Raul Ibanez Rallies Yankees; Chris Carpenter Shuts Down Nats; Seth Smith, Coco Crisp Down Tigers; Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum Lift Giants

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 10, 2012

American League

Raul Ibanez

ALDS: NY Yankees 3 Baltimore 2 - Raul Ibanez, pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez, slugged a ninth-inning solo homer to tie game three with the Baltimore Orioles and then ended the game with another solo homer to right field leading off the 12th.

Coco Crisp

The Yankees took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. Game four is slated to begin Thursday at 7:37 pm EDT in New York. Joe Saunders is scheduled to start for the Orioles against the Yankees' Phil Hughes.

ALDS: Oakland 4 Detroit 3 - The Oakland A's avoided elimination for the second straight night, coming from behind with three runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Tigers and tie the divisional series at two games apiece.

Seth Smith

The A's rocked Detroit closer, Jose Valverde, for four hits and three runs in just 2/3rds of an inning. With nobody out and runners on second and third, Seth Smith doubled into the right-center gap driving home both and tying the game. Two outs later, Coco Crisp delivered the game winner with a single to right field, scoring Smith from second.

Decisive game five commences at 9:37 pm EDT in Oakland.

Chris Carpenter

National League

NLDS: St. Louis 8 Washington 0 - St. Louis took a 2-1 lead in their divisional series with Washington, roughing up Nationals' starter, Edwin Jackson, and four relievers for 14 hits, including a three-run, second-inning homer by Cardinal shortstop Pete Kozma that put the Cardinals ahead, 4-0.

Chris Carpenter worked 5 2/3 innings on the mound, scattering seven hits without allowing a run. Carpenter walked two and struck out a pair, winning his 10th game against two losses in 16 post-season starts.

Game four goes off at 4:07 pm Thursday in Washington. The Cardinals can wrap up the series with a win. If necessary, game five will be played Friday in Washington.

Pablo Sandoval

Tim Lincecum

NLDS: San Francisco 8 Cincinnati 3 - Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI to pace the Giants offensively while Tim Lincecum came out of the bullpen to toss 4 1/3 innings of relief, holding the Reds to one run on two hits, fanning six.

Lincecum ended a two-out threat in the fourth, striking out Ryan Ludwig with runners on first and second, and worked through the eighth inning wihtout allowing a walk, throwing 42 of 55 pitches for strikes.

The win evened the series at two games apiece with the deciding game five set for 1:07 pm EDT in Cincinnati. Matt Cain gets the start for the Giants, facing the Reds' Mat Latos, the winner advancing to the seven-game league championship series.

The Cardinals Are World Series Champions; David Freese MVP

Players of the Day for Friday, October 28, 2011

Cardinals 6 Rangers 2

After the drama and nail-biting excitement of Thursday's game six, Friday's game seven took on a more serious tone. After all, it was do or die, with no tomorrows for either team.

The St. Louis Cardinals took game seven of the World Series over the Texas Rangers, 6-2, to claim their 11th World Series championship. Starter Chris Carpenter, who worked on three-days' rest following a travel day Tuesday and a rainout on Wednesday, got into trouble in the first inning, allowing the Rangers to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning, erasing the memories of Thursday's marathon 11-inning contest, putting the Rangers in an enviable position against the Cardinals' ace starter.

Whatever emotional lift Texas got from the opening inning lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the inning, with two outs and the bases empty, Albert Pujols drew a walk and Lance Berkman followed with another free pass, putting David Freese, Thursday's hero at the plate in a key situation, and once again, Freese delivered a knockout, lacing a 3-2 pitch to the left-center which, with both runners on the go, brought them both around to tie the game at 2-2. It was the first time since the Cubs and Tigers both scored in the first inning of a game seven in 1945.

Carpenter won
Game 7 and was
4-0 in the playoffs.

After his rocky beginning, Carpenter settled down and began clicking off Ranger outs one by one. With runners on first and third in the second inning, Carpenter began hitting his spots, getting Elvis Andrus to ground back to him off a low, outside fast ball, ending the threat.

From the third through the sixth innings, Carpenter was even more dialed-in, allowing only a leadoff single by Ian Kinsler in the 5th inning and hitting Adrian Beltre with an errant pitch with two outs in the third. It was in the bottom of the third that St. Louis took the lead for good. Allen Criag, who had three home runs in the series, launched a high drive to deep right that cleared the fence and landed in the St. Louis bullpen, the solo shot giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. The St. Louis starter was aided by left fielder Allen Criag, who robbed Nelson Cruz of a sixth-inning home run, leaping to snag the moon-shot, his glove above the wall for the inning's second out.

David Freese
World Series MVP

The bottom of the fifth was the breakthrough inning for St. Louis, as they loaded the bases off Scott Feldman, who started the inning in relief of Texas starter Matt Harrison. With one out, Criag walked and went to second when Pujols was awarded first after being grazed by an inside Feldman fast ball. After Lance Berkman's ground out to first moved the runners to second and third, Freese was issued an intentional walk, loading them up for Yadier Molina, who took an outside 3-2 pitch for ball four, forcing in the fourth Cardinal run as Craig trotted home.

C.J. Wilson took over on the mound for Feldman, and promptly plunked the first batter he faced, Rafael Furcal, bringing home Pujols with the 5-2 lead. Wilson struck out Skip Schumaker to end the inning with the bases still full, but the damage had been done and the Rangers could not generate any offense.

When Carpenter left a ball over the middle of the plate to David Murphy, leading off the Texas seventh, it was hammered down the right field line, bounding into the stands for a ground rule double, ending Carpenter's night. Arthur Rhodes came on to get Yorvit Torrealba for the first out and Octavio Dotel came on to get Ian Kinsler on strikes and elvis Andrus on a routine fly ball to center to end the inning.

St. Louis added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Molina punched a single through the middle scoring Berkman from second base. In the eighth and ninth, the Cardinal bullpen was at its very best. Lance Lynn got Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and Beltre - the heart of the Texas lineup - in order. Jason Motte got Cruz to fly harmlessly to right to start the ninth, induced a ground out to third from Mike Napoli and when Criag clutched Murphy's high drive to left field, the field erupted as happy Cardinal players spilled from the dugout onto the field in celebration while fans began a party that would last well into the evening, the Cardinals world champions for the 11th time, most of any National League team.

The victory marked the third World Series triumph for manager Tony LaRussa, who had won previously with St. Louis in 2006, beating the Tigers, four games to one, earned his first World Series championship with the Oakland A's in 1989, sweeping the San Francisco Giants four straight. LaRussa joins Sparky Anderson, Miller Huggins and John McGraw as managers with three world championships. Only Joe Torre and Walter Alston, with four apiece, Connie Mack with five and Casey Stengel and Joe McCarthy with seven each, have won more.

Cardinal third baseman, David Freese, the homebred hero, was named World Series MVP. Freese was 7-for-23 (.304) in the seven games, all but one of his hits going for extra bases. Freese delivered four doubles, a game-tying triple in the ninth inning of game six and a the game-winning solo home run, two innings later, in the 11th. Freese had seven RBI and hit safely in six of the seven World Series games, and in 16 of 18 through the playoffs. Freese was also honored as the MVP of the NLCS, which St. Louis won, four games to two, over the Milwaukee Brewers. Freese also set a major league record with 21 post-season RBI.

Carpenter took the win in game seven, his second of the series and fourth in the post-season, without suffering a loss. He went six innings in game seven, allowing two earned runs on six hits and two walks, fanning six. An MVP case could have been made for Lance Berkman, who led all batters with a .423 average on 11 hits in 26 at-bats. Ian Kinsler led the Rangers' regulars in batting with a .360 average.

The Cardinals' meteoric run to becoming world champions of baseball began back in April, but really took shape in the latter days of August, when, on August 23rd, St. Louis found themselves hopelessly trailing the Brewers in the NL Central and 10 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the wild card race. The Cardinals finally caught and surpassed Atlanta, clinching the NL wild card on the final day of the regular season with an 8-0 win over the Houston Astros. St, Louis won the divisional series from the Phillies in five games, 3-2, and captured their 18th National League pennant when they topped the Brewers, four games to two. St. Louis trails only the Dodgers and Giants, for the most NL pennants, each with 21.

Thus concludes another spectacular season of coverage and daily players of the day from Baseball On Deck.

We'll see you again in about four months, when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Until then, baseball remains the uniquely American game and the Cardinals are its champions.

World Series: Carpenter, Criag, Motte Give Cardinals Game One, 3-2, Win Over Rangers

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 19, 2011


Cardinals 3 Rangers 2

Carpenter:
Game One Winner

St. Louis pressed their home field advantage with a 3-2 game one victory over the Texas Rangers with Cardinal starter Chris Carpenter getting the win and the managerial talents of Tony LaRussa on display for all the world to see.

Carpenter kept the Rangers off the scoreboard until the fifth inning when Mike Napoli blasted a two-run homer down the right field line to tie the game at two-all. The Cardinals had taken a 2-0 lead in the third inning, when Texas starter C.J. Wilson clipped leadoff batter Albert Pujols on the left ankle with an arrant fastball, Matt Holliday doubled down the right field line and Lance Berkman brought them both home with a solid single to right.

Craig's pinch-hit
single won the game.

With Carpenter watching from the bench, St. Louis scratched out the game winner in the bottom of the sixth. David Freese, hero and MVP of the NLCS, continued his hot hitting with a one out double and took third on a wild pitch. After Yadier Molina fanned for the second out and Nick Punto walked to put runners on first and third, LaRussa made the first of many managerial masterstrokes by lifting Carpenter for pinch-hitter Allen Craig. Ranger manager, Ron Washington countered by bringing in Alexi Ogando in relief of Willson, but Craig won the battle, sending a high liner down the right field line which eluded the glove of Nelson Cruz. Freese scored easily on the play and Punto took third, but the Cardinals could not further capitalize, though Rafael Furcal made a bid with a long fly ball to deep center that ended the inning.

Carpenter finished with six innings pitched, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk, striking out four. Fernando Salas came to the mound in the seventh and was the only Cardinal reliever to surrender either a hit or a walk, as he got one out in the frame before yielding a single to Cruz and a walk to Napoli. Mike Rzepczynski relieved Salas, promptly striking out a pair of Ranger pinch-hitters to end the threat.

Motte: a perfect
ninth for the save.

With that, the Cardinal bullpen went into high gear. Octabio Dotel got two outs in the eighth and ageless Arthur Rhodes got the third out, inducing a harless fly ball from slugger Josh Hamilton.

Jason Motte completed the victory with a flawless ninth inning, getting through the heart of the Rangers' order with ground outs by Michael Young and Adrian Beltre, and a fly ball to left off the bat of Nelson Cruz to earn the save and end the game.

The appearance was the ninth of the playoffs for Motte, who notched his fifth post-season save. In nine full innings of work during the playoffs, Motte has been tougher than nails, allowing just one hit and no walks, striking out seven. The last hit off Motte was in game four of the divisional series with the Phillies. He has been perfect ever since.

Though shaky during the regular season, when he blew four of 13 save opportunities, Motte turned it around in September as the Cardinals erased a 10 1/2 game lead by Atlanta in the wild card standings to clinch their playoff spot on the final day of the regular season. Motte had eight saves and two wins in September as the Cardinals won 18 and lost eight.

Game two is Thursday night in St. Louis at 8:05 pm EDT. The Cardinals will send Jaime Garcia to the mound to face Rangers' starter Colby Lewis. Garcia was 13-7 with a 3.56 ERA during the regular season and has two losses and a no decision in three 2011 post-season starts. Lewis was 14-10 during the regular season with a 4.40 ERA. In two playoff starts this season he's 1-1, with a 3.86 ERA.

Brewers Advance on Morgan Single in 10th; Carpenter, Furcal Make Cardinals Winners

Players of the Day for Friday, October 7, 2011


National League

Brewers 3 Diamondbacks 2, 10 innings

Morgan: walk-off
single nips D'Backs

Nyjer Morgan's ground single up the middle off closer John Axford brought home pinch-runner Carlos Gomez from second base with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning to advance the Milwaukee Brewers to the NL championship series.

The Brewers were pushed to a game five when the dropped both games at Arizona and the Diamondbacks evened the series at two games apiece, forcing the game five finale at Milwaukee. The home team won every game in the series, though hame five was the only close one, as the average winning margin through the first four games was 4.75 runs.

Milwaukee, winners of the Central Division, host the wild card Cardinals - also from the Central division - at 4:05 pm EDT, Sunday.

Furdal: leadoff triple

Cardinals 1 Phillies 0

Carpenter: 3-Hit
Shutout

Rafael Furcal socked a leadoff triple off Phillies' starter Roy Halladay, and Skip Schumaker's follow-up double quickly turned it into the only run scored in the game as Chris Carpenter delivered a virtuoso mound performance, blanking the Phillies on three hits to allow the Cardinals to advance to the NL championship series against Milwaukee.

Furcal and the rest of the Cardinals were tight in the field behind Carpenter's grinding work from the mound. The lanky St. Louis ace worked over the potent Philly lineup, fanning three without walking a batter, throwing 70 of 110 pitches to send the Phillies home for a winter of regret as the Cardinals take a flight to Milwaukee to carry on in the post-season.

American League

There were no AL games on Friday. The Rangers host the Tigers in game one of the league championship series Saturday at Arlington, Texas at 8:05 pm EDT.

Agony in Atlanta, Bummer in Beantown as Cardinals, Rays Win Wild Cards

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 28, 2011

American League

It was only fitting that Boston's September swoon get all the way to two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth inning before finally slipping away. The Red Sox bullpen had been in a sorry state of affairs month-long, and the season ended with closer Jonathan Papelbon hunched on the mound, watching helplessly as Nolan Reimold slid into home plate with the winning run for Baltimore, sending the Red Sox to their ninth loss in its last 11 games.

Moments later, Evan Longoria snuck a line drive over the short wall just inside the left field foul pole to complete a miraculous comeback from a 7-0 deficit to defeat the New York Yankees and capture the AL Wild Card. Boston would head home to witness the playoffs as spectators after going 7-20 in September, blowing a nine-game lead in the wild card card race.

The Rays and Red Sox entered the final day of the regular season tied for the final playoff spot, and, for a while, it appeared as though the Red Sox would hang on t a 3-2 lead in Baltimore as the Yankees were putting a hurting on Tampa, leading the Rays, 7-0 through eight innings.

It was not to be. While the Rays were scoring six runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to tie the Yankees at 7-7, the Red Sox and Orioles sat through a long rain delay in Baltimore, stopping their game in the middle of the seventh inning.

Longoria: 2 HRs send
Rays into playoffs

Boston's relievers clung to the 3-2 lead until the ninth when Papelbon came on for the save. After getting two outs in order, Papelbon surrendered a two-strike double to Chris Davis, followed by a ground rule double to center by Reimold that tied the game. When Robert Andino stroked a single to left that eluded a sliding Carl Craford, Reimold circled third and headed for the plate.

It wasn't close. The collapse was complete, the drama ended, as the Orioles won, 4-3.

The crowd at Tropicana Field erupted into a loud cheer when they saw the final score go up on the scoreboard. Evan Longoria stepped to the plate with the bases empty and one out in the bottom of the 12th inning. Earlier, Longoria socked an 8th inning three-run homer to get the Rays to within a run of the Yankees, as they scored six times in the frame. Dan Johnson hooked a drive just inside the right field foul pole with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

Longoria connected off the 11th Yankee pitcher of the night, Scott Proctor. His screaming line drive cleared the short wall in left field and his teammates greetd him at home plate as he rounded the bases with the walk-off, 8-7 winner, and a trip to Texas for the Rays, to face the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.

Tampa Bay will travel to Texas to face the Rangers in the first of their five game series beginning Friday afternoon at 5:07 pm EDT. The Yankees will host Detroit on Friday to begin their five game series with the Tigers. Game time is 8:37 pm EDT.


National League

Carpenter's 2-hit
shutout wins wild card

The National League offered just a little less drama. The Cardinals and Braves entered the day tied for the wild card spot, but St. Louis jumped all over Houston early, scoring five runs in the first inning to back the two-hit shutout thrown by Chris Carpenter in their 8-0 victory, securing at least a one-game playoff with the Braves.

Carpenter (11-9) was brilliant, throwing 76 of 105 pitches for strikes, walking one and striking out 11.

For most of their game, it looked as though the Braves would survive against the Phillies and face the Cards on Thursday, but the Phillies chipped into their 3-1 lead with a run in the 7th and tied it on Chase Utley's sac fly in the 9th.

The game wore on into the 13th inning, the Phillies having used nine pitchers. The Braves' eighth pitcher, Scott Linebrink, took the mound to start the 13th, but, after getting one out, walked B. Schneider and then got Jimmy Rollins to fly out to center for the second out. Chase Utley singled, sending Schneider to third and Hunter Pence delivered a single to right, plating Schneider with the go-ahead run.

Atlanta went meekly in the bottom of the inning. Chipper Jones struck out swinging for the first out, but Dan Uggla walked to give the Braves hope. The next batter, Freddie Freeman, grounded into a game-ending 3-6-3 double play, ending the Braves' season with a 4-3 loss, sending the Cardinals into the playoffs.

Atlanta's September was nearly as ugly as that of the Red Sox. The Braves won nine games but lost 18 during the month, surrendering a September 6th, 8 1/2 game lead to the Cardinals, who closed out the season with a 16-5 run.

St. Louis will play at Philadelphia on Saturday to open their five game series. Milwaukee hosts West division champion Arizona in the other five game series, also beginning on Saturday. Game times have yet to be announced.

Bautista, Encarnacion Lead Blue Jays to Wild, 11-10, Win over Red Sox; Carpenter Blanks Brewers, 2-0, on Four Hits

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 7, 2011

American League

With the Yankees losing to Baltimore, 5-4, in 11 innings during the afternoon, the Red Sox had an opportunity to pick up a game on the AL East leaders. After blanking the Blue Jays, 14-0, the day before, Boston players probably thought they had a shot at taking two straight with Tim Wakefield going to the mound.

Encarnacion: 5 RBI

Things didn't quite work out as the teams battled to an 11-10 decision in favor of Toronto, aided by Jose Bautista, who only had one hit (and it wasn't a home run) and some key contributions from streaky Edwin Encarnacion.

Bautista was such a thorn in the side of Boston pitchers that he was walked twice, but smacked a ground rule double in the third inning, but then proceeded, with two outs, to steal third base and home, boosting the Blue Jays' lead to 5-3 at the time.

Jose Bautista

The Red Sox scored four in the next half inning and another in the top of the 5th, putting themselves ahead 8-5, but Encarnacion, who drove in the first Toronto run with a sac fly in the first, struck back with an RBI single in the 7th and delivered a bases-loaded double in the 8th, plating three more to put the Jays up 11-8. Boston scored two more in the top of the 9th, falling a run short of tying the game.

Encarnacion went 2-for-4 with five RBI. Bautista was 1-for-2, with two steals, two runs and two RBI, giving him 94 on the year.

Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 12 games, going 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBI. His name being tossed around MVP discussions, Ellsbury is batting .316 (6th in the AL), with 25 home runs, 88 RBI and 36 steals (3rd in the AL). The Red Sox remained 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the division.

National League

Chris Carpenter

Time continues to work against the St. Louis Cardinals, though they're doing their best in what seems a futile effort to catch the Brewers in the NL Central.

The Cardinals took the rubber game of their three-game set with Milwaukee, winning 2-0, on the strength of Chris Carpenter's 4-hit shutout.

It was the righty's third complete game of the season and first shutout. Carpenter has thrown 14 shutouts in his 14-year major league career.

Evening his record at 9-9, Carpenter walked two and struck out five, needing only 97 pitches (64 strikes) to mow down the potent Brewer lineup. The Cardinals took the last two from Milwaukee, but still trail the Brewers by 8 1/2 games in the division. They did get some help from the Phillies in the wild card race, as they downed the Braves, 3-2, cutting their lead over St. Louis to 6 1/2 games.

Carpenter Tough in Debut; Markakis Energizes O's with 2 Dingers, 4 RBI

Players of the Day for Tuesday, March 1, 2011

American League

The Baltimore Orioles raked Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnanstine for 6 hits and 6 runs over two innings en route to a 12-6 rout of the reconstituted Rays.

Making matters worse, five of those six hits were homers, as Nick Markakis went yard twice off Sonnanstine, ending up with a super stat line: 3-for-3, two homers, 4 RBI and 2 runs.

The O's may do some damage this season to opposing pitchers, especially if Vladimir Guerrero - acquired from Texas via free agency - retains his form, and players such as catcher Matt Weiters and outfielder Adam Jones play up to their potential.

That Markakis will perform is a given. The five year pro has had enough hits in each of the last four seasons to land him in the top ten of the AL each of those years. He's a .298 career hitter and was fifth in the AL with 187 hits in 2010.

National League

The St. Louis Cardinals will be looking to rebound from a sub-par season and get back into the playoffs in 2011, and, judging by their performance in a 7-1 beat-down of the Marlins on Tuesday, they have the bats and the arms to make them a contender. St. Louis banged out 14 hits in the win and starter Chris Carpenter worked 2 2/3 solid innings, allowing just one hit and a walk, while fanning a pair.

Carpenter was 16-9 with a 3.22 ERA for the Cards last season and will be vital to their interests this time around, with fellow starter Adam Wainwright sidelined the entire season after elbow surgery. Carpenter is nursing a strained hamstring and is expected to miss a start during the Spring, though the injury doesn't seem to be one which will land him on the DL.

Bell Rings up a Pair as O's Win; Carpenter Keeps Giants Quiet

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 21, 2010 American League Since Buck Schowalter took over as manager of the Baltimore Orioles, there have been signs of life in Charm City. The O's are 12-7 with Buck at the helm and part of the reason for their success is that he allows players to play for extended stints, rather than constantly adjusting the lineup. One such player getting a chance is rookie third baseman Josh Bell, who pounded a pair of homers in Baltimore's 8-6 win over the Texas Rangers. Bell cracked a two-run shot in the 3rd inning and a three-run jack in the 4th, which put the O's up 7-2, and they never looked back. Bell has played in just 24 games this season, and is batting .244 with 2 homers (both hit on Saturday) and 9 RBI. National League With San Diego and Cincinnati both losing, the Cardinals and Giants each had equal opportunity to gain ground on their respective division leaders. The problem was that they were playing each other, and the Cardinals had ace starter Chris Carpenter on the mound. Carpenter did his thing, allowing just 5 hits and one earned run over 7 1/3 innings in a 5-1 St. Louis victory. Carpenter improved to 14-4 on the year, and the Cardinals moved back to within 3 1/2 games of the Reds. The loss kept the Giants five games behind the front-running Padres.

Carpenter Hammers Reds; Baker Cooks Tigers; Rockies Are Wild

Players of the Day for Thursday, October 1, 2009 American League Staving off elimination once more, the Minnesota Twins topped the Detroit Tigers in the finale of their four-game series with an 8-3 victory, earning a split and leaving the final playoff spot still undecided. Scott Baker gave the Twins the opportunity, working 5 strong innings. Baker (15-9) gave up 5 hits while walking 3. The Tigers scored an unearned run in the second inning, but the Twins were busy building a 4-1 lead after 4 and expanding it to 8-1 with a 4-run outburst in the top of the 8th. Baker struck out 3 and Minnesota used five relievers to secure the win. Detroit has three games remaining with the White Sox in Detroit. The Twins head back to the Metrodome to fill out the remaining schedule - three games with the KC Royals. Detroit leads the Twins by 2 games with 3 remaining. National League Chris Carpenter made the most of his final start of the season for St. Louis. Not only did the righty work five scoreless innings for his 17th win against just 4 losses, but he added some punch at the plate in the Cardinals' 13-0 tour de force. Not only did Carpenter gave up three hits, strike out six and walk one batter in his five-inning stint, his three plate appearances netted him 6 RBI with a grand slam homer in the 2nd and a two-run double in the 5th. Carpenter, along with teammate Adam Wainwright and San Francisco's Tim Lincecum, are the leading candidates for the NL Cy Young award. The win for the Cards was their 91st of the season, but they still trail Philadelphia and Los Angeles for the best record - and home field advantage - in the league. With three games remaining, the race is tight. LA leads at 93-66; Philly is a game back at 92-67, and the Cardinals one more behind at 91-68. NOTES: The Colorado Rockies secured the wild card slot in the National League with a 9-2 win over the Brewers, setting the stage for an intriguing 3-game series in Los Angeles with the Dodgers over the season's final weekend. Despite taking the wild card, the Rockies may not be completely satisfied with their position, two games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. The Rockies need a sweep of the three games to take the division, while the Dodgers need just one win to complete their dominating season. They've led the division continuously since June, only to watch their lead diminish gradually over the last two months as the Rockies caught fire. The two teams seem headed in opposite directions. The Rockies have won four straight; the Dodgers have been on the opposite side of the score their last four.

Teixeira Bombs Rays: Pena Out for Season; Carpenter Crafts One-Hitter

Players of the Day for Monday, September 7, 2009 American League After dropping three straight to Detroit, and falling almost completely out of the playoff race, the Tampa Bay Rays were officially pronounced dead after they dropped a double-header to the Yankees. Not only did their losing streak reach seven games, but their best power hitter, Carlos Pena, was lost for the season when he was hit by a C.C. Sabathia pitch in the first inning of game one, breaking two fingers. The Yankees, meanwhile took the first game, 4-1, as Mark Teixeira went 1-for-4, scoring half of the Yankee runs, and then put the final nail in Tampa's coffin with a 3-for-4 effort in the nightcap, blasting a pair of homers and a double, driving in four runs in an 11-1 Yankee triumph. Teixeira should be the biggest beneficiary from Pena being out for the remainder of 2009. Pena was leading the league in homers with 39; Teixeira's two on Monday ups his total to 35, second in the league, with dead aim on the lead. He also holds a 4 RBI edge over another Ray, Evan Longoria, with 106. Pena will finish with 100 RBI. With the two wins and a Boston loss, the Yankees increased their edge in the AL East to 9 games, with their magic number falling to 16. While it's pretty much a done deal for New York, the official clincher is very likely to occur against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium when the two division leaders meet for a three-game series, September 25-27. National League The hottest team in the National League over the past two weeks with a 12-3 record, the St. Louis Cardinals are streaking towards another Central division crown. Taking the mound on Monday was ace Chris Carpenter, in search of his 16th win against just 3 losses. Carpenter has not lost a game since June 30, and won his 12th straight decision (in 14 starts) with a 1-hit gem over the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-0. The only hit off Carpenter was a 5th inning double by Jody Gerut, as the St. Louis ace racked up 10 Ks, walking just 2 batters for his third complete game and first 2009 shutout. Carpenter needed only 99 pitches, facing just two over the minimum in the whitewash. A leading contender for his second Cy Young award (2005), Carpenter leads the league with a 2.16 ERA, is second to teammate Adam Wainwright (17) in wins and has struck out 129 batters while walking just 30, for a K-BB ratio of better than 4:1. The St. Louis win improved their lead to 11 1/2 over the Cubs in the division, the largest bulge in the majors. The Cardinals' magic number is now 14. NOTES: While the Cardinals are running away in the Central division, the East, West and wild card are far from settled. In the East, the Phillies still lead the Marlins by 6 games, though they have lost four in a row. Florida simply refuses to go away and if they can cut into Philly's lead a little over the next two weeks, things could get very interesting as the two teams play each other six times in the last two weeks. Philly visits Florida for a double-header on Sept. 22 and a single game the 23rd, and the Marlins close out the season with 3 at Philadelphia, October 2, 3 and 4. Florida still has hopes for the wild card as well, 5 1/2 behind Colorado. The Rockies, leading the wild card by 2 games over the Giants, may have designs on the NL West title, as they remain just 3 1/2 behind the Dodgers. The Giants seem to be the wildest of the wild card hopefuls with an important stretch just ahead. They began a 9-game homestand with a 9-4 win over the Padres yesterday, with newly-acquired Brad Penny picking up the win. This weekend, they host the Dodgers for three games and then the Rockies for three. After a day off on the 17th, they travel down the coast for their final series with the Dodgers, on September 18, 19 and 20. Should the Giants maintain their position or improve upon it over this testing stretch, they could find themselves in a garden spot, closing out the season with six games against Arizona, four with the Cubs and three more with the Padres. From all appearances, three of the four National League races are just about to get very, very interesting.

Youkilis Delivers 6 As Sox Crush Yanks; Carpenter Nails Down Padres

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 22, 2009 American League The Boston Red Sox exacted a little bit of revenge on Saturday for Friday's 20-11 beat-down by the Yankees, returning the favor with a 14-1 slaughter of their own. Balls were flying around and out of Fenway Park with regularity, as 11 of the Red Sox's 15 hits went for extra bases - four of them homers. Knocking a pair over the Green Monster and adding an RBI double to his mix, Kevin Youkilis led the assault with 6 RBI on the night, upping his batting average to .308, his RBI total to 72 and his homer count to 22. Youkilis had 29 homers and 115 RBI in 2008, his best season as a pro, and is on pace for another solid campaign. Having shifted back to third base, where he is more comfortable and won a gold glove in 2007, Youk may begin belting with more authority, as the Sox battle for the wild card. Boston's win, coupled with the Rangers losing to the Rays, gave the Sox a 2-game edge over Texas, with the Rays one further back. Boston concludes their series with the Yankees Sunday at Fenway. National League The way the Cardinals are playing and Chris Carpenter is pitching, St. Louis could be heading to the World Series and Carpenter for his second Cy Young award (he won it once, in 2005). While the Cubs were losing their third straight to the Dodgers, Carpenter was holding the Padres scoreless over 7 innings, allowing 3 hits while walking 3 and fanning 6. Carpenter (14-3) cruised to the 7-0 win as the Cards dealt out 14 hits, the starter getting one of those himself. Leading the NL in ERA at 2.12, Carpenter is also tied with Colorado's (and former Cardinal) Jason Marquis and teammate Adam Wainwright for the league lead in wins with 14. The win pushed the Cardinal edge in the division to 8 games over the Cubs, 9 over Houston and 9 1/2 over Milwaukee. The Central division, which was a toss-up at the all star break has been all St. Louis since. The Cardinals went 8-7 in the last half of July, but are putting everything together in August, with a 14-5 record thus far. The addition of Matt Holliday to the regular lineup and the continued solid pitching of Carpenter and Wainwright have virtually assured St. Louis of the division title.

Swisher Leads Yanks to 1st Win; Carpenter Gets 1st Win Since '06

Players of the Day for Thursday, April 9, 2009 American League The Yankees avoided being swept by the Orioles and got their first win of the season Thursday, pounding out 13 hits in an 11-2 win at Baltimore. Three of those hits came off Nick Swisher's bat, as he mashed a two-run homer in the 4th, singled in another in the 6th and, for good measure, doubled in two more in the 9th, giving him 5 RBI while upping his batting average to .667. Swisher, who started his major league career with Oakland, spent a somewhat disappointing season - batting just .219 - with the White Sox in 2008 before coming over to New York. National League The St. Louis Cardinals evened their record at 2-2 with a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh and may have something cooking in the NL Central if Chris Carpenter stays healthy and returns to the form of 2004-2006, when he went a combined 51-18. Carpenter pitched only 21 innings in 2006 and 2007, but had everything working in his seven innings of work Thursday, allowing just one hit while walking 2 and fanning 7. The run allowed was unearned, making Carpenter's first win in two years about as good as anyone could have expected.