Matt Carpenter 4-for-4 for Cards; Casey Kotchman Leads Cleveland Sweep of Royals

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 15, 2012

American League

Casey Kotchman

Cleveland's pitching hasn't been anything special during their three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals, but their bats have had extra sauce, putting up 32 runs on the road against their AL Central foes. After topping KC 8-3 and 11-9 on Friday and Saturday, the Indians put together a 13-7 win on Sunday to even their record at 4-4.

Well-traveled Casey Kotchman spearheaded the Indians' assault, going 3-for-4 with a couple of singles and a two-run homer - his second of the season - as the Cleveland hitters teed off on the Royals. Kotchman rounded the bases for three scores and his two RBI gave him four on the year.

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Cleveland is Kotchman's sixth team since breaking in with the Angels in 2004. He spent 2010 with Seattle and 2011 in Tampa Bay, where he batted .306.


National League

Matt Carpenter

After dropping the opener of their three-game home series with Chicago, 9-5, St. Louis came back with wins on Saturday and Sunday to take the series two games to one maintaining their lead in the NL Central by 2 1/2 games with a 7-3 record.

Sunday's event was highlighted by a breakout performance by rookie first baseman Matt Carpenter who, along with Yadier Molina, filled in for Lance Berkamn. Carpenter did his best Albert Pujols impression, going 4-for-4 with a triple, home run, two singles and five RBI. The Cardinals totaled the 3-7 Cubs, 10-3.

A product of TCU, Carpenter - no relation to Cardinal ace Chris Carpenter - has played a total of 15 major league games, but appears to be a prospect deserving of attention.

Pablo Sandoval Hits for Cycle; Rays Club Red Sox, 9-2, to Open 4-Game Series

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 15, 2011

American League

B.J. Upton

Tampa Bay headed into Boston for a four game series with the Red Sox on Thursday, intent on running down the wild card leaders as the weather turned autumn-like while the pennant races were becoming more heated. After one game, the Rays find themselves a little closer to their goal, having dusted the Sox, 9-2, to pull back to within three games.

B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria provided the bulk of the offensive production, each player going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Upton's 3rd inning single plated John Jaso with the Rays' first run and Longoria upped the Tampa lead to 4-0 with his 27th home run, a three-run job that put the Rays well in front and set the tone for the series.

Evan Longoria

Following Casey Kotchman's two-run homer in the 6th, Upton responded with one of his own in the 7th and Kotchman drove in his third run with a single later in the inning to complete the Rays' scoring onslaught. Kotchman was 2-for-4.

Casey Kotchman

The Rays now trail the idle Yankees by 7 1/2, with Boston within their sights, 4 1/2 back. New York 's magic number to clinch the division is 10.

Elsewhere, the Tigers gained a tie for the Central division even though their 12-game win streak ended in Oakland with a 6-1 loss to the A's. Texas beat Cleveland, 7-4, handing the Indians their third straight loss, while the White Sox lost at Kansas City, 7-2, their fifth consecutive defeat.

The Indians would have to win all of their remaining 15 games to tie the Tigers, though the Tigers would have to lose all 12 of the games left on their schedule. The best the White Sox could do is fall a game short.

With Texas winning and the Angles having the night off, the Rangers' lead in the West expanded to 3 1/2 games, though the way Texas has been going, the Angels probably have a better shot at the wild card. They are four back of Boston and one behind the Rays in that race.

National League

Seven games back with just a dozen left to play, the Giants have little hope of catching Arizona in the NL West, but at least Pablo Sandoval gave their fans something to cheer about, hitting for the cycle as San Francisco upended the Rockies, 8-5, in Denver.

Pablo Sandoval

Sandoval homered in the first, doubled in the second, singled in the fifth and legged out a triple in the sixth to become the second player this season to accomplish the batting rarity. Milwaukee catcher George Kottaras did it against Houston less than two weeks ago, on September 3. Sandoval was issued an intentional walk in the eighth.

The Giants have won five straight and hope to catch the Diamondbacks for the division title, though time is running short and the schedule is not kind. The win in Colorado was the start of a ten-game road show for the Giants, which will culminate with a three game series at Arizona next weekend. The Giants close out the regular season with three games against the Rockies in San Francisco.

In the NL East, the Phillies took two from Florida, 3-1 and 2-1, to improve their division lead over Atlanta to 12 games and cut their magic number down to just one. There was no action in the Central, as the Cardinals and Brewers both had the day off.

Kotchman Delivers for Angels; Soto Blasts Pair, Drives in Six

Players of the Day from Wednesday, April 30, 2008 American League The LA Angels regained sole possession of first place in the AL West on Wednesday, as Casey Kotchman and Ervin Santana led the Angels to a 6-1 win over the Oakland A's. While Santana was working over the A's on 4 hits and no earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, improving his record to 5-0, Kotchman was taking care of business at the plate with a 3-for-4 effort, including a two-run double in the second inning, another double and a single. In just his second season as a starter with the Angels, Kotchman is providing plenty of offense. He's batting .344 with 6 homers and 19 RBI.

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Notes: The Tampa Bay Rays recorded their best start of any season since their inception in 1998 with a 15-12 record and their best April mark (14-12). The Rays have won 7 of their last 8, including Wednesday's 8-1 win over Baltimore. The Rays trail Boston by one game in the AL East. The Red Sox won their second straight game in their last at-bat, topping Toronto 2-1. On Tuesday, Kevin Youkilis drove home the game-winner in a 1-0 win. Wednesday, it was Jason Varitek with the run-scoring single in the ninth. Both hits came with 2 outs. The Yankees place Phil Hughes (0-6) and Alex Rodriguez (.286, 4 HR, 11 RBI) on the 15-day disabled list, effective April 30. National League After dropping a 10-6 decision against the Brewers on Tuesday, Geovany Soto led the Chicago Cubs to a 19-6 thrashing of Milwaukee on Wednesday. Soto, a rookie catcher for the Cubs, had two hits in four at-bats, both of them 3-run homers, accounting for 6 of the Chicago runs. The homers were his 4th and 5th of the season for Soto and boosted his RBI total to 20 and his average to .333. Notes: Blowouts were the order of the day in the NL. Pittsburgh beat the Mets and the Dodgers topped Florida by identical 13-1 scores. Both the Pirates and Dodgers were on the road.... This is a pitcher? Arizona's Micah Owings delivered a two-run, pinch hit home run (his first) in Arizona's 8-7 win over the Astros. Owings is batting .421, with 8 hits in 19 at-bats. He's also 4-0, with a 3.48 ERA as a starting pitcher.

Kotchman Slams Rangers, Millwood; Wright Propels Mets to 1st

Monday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League Casey Kotchman (right) got the LA Angels off to a flying start in the last of their 4-game series at Texas with a grand slam home run off Rangers' starter Kevin Millwood. The Angels went on to win, 7-3, taking 3 of 4 from the Rangers. Kotchman walked in 3 consequent plate appearances and scored another run in the 3rd. Millwood had already departed, suffering an apparent hamstring injury in the second inning. Normally, Julio Lugo is expected to score runs from his leadoff position, but Monday, the Red Sox shortstop provided all the offense needed with a bases-loaded triple as Daisuke Matsuzaka hurled his first major league complete game in the Sox's 7-1 win over visiting Detroit. Dice-K gave up just 6 hits and 1 earned run, that a home run off the bat of Detroit's Curtis Granderson, while striking out 5 without walking a batter. Other AL Scores Toronto 5 Baltimore 3 Kansas City 2 Oakland 1 National League David Wright, (right) who socked a 2-run homer in the 4th inning and scored the game-tying run in the 6th, stood in the on-deck circle and watched Carlos Delgado take ball four and force Jose Reyes in with the winning run with 2 out in the bottom of the ninth as the Mets won 5-4 over the visiting Chicago Cubs. Wright's home run was his 4th of the season and he also singled, going 3-4 for the night. Michael Wuertz, who suffered the loss for Chicago, allowed a hit and 3 walks in a fitful 2/3rds of the 9th inning. Reyes, 5th in the NL with a .338 batting average, also stole a couple more bases to up his league-leading total to 23.

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The Mets took a 1/2-game lead on the Braves in the NL East as Atlanta lost at Washington, 2-1. In that game, Nationals' starter, Jason Bergmann had a no-hitter through seven innings, but gave up a solo home run to Brian McCann to lead off the 8th. Bergmann finished the inning, allowing a single to pinch hitter Matt Diaz, but suffered no further damage. The win was Bergmann's first as a major leaguer. He struck out 10 and walked just 1. Jesus Colome worked the 9th for his 1st save of 2007. Tom Gorzelanny sliced through the Florida Marlins, allowing just 5 hits in 7 scoreless innings as the Pirates sent the visiting Marlins to their 4th straight loss. Gorzelanny, in his first full season as a starter, has been a pleasant surprise for Pittsburgh, racking up a 5-2 record in 8 starts with an ERA of 2.36. Maybe the Milwaukee Brewers are cooling off, or maybe all the other teams in the National League just aren't about ready to concede the Central Division to them. The Brewers lost for the 3rd time in their last 4 games, dropping a 8-6 decision in Philadelphia. The Phillies scored 6 times in the 8th inning off the Milwaukee bullpen. Other NL Scores San Diego 7, Cincinnati 1 - G. Maddux (W, 3-2) 9 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K St. Louis 8 LA Dodgers 4