San Diego a game behind the Giants with the division title on the line in the last game of the season, at San Francisco on Sunday. Thanks to the Phillies hammering the Braves for the second straight day, 7-0, San Diego and Atlanta are now tied for the wild card spot.

If the Padres and win and the Braves lose, both the Giants and Padres would advance to the playoffs. The Padres would be the West division winner, due to taking the season series with the Giants, but San Francisco would finish one game better than the Braves, and enter the post-season as the wild card.

If both the Padres and Braves win Sunday, San Francisco would play at San Diego on Monday to determine the West champion and the loser would play at Atlanta on Tuesday for the wild card.

If the Padres and Braves lose, there would be a one-game tiebreaker in Atlanta on Monday night for the wild card.

Rays Close Gap on Yankees; Carlos Gonzalez on Triple Crown Tear

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 7, 2010 American League The Slugging Schowalters, otherwise known as the Baltimore Orioles, kept Yankee ace C.C. Sabathia from winning his 20th and the Tampa Bay Rays took advantage, blasting the Red Sox, 14-5, to pull to within 1 1/2 games of the Yanks in the AL East. Belting five homers, the Rays scored two runs in the 3rd inning, four in the 4th, six in the 5th and two more in the 6th inning, crushing Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka and two relievers that followed. Carl Crawford, who did not hit one of the five homers, went 4-for-4 at the plate, with three doubles, scoring a run and driving in two. Crawford has been on fire of late, raising his batting average from .294 to .307 with a six-game hitting streak in which he's gone 13-for-22 (.591), including four doubles and two triples. Despite his hot play, the Rays have only gone 3-3, though Tuesday's win has the Yankees looking over their collective shoulders. National League Matt Latos, scratched from his scheduled start on Monday, came back Tuesday with seven strong innings against the LA Dodgers, allowing one run on four hits, fanning ten without walking a batter as the Padres won their second straight, 2-1. The win kept San Diego a game ahead of the Giants, who beat the Diamondbacks, 6-3, and 4 1/2 in front of the charging Colorado Rockies, who topped the Reds, 4-3. Getting the big hit in the first inning was Carlos Gonzalez, who belted a three-run homer off Reds' starter, Johnny Cueto. It was the only hit of the game for Gonzalez, but it was enough for the Rockies to prevail. The three RBI gave Gonzalez 100 for the year, vaulting him past Albert Pujols (97) and Joey Votto (98) into the NL lead. Gonzalez has been nothing short of spectacular of late, riding a 15-game hitting streak to the NL batting average lead at .340. While sportswriters were pondering whether Votto or Pujols could capture the triple crown, it now appears that Gonzalez may beat them both to it. The only category he doesn't lead is homer runs, though, with 32, he's now just three behind Pujols, who has sputtered and hasn't clear the fences since August 27th. The Cardinals have suffered along with their slugger, dropping seven of ten since his last homer. They trail the Reds by six games in the Central. Besides catching the Giants and Padres, all Gonzalez seemingly has to worry about is Atlanta's Omar Infante, who is batting .339, but doesn't have the required plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, though he is expected to achieve that level soon. PENNANT NOTES: With the Braves losing to Pittsburgh, 4-0, and Philadelphia topping Florida, 8-7, the Phillies have finally caught and overtaken Atlanta to lead the NL East by 1/2 game. Minnesota pounded Kansas City, 10-3, and the Tigers hammered the White Sox, 9-1, which upped the Twins' lead in the AL Central to 4 1/2 games. In Minnesota's win, Jim Thome hit his 22nd homer of the season, tying Frank Robinson for 8th place on the career list at 586. Texas lost their 5th straight, but both Oakland and the LA Angels lost, so the Rangres still lead the A's by 7 games and LA by 9 1/2. Their magic number is 18.

Zito, Young Each Toss 6 Shutout Innings; Crawford Single Plates Pair in 9th

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 6, 2010 American League

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Carl Crawford only had one hit in his four at-bats, but it was a 9th inning scratch single that drove home teammates Sean Rodriguez and Kelly Shoppach with the tying and game-winning runs in Tampa Bay's 4-3 home opening win over the Baltimore Orioles. Crawford's timely hit came off Baltimore closer Mike Gonzalez, who entered the game with a run run lead, but left it after getting only one out in the 9th and allowing a pair of Rays to cross the plate. Blown saves are nothing new for Gonzalez, who blew 7 of 17 opportunities last season. On Tuesday night, he opened the 9th by fanning Pat Burrell, but then allowed a single to Rodriguez and a double by Shoppach. After intentionally walking Jason Bartlett, Crawford delivered the decisive blow.

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National League Two pitching performances were so strong that there was no way to separate them; thus, San Francisco's Barry Zito (left) and San Diego's Chris Young (right) share Player of the Day honers in the NL. In the Giants' 3-0 win over Houston, the only Astro batter Barry Zito couldn't retire was second baseman Jeff Keppinger (2 doubles, walk). Other than him, Zito shut down Houston on one hit and no walks over six innings. All told, Zito allowed 3 hits and a walk, while striking out five. Zito is a key to the Giants' success this season, already having moved into the #2 slot after Tim Lincecum got them their first win of the season on Monday. The 2-0 Giants are the only NL West team without a loss.

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In San Diego's 6-3 win over Arizona, starter Chris Young worked a very impressive 6 full innings, allowing just one hit (to Justin Upton in the 4th) and 3 walks with 5 Ks. After an error in the first inning, Young set down 9 in a row before Upton's single, but never let a runner past second base. Young, who was a stud for the Padres from 2005-2007, with a 32-20 record, sustained injuries in each of the past two seasons and returned a combined sub-par record of 11-12. Back at full strength, Young is expected to pick up much of the slack left by the departed Jake Peavy. Thus far, he's off to a fine beginning.

Barlett, Crawford, Rays 1-2 Punch; Reynolds Having Career Year

Players of the Day for Monday, August 3, 2009 American League No two players better exemplify the importance of the 1 and 2 batters in a lineup more than Tampa Bay's Jason Bartlett (left) and Carl Crawford (right). Their enormous talents were on display in Monday's 10-4 Rays win over Kansas City. The pair started right off in Tampa's half of the first inning. Bartlett walked, Crawford singled and both advanced on Evan Longoria's ground out. The solid baserunning paid off when Carlos Pena drove them both home with a 2 RBI single. In the 2nd, with runners on first and second, Bartlett laid down a bunt to load the bases and Crawford delivered with a double plating two more. Before KC knew what was happening, the Rays were up 4-0. As the game progressed, the onslaught continued. Bartlett finished up 3-for-4 with a single, double and triple, 2 RBI and 2 runs. Crawford went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI a run and his league-leading 49th steal, 1 better than Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury. Bartlett and Crawford rank third and ninth in AL batting average, at .337 and .317, respectively. The Rays picked up a half game on the idle Yankees, whom they trail by 5 1/2 games. National League The Arizona Diamondbacks are hopelessly out of contention in the NL West, but the team has hopes that the remainder of this season will prepare then for better things in 2010. One of the reasons for optimism in the desert is the play of third baseman Mark Reynolds, who, in his third full season, is putting up numbers that identify him as a blossoming star. Reynolds mashed a pair of homers - a solo shot in the first and a two-run bomb in the second - to pace the D-Backs to a 6-0 lead, as they held off the Mets, 6-5. Dan Haren struggled through 7 innings to get his 11th win and Chad Qualls picked up his 20th save with a 1-2-3 9th. With his two home runs, Reynolds has put 32 out of ballparks, challenging St. Louis' Albert Pujols for the NL lead. Pujols has 34. Reynolds is also moving up the RBI ladder into a tie for 6th with Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, with 73 on the year. though he is well behind the leaders, Prince Fielder (93) and Pujols (92). NOTES: Milwaukee kept the National League competitive with a 6-5 win over the Dodgers Monday night in LA. Ryan Braun went 4-for-5, with a 3-run homer (his 22nd), as the Brewers remained tied with Houston in third place in the NL Central, 4 games behind the Cardinals and Cubs. With the Dodgers losing for the 7th time in their last 11 outings, the Rockies and Giants continue to entertain thoughts of running down the division leader. The Dodger lead was cut to 6 1/2 as the Rockies won their 4th straight, a 6-4 win at Cincinnati. San Fran dropped 1/2 game behind Colorado, losing, 4-3, at Houston.

DEAD SOX: Tampa Routs Boston

Players of the Day from Tuesday, October 14, 2008 ALCS: Tampa Bay 13 Boston 4 Carl Crawford went 5-for-5, the Rays hit 3 more home runs and moved to within one win of the World Series, bombing the Red Sox, 13-4, Tuesday night in Boston. Crawford did it all in the rout, with two singles, two doubles, a triple, a pair of steals, 3 runs and 2 RBI. It was one of the most impressive single-game performances in MLB history, tying the ALCS record. Evan Longoria homered for the third straight game, giving him 5 post-season dingers, a major league record for a rookie. Carlos Pena and Willy Aybar also homered. Aybar added three singles and drove in five runs. The win pushed the Red Sox right to the precipice and left the Rays with a commanding 3-1 lead, one win short of the franchise's first trip to the World Series. The two teams take a day off Wednesday, then resume their struggle on Thursday night, 8:07 pm ET, when game 1 winner Daisuke Matsuzaka starts for Boston against the Rays' James Shields. If the Rays don't seal the deal then, they'll have two more chances in Tampa Bay over the weekend to do so. Notes: Leave it to our favorite sports network, FOX, to get their priorities straight. On Wednesday night, while the other networks will be airing the the final bore-fest presidential debate, FOX will be presenting Game 5 of the NLCS, with the Phillies at LA, beginning at 8:22 pm ET. Philadelphia leads the series 3 games to 1.

Crawford Leaves Yard Twice in 15-3 Rays Win; LA's Stultz Shuts Out White Sox 5-0

Players of the Day from Wednesday, June 25, 2008 American League There doesn't seem to be much doubt about which is the best baseball team in Florida (though they're both pretty good) as the Tampa Bay Rays took their second straight from the Florida Marlins, by a whopping 15-3 score Wednesday. Carl Crawford furnished a large share of the damage, belting a pair of home runs - a three-run shot in the 3rd and a solo homer in the 5th. He drove in another run with a ground out later in the 5th to give him 5 RBI on the night. The Rays will be seeking a series sweep when the two teams hit the field this afternoon in Miami. Notes: The Rays continue to dog the Red Sox in the AL East, remaining just one game back as both teams won on Wednesday. National League Getting his second start replacing injured Brad Penny, rookie Eric Stultz fired a complete game 4-hitter at the White Sox, as the Dodgers won, 5-0. Stultz (2-0), threw 116 pitches, striking out 3 and getting 17 outs on fly balls. He also earned his first major league RBI, driving home a run in the 4th inning with a sac fly.

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Penny is due to come off the DL around July 1, so Stultz should get another start on June 30 in Houston against the Astros. After that, his AAA or major league fate largely depends on the overall health of the Dodger pitching staff. Notes: The Dodgers could certainly use solid arms for the next few weeks leading up to the All-Star break. They're within 3 games of the NL West-leading Diamondbacks though still five games under .500 at 36-41. A record just above .500 may be good enough to win the West this season as it appears to be one of the weaker divisions.

Crawford Scores for Rays; Russell Martin Everywhere

Players of the Day for Friday, April 25, 2008 American League Carl Crawford went 3-6, with two triples, an RBI, stole his 8th base and scored 3 times - including the game-winner - in Tampa Bay's 5-4, 11-inning win over Boston. It was the Rays' 4th straight win and Boston's third straight loss. Crawford, a career .297 hitter who has topped .300 for the season each of the last three years, is currently on a 12-game hitting streak in which he's raised his batting average from .204 to .314 with 5 extra base hits. Crawford, mainly a singles hitter, is doing what he does best, though, scoring runs. During his streak he's crossed the plate 13 times and his 23 runs overall leads the AL. Notes: Law of Averages. The Cleveland Indians won their 4th straight game on Friday, a 6-4 home win over the Yankees, and have reached second place in the AL Central, 2 games back of the White Sox. At 11-12 Cleveland sports an unusual stat. While the team batting average is an unhealthy .250, Grady Sizemore leads the team at a mere .264. That means a lot of guys are going 1-for-4 every night. Kansas City and Texas both won, each ending a 7-game losing streak. National League The LA Dodgers are still under .500 at 10-13 and are chasing the runaway Arizona Diamondbacks, but the season has just begun. On Friday night, Russell Martin put in overtime, as he reached base in all 6 plate appearances in the Dodgers' 8-7, 13-inning win over Colorado. If it seemed like Martin was everywhere, it's because he was, going 4-for-4, walking twice, stealing a base, scoring a run and driving in two, including the walk-off game winner on a bases-loaded sac fly. He also caught for 8 innings before putting in 5 more over at third base. Notes: Florida and Milwaukee dueled through 9 scoreless innings before the Marlins erupted for three runs in the 10th. Florida starter Scott Olsen lasted 7 1/3 before being lifted after giving up 4 hits and 5 walks without a strikeout. Olsen's (3-0) been hot lately, having allowed just one run over his last 21 1/3 innings. Streaks: Houston has won 6 straight while the Padres have been on the losing end five in a row.