Andy Pettitte, Russell Martin Lead 7-0 Win over Rays; Atlanta's Tim Hudson, Dan Uggla Top Marlins, 11-0

Players of the Day for Tuesday, June 5, 2012

American League

Andy Pettitte

It's all tied up again atop the AL East as Baltimore took an 8-6, 10-inning win at Boston and Andy Pettitte shut out the Rays over 7 1/3 innings, propelling the Yankees to a 7-0 win over Tampa Bay.

Russell Martin

The O's and Rays share the lead, with the Yanks one half back, Toronto two out and Boston back in last place, but only three games from the lead.

Pettitte allowed just two hits, fanned 10 and walked a pair en route to his third win against two losses since joining the Yanks in mid-May.

Pettitte's battery mate, Russell Martin, went 3-for-4 with a grand slam homer in the fourth inning against Rays' stater James Shields, pacing the offense.

Game two of the three-game set is scheduled for 7:05 pm EDT, Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.


National League

Uggla: 4-5 2HR 5 RBI

Bryce Harper singled home Jose Flores with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th innings, as Washington held onto first place in the NL East with a 7-6 win over the Mets.

Earlier in the evening, Atlanta did themselves and the Nats a favor, knocking off the Marlins, 11-0, in Miami. The results left Washington with a one game lead over Miami, with the Mets 1 1/2 back, Atlanta two behind and Philadelphia, the only team in the division under .500, five down.

Tim Hudson

Second baseman Dan Uggla socked a pair of home runs, singled, doubled, scored three times and drove in five runs for the Braves, who took the opener of their three-game series with the Marlins. Uggla went 4-for-5, raising his RBI total to 37 on the season, good for fifth in the NL, behind LA's Andre Ethier, who leads with 46. Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez has 45.

Tim Hudson pitched a complete game, five-hitter for the Braves, his fourth win vs. two losses. His 25th career complete game and 13th shutout, Hudson walked three and struck out the same number.

The Braves and Marlins square off Wednesday night in Miami at 7:10 pm EDT.

Ervin Santana Sets Down Blue Jays; Uggla Homers Twice, Streak at 32 Games

Players of the Day for Friday, August 12, 2011

American League

At the start of the season, the AL West looked every bit like it would turn into a showdown between the Angels and Rangers, and so far, that prognostication has proven true. All season long, one of those two teams has held first place, but lately it's been the Rangers, clinging to a 2 game lead over the hot-pursuing Angels.

The teams opened weekend series on Friday, with Texas pounding Oakland, 9-1, and the Angels taking on the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Santana: 4th CG

With the teams literally a continent apart, LA took care of business with a 5-1 victory, punctuated by a another high-quality performance from LA starter Ervin Santana, who went the distance, allowing seven hits and two walks while fanning six.

Santana, who threw a no-hitter at Cleveland on July 27 and has won his last five starts, didn't allow a runner past second base until there was one out in the 9th inning, when Eric Thames took him out of the park for Toronto's only run.

Santana's 4th complete game of the season improved his record to 9-8, somewhat short in the win category for a pitcher carrying a 3.10 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP, but the Angels will take it, keeping pace with the Rangers all the while.

National League

Dan Uggla raised his batting average to .229 as the Braves won their fifth straight, a 10-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Uggla: 32 Straight

What's remarkable about Uggla's batting average is that he's hit safely in 32 straight games - surpassing the Atlanta record of 31 held by Rico Carty since 1970 - raising his average 56 points since he started the streak on July 5th, when he was batting a miserable .173.

In Friday's game, Uggla had it going on against Cubs' starter Carlos Zambrano, socking a pair of solo homers - one in the 2nd inning and one in the 5th - between them being plunked by Zambrano in the bottom of the 3rd, an incident that would eventually lead to Zambrano being tossed with one out in the 5th, after missing Chipper Jones with two straight inside pitches.

Uggla also singled later in the game, going 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBI. His pair of homers put him among the league leaders, with 26.

The Braves pounded five home runs off Zambrano, who was not to be found following the game, reportedly having cleaned out his locker and departed the stadium by the time the Braves had completed their romp.

Matt Garza No-Hits Tigers; Joe Mauer Goes 5-for-5 with 7 RBI; Dan Uggla Leads Surging Marlins

Players of the Day for Monday, July 26, 2010 American League Tampa Bay has been relentless in their pursuit of the NY Yankees since being overtaken by them prior to the all star break. The Rays remained three games behind New York in the AL East on Monday thanks to the first no-hitter in Tampa franchise history, twirled by their ace Matt Garza in a 5-0 win over Detroit. While the Yankees were wrapping up a 3-2 win at Cleveland, down in Tampa, Garza was putting the finishing touches on a splendid pitching performance in which - thanks to a 5-4-3 double play that erased the only Tiger baserunner of the night, Brennan Boesch, who walked with one out in the second inning. After that Garza was the picture of perfection, setting down the next 21 straight batters for the fifth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. Garza (11-5) threw 120 pitches, of which 80 went for strikes. Striking out six, the only flaw was that 2nd inning free pass. In Kansas City, the Royals and Twins were playing an entirely different kind of game as the Twins sought to keep the pressure on front-running Chicago in the AL Central. Minnesota amassed 20 hits - including 7 doubles, 2 triples and 2 homers - in a 19-1 rout. A double and a three-run homer were part of the package Joe Mauer brought to the plate, going 5-for-5 with seven RBI and three runs, raising his batting average to somewhat pedestrian - for him, a three-time AL batting champ - .305. The Twins remained one game behind the White Sox, 6-1 victors over Seattle. National League The Florida Marlins hit a mid-season soft patch, but are putting together a nice second half run, winning their second straight and 8th of their last 11 since the all star break with a 4-3 win at San Francisco. The victory pulled the Marlins above the .500 mark - at 50-49 - and tied them with the Mets for 3rd place in the NL East, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves. Dan Uggla was instrumental in the win, banging his 19th home run of the season in the 4th inning and scoring on a sac fly in the 6th. Uggla went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. The Marlins used six different pitchers to fend off the Giants in the first of a fur game series.

A-Rod Passes Frank Robinson with Grand Slam; Uggla Gets Marlins to .500

Players of the Day for Friday, May 14, 2010 American League Here's an idea for American League managers. You should avoid pitching to Alex Rodriguez with either the game on the line or the bases loaded. If faced with a situation in which both conditions exist, walking him might be your best course of action. Praying for a sudden thunderstorm might also apply. A-Rod sent his own form of instant message to all managers last night as the Yankees downed the Twins, 8-4, extending New York's dominance over the Central division leaders. The Twins scored a pair of runs in the top of the 7th inning to forge a 4-3 lead, but in the bottom frame, the Yankees mounted a rally on a single by Francisco Cervelli and a Derek Jeter double. After getting Brett Gardner to fly out, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire made a manager's decision, to intentionally walk Mark Teixeira and pitch to A-Rod with the bases chucked. Bad move. Gardenhire must not have checked his stats, because he brought in righty Matt Guerrier to pitch to Rodriguez, who had lifetime stats of 4-for-6 with 3 homers against him. Rodriguez launched his 4th home run of the season and 587th of his career - moving him past Frank Robinson and into 7th place, all time - over the left field wall, putting the Yanks up, 7-4, and eventually extending their home win streak against the Twinkies to 9 straight and 24 of the last 27. Ouch! The slam was the 19th of Rodriguez' career, tying him with Eddie Murray and trailing only Manny Ramirez (21) and Lou Gehrig (23). Checking A-Rod's numbers, he's averaged 41 homers and 1.36 grand slams over 14 full seasons. Turning 35 this August, he's probably got at least 4 more good years left in that magnificent body, so he'll probably pass the 600 mark and catch Sammy Sosa (609) this year, slide past Ken Griffery Jr. (630) in 2011 and then launch an assault on 700 and the rarified air of Ruth, Aaron and the steroid-induced 762 of the delusional Barry Bonds, who, fittingly, eventually will end up in second place, many hope. He'll pass Gehrig for carrer slams somewhere along the line, especially if managers keep walking people to get to him. National League There hasn't been a lot of noise coming from South Florida this season, but everybody knows that it's just a matter of time before the Florida Marlins make their presence known in the NL East race. On Friday, the Marlins took a big step forward, tying the Mets at 18-18 for third place in the division, four games behind the Phillies, with the surprising Nationals holding second, 1 1/2 back. The Marlins took their second straight home game from the Mets, 7-2, having already won the 4-game series opener by a 2-1 score on Thursday. Florida did their damage early, scoring four runs in the 2nd inning and 3 more in the 3rd. Dan Uggla keyed both rallies, starting the scoring with a 3-run homer in the 3rd, and finishing it with a solo shot in the 4th. Uggla's homers were his 7th and 8th of the season. The 4 RBI gave him 23 on the year. Uggla's averaged 30 homers and 90 RBI in his 4 seasons in the majors, all with the Marlins. He's on pace for nearly 40 and 100 this time around and if the Marlins make their usual mid-season surge, he's sure to be right in the middle of the action.

Red Sox Bang Up Yankees; Cain Trims D-Backs

Sunday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League Manny Ramirez got it started with his 2nd home run in the third inning. Three batters later, J. D. Drew, Mike Lowell (right) and Jason Varitek had all hit balls out of Fenway Park, tying a major league record (4 consecutive HRs) held by four other teams. All four homers were off rookie Yankee starter Chase Wright. Lowell later connected for a 3-run shot that sunk the Yankees, 7-6 and gave Boston a 3-game home sweep over their AL East rivals. Here's a trivia question that should stump your friends. Of the five times that teams have hit 4 straight homers, which player was part of two of them? Answer: J. D. Drew, who did it last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 18 against San Diego. Better yet, he was also the 2nd of the 4 both times. Nick Markakis doubled, tripled, drove in 3 and scored twice in 4 at-bats to help the Baltimore Orioles to their 4th straight win and 2nd place in the AL East. The O's 7-3 win over visiting Toronto completed a sweep of the 3-game set and left them 1 1/2 games behind the streaking Red Sox, who have won 5 straight. The Sox head to Baltimore for a pair on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Other AL Scores Detroit 6 Chicago White Sox 5, 12 innings LA Angels 6 Seattle 1 - E. Santana (W, 2-2) 7 inn., 1 ER Cleveland 6 Tampa Bay 4 Texas 4 Oakland 3 Kansas City 3, Minnesota 1 - J. De La Rosa (W, 2-1) 8 inn., 5 hits, 0 ER National League Barry Bonds smacked his 740th home run, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 2-1 win over visiting Arizona. Bonds' 6th home run of the season left him 15 shy of Hank Aaron's all-time career record of 755. The story in San Fran this weekend was the Giants' pitching which held the Diamondbacks to 3 runs while sweeping the 3-game series. Russ Ortiz, Barry Zito and, on Sunday, Matt Cain (right) stymied the D-Backs, stretching their losing streak to 4 games. Cain was dominant, hurling a complete-game, 3-hit performance for his 1st win of the season. Despite the 1-1 record, Cain, who became a full-time starter for the Giants last season, lowered his ERA to 1.53 and is sporting a mind-blowing 0.83 WHIP. The Giants haven't exactly been generous in run support, scoring only 8 runs in Cain's 4 starts this season. Dan Uggla rapped out a 2-run homer, a 3-run homer and a single in 5 at-bats, drove in 6 runs and scored 3 times to help the Marlins double up the visiting Washington Nationals, 12-6.

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Kelly Johnson singled and homered twice in 4 at-bats, drove in 4 runs and scored 3, spoiling the day for Tom Glavine and the Mets and giving the Braves sole possession of 1st place in the NL East. Scott Rolen went 5-6, including a solo home run and a 2-run triple, drove in 3 and scored 3 times, but teammate Albert Pujols stole the show with his 5th home run of the season, a 10th-inning, 3-run walk off variety that sent the visiting Cardinals to a 12-9 win over Chicago and a 2-1 spilt in their weekend series. Other NL Scores Pittsburgh 7 LA Dodgers 5 - C. Duffy, 2 SB, 3 R Milwaukee 4 Houston 3 - Brewers 1.5-gm lead in NL Cent. Philadelphia 9 Cincinnati 3 - R. Howard, HR (2) Colorado 4 San Diego 2