Arizona Downs Miami On Chris Iannetta's Slam, 8 RBI; Justin Verlander Leads 3-0 Houston Win

Players of the Day for Friday, September 22, 2017

American League

Verlander: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

Having already clinched the AL West, the Houston Astros are still fighting for the best record in the AL, which would give them home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Aiding that cause was their 3-0 win over the Angels Friday, which incidentally left the LA squad with five straight losses and a 3 1/2 game deficit in the race for the second wild card.

Justin Verlander (14-8) had one of his best starts of the season for Houston, tossing seven innings of shutout ball on one hit, walking two and fanning six.

At 34, Verlander has been doing what a veteran hurler should, winning games. Since the all-star break, he's 9-1 and Friday's outing was his fifth straight win. The last four of those wins have come in September, after being traded from the Tigers to the Astros, allowing just two runs in 28 innings, with an ERA of 0.64.

The AL MVP and Cy Young award winner in 2011, Verlander appears ready for the playoffs, regardless of where the games occur. Houston's win and a 3-1 loss by Cleveland to Seattle left the Tribe 1 1/2 games to the good over Houston for the league's best record. The Indians are 96-58; Houston stands at 94-59. The Astros have won eight of their last 10. Both have already clinched their divisions.

The Astros will try to cut into that gap when they meet the Angels in game two of their series in LA, Saturday at 1:05 pm ET.

National League

Iannetta: 2HR, GS, 8RBI

Arizona came closer to clinching the top wild card spot as catcher Chris Iannatta drove in eight runs with a pair of homers and an RBI single for a 13-11 win over the Miami Marlins.

The Diamondbacks lead Colorado by six games in the wild card standings with eight left to play.

In a wild contest that saw seven home runs and the lead change hands five times, Iannatta was at the center of the action, ripping a three-run homer in the first inning, delivering an RBI single in the second and cracking a grand slam in the sixth that put the Diamondbacks ahead for good.

The slam was Iannetta's third in his 12-year major league career, helping him notch a career high with eight RBI. He has 16 homers and 42 RBI in 85 games this season.

Colorado kept pace with a 4-1 win at San Diego and the Cardinals overtook Milwaukee by 1/2 game as they won their fourth straight. St. Louis trails the Rockies by 1 1/2 games for the final wild card.

Arizona can get closer to clinching when they meet the Marlins in game two of their three-game set, Saturday, at 8:10 pm ET in Miami.

Gary Sanchez Homers Twice As Yanks Bomb Red Sox; Arizona's Chris Iannetta Delivers 7 In Rout Of Padres

Players of the Day for Thursday, June 8, 2017

American League

Sanchez: 2 HR, 5 RBI

While Michael Pineda was keeping the Boston Red Sox off the base paths, allowing no earned runs on four hits over seven innings, fanning eight, his battery-mate was doing all the scoring the Yankees would need in a 9-1 rout.

Taking the rubber game of their three-game series, catcher Gary Sanchez was busy providing souvenirs to the outfield seating patrons with a pair of home runs.

Sanchez, who missed nearly a month in April, socked his seventh and eight bombs of the season - both of Boston starter David Price - a three-run homer in the third and a two-run blast in the fifth. Sanchez earlier scored the first of the Yankee runs by walking and scoring on a Brett Gardner single in the opening frame.

The win cemented New York's position as the top team in the AL East division, leading the Red Sox by three games and Baltimore by 3 1/2. The Yankees host Baltimore in the opener of a three-game series on Friday, 7:35 pm ET. The Red Sox also head home, to host three with the Detroit Tigers.

National League

With a record of 37-25, trailing the Rockies by two games in the NL West, it's safe to say the Arizona Diamondbacks are for real.

Iannetta: 3-for-5, 7 RBI

One would get no dispute from division rival San Diego, who just dropped three straight to the Diamondbacks, losing the finale by a whopping 15-3 margin.

Doing more than his fair share of the damage was catcher Chris Iannetta, who went 3-for-5, scored three times and knocked in seven runs.

The Padres actually held a 3-2 lead after four innings, but that was before Iannetta began his batting barrage. In the fifth, Iannetta launched his eighth homer of the year, with a man aboard, putting Arizona up, 4-3. In the middle of a six-run sixth, he belted a bases-loaded double to right, and, in the eighth, Iannetta doubled again, this time plating a pair.

The victory was the third straight over San Diego, which Arizona won by a combined score of 32-9.

Arizona hosts NL Central leader Milwaukee Friday in the opener of a three-game series. Game time is 6:40 pm PT.

David Price Blanks BoSox for 8 as Tampa Wins; Gonzalez, Ianetta lead Rockies Rout

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 17, 2011

American League

David Price

A week ago, the Boston Red Sox were just cruising along, fresh off taking two of three from the Yankees and looking unbeatable in the AL East.

Somebody must have collectively pinched the Boston players, awakening them to the fact that it's only the middle of August, because after taking two straight from the Twins, they lost the series finale and began a little skid in which they've now lost four of six and first place belongs to the Yankees.

With David Ortiz sitting, David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays took advantage of Boston's weakness, beating them 4-0, to pull to within 8 1/2 of New York and 8 games behind Boston, currently the wild card leader.

Price, in complete control throughout his eight scoreless innings, limited the Red Sox to three hits and three walks while fanning six. His mound work was rewarded by solo homers from Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton. Ben Zobrist bolstered the attack with two RBI.

The Yankees lost, 5-4, in Kansas City, but maintained their 1/2 game edge over Boston.

National League

Chris Iannetta

Carlos Gonzalez

Trailing Arizona by 12 games in the NL West, with the Giants sitting in second place, just 2 1/2 out, the Colorado Rockies probably don't have much chance of making the post-season this year, but they took no time to show the Florida Marlins the kind of offensive fireworks they can produce.

The Rockies scored five first inning runs and scored six more in the third, en route to a thorough, 12-5 rout of the visiting Marlins.

Chris Iannetta socked a bases-loaded double in the first inning for three RBI and singled home another run in the third inning. Carlos Gonzalez singled in a first inning run and scored, then smacked his 20th home run in the third inning, with two men aboard.

The Rockies took two of three from Florida. After a day off Thursday, they open a three-game home series with the LA Dodgers on Friday.

Corey Patterson Stars for Blue Jays; Chris Iannetta Exacts Rockies Revenge

Players of the Day for Saturday, May 28, 2011

American League

As a guy with 212 steals and a lifetime batting average of .254, Corey Patterson has found himself batting in just about every slot - from leadoff to the bottom of the order - in his 11-year major league career. Now with his sixth different team, the speedy outfielder may have found the sweetest spot of all, batting second, right in front of Toronto's Jose Bautista, and on Saturday he made the most of it.

Corey Patterson

In Toronto's 9-8, 14-inning win over the White Sox, Bautista did his part, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs, including his 20th home run of the season, a three-run, 1st inning blast.

Patterson was seeing the best pitches, however, going 5-for-7 and scoring four times. The first four hits off Patterson's bats were all singles; the last one came in the 14th, a leadoff, walk-off solo homer hit deep into the right field seats, giving the Blue Jays their second straight win over the still-struggling Sox.

With the win, the Blue Jays hung in the AL East race, 3 1/2 games behind Boston. The White Sox have much work to do in order to get back into contention in the Central, however. They are in 4th place, trailing Cleveland by 9 1/2 games.

Patterson, by the way, is having possibly his best years at the plate, batting .287 with 21 RBI and 25 runs.

National League

Chris Iannetta

After being pounded by the Cardinals, 10-3, on Friday, the Colorado Rockies were looking for a little payback on Saturday in the second of their three game series with St. Louis.

Thanks to catcher Chris Iannetta, they got plenty of it.

The five year veteran led an 18 hit attack with two homers as the Rockies buried the Cardinals, 15-4, but just two home runs doesn't tell Iannetta's entire story. He also had two singles, going 4-for-5 at the plate, driving in six runs.

His 1st inning single highlighted a six run uprising, bringing around two runs, and both homers were two run shots, his 6th in the 4th inning and his 7th of the season in the 8th, completing the Colorado scoring.

The Cards are probably not going to take it too hard as they still lead the NL Central by 2 1/2 games, though the Brewers did get one game closer by topping the Giants, 3-2. The Rockies are in third place, 3 back in the West, though Arizona has sliced San Francisco's lead to a mere 1/2 game. The Diamondbacks hammered Houston, 11-3.