Max Scherzer Wins 21st, Tigers Clinch AL Central; Daisuke Matsuzaka Goes 7 2/3 Scoreless as Mets Down Reds, 1-0

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 25, 2013

American League

Max Scherzer won his 21st game of the season and the Detroit Tigers took the AL Central pennant with a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Scherzer: 21-3

It was the third straight division title for the Tigers who seek a return to the World Series after losing last season to the San Francisco Giants.

On the road at Target Field in Minneapolis, Scherzer, 21-3, allowed just two hits in seven scoreless innings, struck out 10, but issued six walks. Regardless of the excessive bases on balls, Scherzer's performance capped off one of the finest seasons for a pitcher in some time. With his pitch count at 123, manager Jim Leyland decided to sit Scherzer after seven innings, leaving the rest of the game in the hands of the bullpen.

Jose Veras and Drew Smyly got the Tigers through the eighth and Joaquin Benoit nailed down the pennant-clinching win with his 24th save, striking out two in a hitless ninth inning.

Scherzer will be the only pitcher in the AL with 20 or more wins. The next-closest are Bartolo Colon and C.J. Wilson, each with 17. In the NL, there are no 20-game winners. Jordan Zimmermann failed in his attempt to win his 20th in a 4-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Looking like a solid choice for the AL Cy Young award, in addition to the gaudy, 21-3 record, Scherzer is fifth in the AL in ERA, at 2.90 and second to Texas' Yu Darvish in strikeouts, with 240 in 214 1/3 innings. His 0.97 WHIP is tops among AL hurlers.

Elsewhere in the AL, Tampa Bay eliminated the New York Yankees from playoff contention with an 8-3 win in New York. Kansas City also fell out of the wild card race, losing 6-0 in Seattle. Cleveland, a 7-2 winner over the White Sox holds the second wild card, a game behind the Rays. Texas continued to keep its hopes alive with a 7-3 win over Houston. The Rangers trail the Indians by one game. The Rays and Indians have each won six straight.

NOTABLE: Will Middlebrooks drove in seven runs with a pair of homers - a three-run shot and a grand slam - as Boston hammered the Rockies, 15-5. The Red Sox should finish with the AL's best record. They are 96-63, holding a two-game edge over Oakland with just three games left to play.

AL Wild Card Standings (through 9/25)

Team	GB
Tampa Bay	+1
Cleveland	--
Texas	-1

National League

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Cincinnati fell to four games behind St. Louis in the NL Central and remained one game behind Pittsburgh for the wild card as Daisuke Matsuzaka shut the Reds out on four hits over 7 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out six.

Matsuzaka missed most of the season due to injury, but returned to the Mets in late August. In seven starts, he's compiled a 3-3 record.

The Mets topped the Reds for the second time in the three-game series which closed out Wednesday. Matt Latos (14-7) gave up four hits over seven innings, but allowed a third-inning run, taking the loss as the Mets' bullpen preserved the 1-0 victory.

Pittsburgh also lost, 4-2, to the Cubs, keeping the Reds just one back. Al three Central Division leaders - Cardinals, Reds and Pirates - have already clinched playoff spots. The final three games of the season will determine positioning, though the Cardinals need just one more win or one more Pittsburgh loss to secure the division title.

Today's Trivia: The modern (since 1900) NL record for strikeouts in one season by a pitcher is 382. Who holds that distinction? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Don Drysdale led the NL in strikeouts three times, Sandy Koufax, four times, but Steve Carlton led the league in strikeouts five times, all with the Phillies.

Wallace Slams O's in Astro Win; Dice-K Sharp for Beantown

Players of the Day for Tuesday, March 15, 2010

American League

It took Boston and Detroit 10 innings to settle their differences, with the Red Sox coming out on top, 2-1.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Tigers' starter Justin Verlander and Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K) hooked up in a fine pitching duel, with Verlander gong 5 1/3 innings, surrendering a run in the 4th frame. Matsuzaka went five full, allowed just two hits, fanned five and issued one walk.

Sidelined parts of the past two seasons with injuries, Matsuzaka went 9-6 with the Red Sox in 2010, but seeks to regain his 2008 form, when he went 18-3 with a 2.80 ERA, holding opposing batters to a .211 batting average.

The Red Sox improved to 11-8 in the Grapefruit League with the win. Detroit is in third place with a 13-8 record.

Brett Wallace

National League

Brett Wallace played in 51 games for the Houston Astros in 2010, almost all of them after the organization let Lance Berkman go to the Yankees in late July. Wallace wasn't very impressive, batting .222 with two homers and 16 RBI, but in Tuesday's 14-8 win over the Orioles, Wallace unloaded on Baltimore pitching, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and a grand slam home run, driving in seven runs for the Astros.

While Wallace had a great day at the plate, he'll need to keep it up in order to become Houston's regular first baseman. In 12 Spring games, he's batting .350, so he's on the right path.

Dodgers Blast Cards on DeWitt 5-RBI; Dice-K Not Nice to Indians

Players of the Day for Monday, June 7, 2010 American League With the Rays, Blue Jays and Yankees taking a day off, the Boston Red sox took advantage of the opportunity to tighen up the race in the AL East by topping the Cleveland Indians, 4-1, pulling into sole possession of third place, 4 games behind the Rays, but just 1/2 game ahead of Toronto. The Sox amassed only eight hits and four runs off a quartet of Cleveland hurlers, but it was more than enough, as Daisuke Matsuzaka turned in a solid performance, tossing eight scoreless innings at the Indians, allowing just 4 hits and a pair of harmless walks while fanning five. By the time Dice-K was done, all there was left to do was hand the ball over to Daniel Bard, who mopped up what remained of the Indians, but not before Austin Kearns spanked a solo homer in the 9th for the sole Cleveland run. Matsuzaka, who spent all of April on the disabled list, improved to 5-2, lowering his ERA to 4.59, though he's given up just six earned runs over his last four starts (3 wins, 1 loss), a span of 29 1/3 innings. National League While the San Diego Padres were taking care of Philly, 3-1, they may have been looking over their shoulders at the fast-charging Dodgers, winners of 7 of their last 9, who welcomed the St. Louis Cardinals to the West coast with a 12-4 demonstration of the art of hitting. Every position player in the lineup had at least one hit, as LA wrecked a pair of Cardinal hurlers for 14 hits, getting exactly 7 hits, 3 walks and 6 runs off both starter Blake Hawksworth and long reliever P.J. Walters, both of whom worked four innings. Going 2-for-5 with a three-run homer and five RBI was second baseman Blake DeWitt, who also drove in runs with a single and a sac fly. The home run was the first of the season for DeWitt, and the five RBI a career high. DeWitt has had two hits in each of his last three games. The win kept Los Angeles just 1/2 game behind the Padres, who have held first place in the NL West longer than anyone could have imagined at the start of the season.

Dice-K Leads Boston to Game 1 Win; Myers Drives Phillies to 2-0 Series Lead

Players of the Day from Friday, October 10, 2008 American League Championship Series Boston 2 Tampa Bay 0 Daisuke Matsuzaka got the Red Sox off to an excellent start and a 1-0 lead in the NLCS, with a 7 inning, 2-hit, shutout performance as the Red Sox slipped by the Rays, 2-0. Matsuzaka was unhittable through the sixth inning before giving up a pair of hits in the 7th. Jed Lowrie drove in Jason Bay with a sac fly in the 5th and Kevin Youkilis - who went 3-for-4 with a single and two doubles - drove in Dustin Pedroia with the game's only other run with an 8th inning double. Notes: Game 2 is Saturday night in Boston at 8:07 pm EDT. Boston starts Josh Beckett against the Rays' Scott Kazmir. National League Championship Series Brett Myers didn't pitch particularly well, allowing 5 runs over 5 innings, but he keyed a couple of rallies - going 3-for-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs - as he and his fellow Phillies got to Chad Billingsley early and took a 2-0 series lead with an 8-5 win over the Dodgers. Shane Victorino drove in four runs with a single in the 2nd and a two-out triple in the 3rd inning. Manny Ramirez delivered a 3-run homer for LA in the 4th, but that was the last score for either team. Brad Lidge kept his 2008 saves streak intact with his 45th consecutive without blowing one. Lidge struck out the side in the 9th, but not without adding some drama by walking Ramirez to start the inning and James Loney with one out. Notes: The teams take Saturday off to travel out to LA, where they will play game 3, Sunday night at 8:22 pm EDT. Hiroki Kuroda starts for the Dodgers, Jamie Moyer heads to the mound for Philadelphia.

Dice-K Wins 18th for Red Sox; Fielder Brings Brewers Back

Players of the Day from Sunday, September 21, 2008 National League The Milwaukee Brewers have stumbled through most of September, compiling a 4-15 record until Prince Fielder broke out on Sunday with his 33d home run in the first inning and a two-run double in the 4th, leading the Brewers to an 8-1 win over the Reds. The win - coupled with the Mets' 7-6 loss to Atlanta - left the Brew crew 1 1/2 games behind the New Yorkers in the wild card race. The Phillies inched closer to their second straight NL East title with a 5-2 win over Florida. Philly leads the Mets by 1 1/2 and Florida by 6 1/2. Notes: The West tightened again as the Dodgers lost, 1-0, in 12 innings, to San Francisco while Arizona enjoyed a rare power surge in their 13-4 win at Colorado. The Dodgers lead the Diamondbacks by 2 1/2 games. LA has just 6 games left to play; Arizona, 7. American League Having conceded nothing in the AL East race Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2) shut down the Toronto Blue Jays on 2 hits over 7 innings, pulling the Red Sox to just 1 1/2 behind the Rays as Boston beat back Toronto, 3-0, entering the final week of the regular season. The Rays lost, 4-1, to the Twins, but time is running out on Minnesota. Chicago lowered their magic number to 5, topping Kansas City, 3-0. They lead the Twins by 2 1/2 games, but the Twins get one final shot as the White Sox visit Minnesota for a 3-game series, Tuesday through Thursday. Notes: In storybook fashion, the Yankees ended their stay at Yankee Stadium with a win, beating the Orioles, 7-3. Through the years, the "House that Ruth Built" has hosted no-hitters and home run hitters, playoff and World Series magic, in addition to football, boxing, concerts and papal visitations. A home to presidents and players alike, Yankee Stadium - though it will be torn down this fall - remains engraved in not only baseball history, but the history of our nation and the world. Farewell, old friend. It's been fun.

Dice-K Overpowers ChiSox; Atkins Diet Includes Pair of Homers

Players of the Day from Friday, August 29, 2008 American League Daisuke Matsuzaka improved to 16-2 as he 2-hit Central-division leader Chicago over 8 innings, leading to an 8-0 rout by the Red Sox. Boston holds a 2 1/2 game lead in the wild card race over Minnesota, now 1/2 behind the White Sox in the Central, so any wins over either of those teams aids Boston's cause greatly. The Red Sox continue to trail Tampa Bay by 4 1/2 in the East. The Rays notched a 14-3 win over Baltimore Friday night. Notes: The Angels have run away in the West, and, despite taking a 3-1 loss to Texas on Friday, still lead the division by 17 games. Their magic number is 11 and the Angels could clinch by next weekend. National League Garrett Atkins socked a three-run homer in the 3rd inning and a two-run shot in the 9th to seal a 9-4 win for Colorado over San Diego and keep the Rockies in the NL West hunt, 6 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. The homers were the 17th and 18th for Atkins. Arizona handed LA their 8th straight loss, 9-3, dropping the Dodgers to 4 1/2 back. Notes: Chicago maintained their 6 1/2 game lead over Milwaukee in the Central, with a 3-2 win over the Phillies, while Milwaukee beat down Pittsburgh, 3-1. The Mets helped themselves as Carlos Beltran drove in all five runs with a grand slam and an RBI single in a 5-4 win over the Marlins. The Mets are 2 games better than Philly and 7 up on Florida.

Hey, Rockies, It's OVER!

Boston 10 Colorado 5 - The Boston Red Sox took a commanding 3-0 lead in the World Series on Saturday - a lead that has never been overcome. Of the 22 teams that have established the same margin, 19 have won game 4. None have lost four straight. So it would appear, that after winning 21 of 22 games to get to the World Series, the Colorado Rockies have run into a buzzsaw of a team in Boston. The Red Sox have outscored Colorado 25-7 in the three games and unless their pitching and hitting goes completely into limbo, they are going to be the 2007 champs. In Saturday's game, the Sox got on the board early, with 6 runs in a fateful third inning, highlighted by Daisuke Matsuzaka's (right) two-run single. Matsuzaka also kept the Rockies at bay from the mound, hurling shutout ball over 5 innings, before walking Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins with one out in the 6th. Reliever Jose Lopez came in and immediately gave up run-scoring singles to Brad Hawpe and Yorvit Torreabla before getting out of the inning. Lopez allowed a pair of singles in the 7th and was replaced on the mound by Hideki Okajima, who was immediately blasted by Matt Holliday's three-run homer. All of a sudden it was 6-5, but that was as close as the Rockies would get. Boston put up 3 more in the 8th and another run in the 9th. Jonathan Papelbon came on with 2 outs in the 8th and put the Rockies to rest, but not before allowing a two-out triple by Hawpe.

Glendale Golfs Manitoba
Glendale Manitoba Golf Winnipeg Golfs.
www.glendalegolfs.com

As exciting as the Rockies made it - for half an inning - this game was, like the others before it, all about Boston. Jacoby Ellsbury, who won't technically be a rookie until next season, made the most of his promotion to the leadoff spot in the lineup with 3 doubles and a single in 5 at-bats, scoring twice and driving in a pair. Boston's other rookie, Dustin Pedroia, was 3-5 with a double and two RBI. Game four is Sunday night, with first pitch scheduled for 8:29. After Saturday's world series record, 4 hour and 19 minute marathon, viewers and fans hope that starters Jon Lester (Boston) and Aaron Cook (Colorado) throw plenty of strikes.

Dice-K Blanks Tribe; Maine Leads Mets with Arm, Bat

American League The Red Sox remain the team to beat in the AL. with a combined 19-14 record against the Yankees, Mariners, Tigers, Angels and Indians, though the Mariners (4-2) and Tigers (4-3) hold a winning edge thus far over Boston. Including yesterday's game, the Sox are 4-1 against the Indians, 7-5 vs. the Yankees and 3-0 against the Angels. Boston's 61-39 record is the best in the majors and they lead the Yankees by the largest margin of any division, 7 1/2 games. Boston 1 Cleveland 0 - The Boston Red Sox continued their dominance over other contenders (and pretenders) in the American League, as Daisuke Matsuzaka (12-7, right) outdueled C.C. Sabathia (13-5), the only run of the game coming in the 4th inning, when Mike Lowell singled home Kevin Youkilis. Matsuzaka allowed just 4 hits over 7 innings, walking 3 and striking out 5. Sabathia allowed five hits, struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. Johnathan Papelbon picked up his 23rd save with a perfect 9th. Minnesota 0 Toronto 7 - The Twins continued their slow slide in the Central division, now 8 1/2 games behind Detroit (they actually picked up 1/2 game as Detroit dropped a pair to the White Sox), as Dustin McGowan (7-5) blanked them over 7 1/3 innings, getting the Blue Jays to an even 50 wins and 50 losses for the season. Detroit 3 Chi White Sox 5 - Paul Konerko's 6th inning 2-run homer provided the winning margin for the White Sox in the first half of their double-dip with Detroit. It was Konerko's 22nd home run of the season. Detroit 7 Chi White Sox 8 - The Tigers' bullpen blew a 6-1 lead as Jim Thome's 17th home run - a 3-run, 7th inning blast - highlighted a rally as the Sox scored 2 in the 6th, 3 in the 7th and 2 more in the 8th. Despite the twin losses, Detroit remains the AL Central leader, 1 1/2 clear of Cleveland. Other AL Scores Seattle 1 Texas 2 Seattle 3 Texas 4 - Mariners lose 5th straight Tampa Bay 0 Baltimore 3 NY Yankees 9 Kansas City 4 - Yankees have won 5 straight Oakland 4 LA Angels 3 National League Pittsburgh 4 NY Mets 8 - John Maine (right) allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits over 7 innings and cracked a 2-run homer in the 4th inning to aid his own cause as the Mets won for the 4th time in their last 5 games. Maine improved to 11-5, and the Mets retained their 3-game lead over Atlanta. New York will look to expand their edge this week as they have 2 more games with the Pirates before hosting a four-game set with the last place Nationals over the weekend. Chi Cubs 4 St. Louis 3 - Carlos Zambrano (13-7) became the NL's first 13-game winner and the Cubs remain 3 behind Milwaukee in NL Central. Aramis Ramirez continued his red-hot play, going 4-5, for his 5th multi-hit game in his last 9, boosting his batting average to .321. Over that span, he's driven in 13 runs. Other NL Scores Washington 3 Philadelphia 4 Milwaukee 5 Cincinnati 3 - F. Cordero, S (32), leads majors LA Dodgers 4 Houston 7 San Diego 5 Colorado 3 - Padres trail Dodgers by 1 in NL West Florida 3 Arizona 9 Atlanta 7 San Francisco 5, 13 innings - B. Bonds, 1-5, no home runs

Bonds Gets Closer; Dice-K Stops D-Rays

American League Minnesota 0 NY Yankees 8 - The Yankees got back into 2nd place as Toronto lost at Oakland. Still, the Bombers continue to trail the Red Sox by 11 games in the AL East and are 7 1/2 behind Detroit for the Wild Card spot. Chien-Ming Wang gave up 4 hits over seven innings for his 8th win against 4 losses. Tampa Bay 1 Boston 4 - Daisuke Matsuzaka (right) tossed 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 9 Devil Rays. Jonathan Papelbon finished up in the 9th, giving up a home run to Carlos Pena, the only Tampa Bay score of the game. Matusaka improved to 10-5. Cleveland 5 Detroit 4, 11 innings - Corey Blake smacked his 12 homer in the top of the 11th to give Cleveland their first lead of the game and Joe Borowski made it stand up, mowing down the Tigers in order in the bottom half of the inning for his 25th save. The Tribe has won 6 in a row and lead the Tigers by 3 games in the AL Central. Seattle 3 Kansas City 17 - Rookie Billy Butler singled, doubled and homered in 5 at-bats, driving in 6 runs and scoring 4 times as the Royals tied their season-high run output and scored in double digits for the 6th time this season. They took their second straight from the Mariners and are 7-3 over their last 10 games. Other AL Scores Baltimore 1 Chi White Sox 5 LA Angels 3 Texas 8 Toronto 1 Oakland 3 National League San Francisco 3 Cincinnati 7 - Barry Bonds cracked career home run #751, and needs just 5 more to break Hank Aaron's record. As usual, Bonds' blast was not enough to get the Giants a win. At 35-46, San Fran has a better record than only the Reds and Nationals, and the Reds have already fired their manager. Chi Cubs 3 Washington 1 - Chicago picked up another game on Milwaukee as the Brewers were losing in Pittsburgh. Carlos Zambrano was on his game again, allowing just one earned in 6 2/3 innings on 3 hits and 4 walks, striking out 8 to improve to 10-6. Other NL Scores NY Mets 3 Colorado 11 - R. Spilborghs, GS HR (4) Philadelphia 4 Houston 5, 13 innings - H. Pence, 3-6, GW HR (10) Arizona 7 St. Louis 1 Milwaukee 2 Pittsburgh 6 Florida 6 San Diego 4 Atlanta 6 LA Dodgers 7 - Dodgers and Padres tied for NL West lead

Matsuzaka Shines for Sox; NL MVP in a Slump

Thursday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops National League Last year's NL MVP, Phillies' 1st baseman Ryan Howard is off to a slow start and his team is suffering for it, having lost three straight at home to Atlanta, including last night's 8-4 drubbing. Howard has just 2 hits in 11 at-bats, 4 walks, 4 K's and no RBI. His batting average is a modest .182. In 4 official plate appearances on Thursday, Howard stranded 6 runners, not the kind of performance that earned him the league's top honor. San Francisco's Matt Morris opened his 2007 campaign with a 6-inning, 5-hit performance en route to a Giants 5-3 win. Morris allowed just one earned run and 2 walks. The 32-year old right hander was acquired from St. Louis before the 2006 season and went 10-15 in 33 starts for the Giants last year. American League The Boston Red Sox paid $103 million to lure Daisuke Matsuzaka (right) from Japan, and judging by his first outing, they seem to have made a solid investment. Matsuzaka pitched 7 solid innings and got his first major league win, 4-1, over Kansas City. Matsuzaka struck out 10, allowing 6 hits, a walk and one earned run, that a homer off the bat of David DeJesus. Boston won the final two games of their three-game series with the Royals after dropping the opener. Mike Piazza went 3 for 5 with a double and a ninth-inning, game-winning solo home run, staking the Oakland A's to a 4-3 road win over the LA Angels. Piazza, who played many years behind the plate for the Mets and Dodgers, now bats as the DH for Oakland, usually in the cleanup spot.