Felix Hernandez Fans 12 in 7-0 Shutout; Casey McGehee Helps Pirates Overcome Brewers, 6-4

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 14, 2012

American League

About every five days, Felix Hernandez heads to the mound, and, every time he does, fans are hopeful for something special.

Felic Hernandez

The crowd on hand in Seattle got what they paid for Saturday, as Hernandez - in mid-season form - shut down the Texas Rangers on three hits, fanning 12, in a 7-0 win.

Without walking a batter, Hernandez needed only 107 pitches - 74 for strikes - to win his seventh against five losses and complete his second shutout of the season.

The Rangers' only hits were singles; one in the third, one in the fifth and one in the seventh inning. At one point, in the fourth and fifth innings, Hernandez rung up four straight swinging strikeouts against the heart of the Ranger order, getting Elvis Andrus, Josh Hamilton, Andrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz to go fishing.

Hopelessly moored in last place, the Mariners - even after the win - are still 16 1/2 games behind Texas in the Wast. The Rangers lead the Angels by five games.


National League

Casey McGehee

With the Reds winning five straight, the Pittsburgh Pirates needed all hands on deck to keep pace and remain tied with Cincinnati atop the NL Central.

After staking the Brewers to 2-0 and 4-2 leads, the Pirates roared back, getting within one run when Casey McGehee singled in a run in the sixth and then took the lead for good by tacking on a pair in the seventh.

MvGehee, who was 3-for-5 with a couple of ribbies, put on the finishing touch with a solo homer in the eighth for the 6-4 victory, evening the series at a game apiece.

The Brewers dropped back another game, remaining in fourth place in the division, eight games back. Pittsburgh and Cincy remained tied for the lead.

The series concludes this afternoon at 2:10 pm EDT in Milwaukee.

Jeter, Granderson Power Yankees to 18-7 Win; McGehee Blasts Three Homers in Milwaukee Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 3, 2011

American League

Handing the White Sox their fifth straight loss while winning their sixth in a row, the New York Yankees jumped all over Chicago early and cruised to a ridiculous 18-7 win.

Granderson: 5 RBI

The top of the order did most of the harm to White Sox pitchers, rocking White Sox starter Gavin Floyd for nine hits and 10 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Jeter passes Brock

Derek Jeter had five hits in six at-bats - four singles and a double - scored four runs and drove in two, while Curtis Granderson, batting right behind the captain, went 4-for-6 with two singes, a double, his league-leading 9th triple, five RBI and two runs.

Jeter passed Lou Brock for 23rd place in hits all-time. Jeter's five hits gives him 3027. Brock retired in 1979 with 3023 career hits.

The diminutive Granderson is keeping pace in the RBI department with teammate Mark Teixeira, who had three RBI himself and leads the team with 85 ribbies to Granderson's 84.

While the Yanks continue to press the issue in the AL East, it has not been easy, as the Red Sox have won four of their last five, including two straight against Cleveland, and continue to hold a one game lead in the division over New York.

Following the completion of their series with the White Sox and Indians, the Yankees and Red Sox meet up for a three-game set in Boston, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which could go a long way toward determining the AL East representative in the playoffs.

National League

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to be heard from come the post-season.

Bouncing back from an 8-7, 11-inning loss to the second place Cardinals on Tuesday, Milwaukee rocked St. Louis 10-5, taking two out of three in the mid-week series and extending their NL Central lead to 3 1/2 games.

McGehee: 3 Bombs

Most of the offense was supplied by Casey McGehee, who has been suffering the throes of a season-long slump. McGehee, who socked 23 homers in 2010, entered yesterday's game with only five long balls in the 2011 season.

Perhaps in an effort to make up for lost time, the Milwaukee third baseman belted three homers and drove in four runs, driving the Brewers to the easy win.

Davis Doubles Twice, Homers for Rangers; McGehee Smacks Third Spring Homer

Players of the Day for Thursday, March 3, 2011

American League

Chris Davis

Ian Kinsler rapped his third homer of the exhibition season and Chris Davis doubled twice and homered, driving in three runs and scoring a pair as the Rangers pounded out 15 hits in an 11-9 win over Cleveland.

Davis appears to be headed for a battle over full time duty as either the Rangers' 1st baseman, 3rd baseman or DH. In the mix are Mitch Moreland, who seems the choice at first, Michael Young, who can play 1st, 3rd or DH and Adrian Beltre, a solid glove and potent bat at third.

Whichever way the defending AL Champs align their infield, the Rangers, as usual, appear to be loaded with power hitters.

National League

Casey McGehee

Milwaukee third baseman Casey McGehee continues to swing a hot bat in the pre-season, knocking his third homer (a solo shot) and going 2-for-2 as the Brewers topped the A's by an 11-9 score.

The Brewers banged out 17 hits, including three doubles and five homers. McGehee is batting .556 (5-for-9) this Spring.

Milwaukee is seeking a return to the playoffs after missing out the past two years. They were the wild card in 2008, edging out the Mets by a game with a 90-72 record despite finishing 7 1/2 behind the Cubs in the NL Central division.

Players of the Day for Wednesday, March 2, 2011

American League

David Murphy

With their World Series loss to the Giants behind them, the Texas Rangers seek to repeat as AL West champs, but to do so they'll have to replace the big bat of Vladimir Guerrero, who went to Baltimore in the off-season. The player most likely to fill that void will be David Murphy, whose been with the Rangers the past two seasons, and has contributed well in part-time duty.

Murphy hit .291 with 12 homers, 65 RBIs and a career-high 14 steals last year.

Casey McGehee

In the Rangers' 10-6 win over their main AL West rival, the LA Angels, Murphy cracked his first homer of the pre-season, a three-run blast. He also singled and scored in three at-bats.

National League

Casey McGehee, who became the Brewers' regular at third base last year with a sensational season, picked up where he left off with a pair of homers in Milwaukee's 12-5 smack-down of the Cubs Wednesday in Arizona.

McGehee, who batted .285 with 23 homers and 104 RBI in 2010, also singled, going 3-for-3, driving in four runs.

McGehee Impacting Brewers; Andruw Jones Sighted

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 4, 2009 American League There have been reports of Andruw Jones sightings lately in Arlington and Saturday, the real thing appeared. Jones, who has, in recent years, bounced from the Braves to the Dodgers to the Rangers, was in the DH slot as Texas thumped Tampa Bay, 12-4, to stay tied for first in the AL West with the Angels. Jones got the Rangers going in the right direction with a three-run homer in the first (his 10th of the year) and added another RBI with a double in the 6th as the score got out of hand. Jones finished 2-for-5 with 4 RBI. He is batting .245 on the season with 27 RBI. After playing in just 78 games with LA last season and hitting just 3 home runs, Jones may be finding his power stroke. He's left the yard three times in the past seven games. National League Impact rookie? How about Milwaukee 3rd baseman Casey McGehee? As the Milwaukee Brewers were dismantling the Cubs, 11-2, McGehee was doing his best to take revenge on his former club, going 4-for-5 with 5 RBI and 3 runs. After three singles, McGehee capped off his night with his 6th home run of the season, a two-run job to left field which completed the Brewers' scoring. In 46 games, McGeHee has accumulated 43 hits, a .331 batting average, 6 homers and 26 RBI. What's even more important is his filling up open spaces at second and third bases, problem positions for Milwaukee this season. His ability to handle either position has produced more playing time for the rookie. NOTES: Milwaukee's win kept them tied with the Cards in the NL Central, still the tightest race in the majors, with all six division opponents within 6 games of the lead. In the NL West, the Giants have closed to within 6 1/2 games. Tim Lincecum just keeps blazing his way toward the Cy Young award. On Saturday, he stopped the Astros on 3 hits over 7 innings in a 9-0 Ginats' win. The NL East is also up for grabs. The Phillies continue to hang onto their slim margin, one game better than the Marlins. The Graves and Mets are ties, 3 games back. In the AL, the West looks like it will come down to the Angels and Rangers, who are currently tied for the lead. The Central is becoming a 3-team race, with Detroit 2 1/2 ahead of the White Sox and 3 better than the Twins. Boston's lead in the East is down to 1 game as the Yankees have won 9 of 10. The Rays have fallen 5 off the pace. Toronto is 7 back.