Domonic Brown Homers Again as Phillies Jack Marlins; Coco Crisp Leads Streaking A's, 10-2 over Brewers

Players of the Day for Monday, June 3, 2013

American League

Coco Crisp

For a while, it looked like the Texas Rangers might just run away and hide in the AL West. That was until the Oakland A's had other ideas and began keeping pace and then making up ground on the front-running Rangers.

Oakland won its fourth straight Monday - and 13th of their last 15 - battering the Milwaukee pitching staff for 19 hits in a 10-2 rout.

At the top of the A's order was Coco Crisp, who stroked his sixth home run, two singles and a double, scored twice and drove in a run as the A's pulled to within 1 1/2 games of idle Texas, leaving the rest of the division far behind. The Angels and Mariners are 11 games out, with Houston bumbling along at 21-37, 15 games behind with the worst record in the AL.

Crisp didn't get his season off to a blazing start, but he's been picking it up of late, batting .405 (15-for-37) over his last 10 games. The 4-for-5 effort pushed his batting average to an even .300.

The win was in the opener of a three-game set at Miller Stadium in Milwaukee. The A's and Brewers go at it again Tuesday night at 8:10 pm EDT.

National League

Domonic Brown

Whatever Domonic Brown has done to produce the numbers he's putting up, he should jest keep doing it.

Brown socked yet another homer Monday night - his ninth in his last 10 games - leading the Phillies to a 7-2 harpooning of the Marlins, keeping pace with Atlanta in the AL East. The Braves were, likewise, 7-2 winners, in their series opening home game with the Pirates.

Along with his two-run homer, Brown knocked out a pair of singles, going 3-for-4 on the night, extending his hitting streak to eight games with his fifth multi-hit game over his last six.

In the span of less than two weeks, Brown has gone from bit player to superstar for the Phillies, batting .447 (17-for-38) with nine homers and 17 RBI in his last ten games, a streak that has made him the league leader in home runs (17) and tied for fourth in RBI with 42.

The Phillies host the Marlins in game two of the series at Citizens Bank Park, Tuesday at 7:05 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: What pitcher unleashed the most wild pitches in the NL in 2010 and then led the AL in WPs in 2012? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Billy Hatcher batted .750 in the 1990 World Series, won by his Cincinnati Reds in four straight over Oakland. Hatcher was 9-for-12 but the MVP award went to pitcher Jose Rios, who won two games for the Reds.

Yunel Escobar Torches Indians as Tampa Takes Series; Domonic Brown Powers Phillies Past Brewers

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 2, 2013

American League

As tight as the AL East race has been, it doesn't seem to have bothered the first place Red Sox, who traveled to New York for a weekend series with the Yankees sporting a two-game lead on their ageless rivals. The Red Sox left on Sunday, having taken two of three, sending the Yankees back into a tie for third with Tampa Bay, three out, while Baltimore improved to second place, 2 1/2 back.

Yunel Escobar

All the action wrapped up a little earlier than expected, the Red Sox taking a 2-0 decision in six innings, the game called for rain. Clay Buckholz earned his eighth win without a loss with a two-hit, abbreviated shutout.

Earlier in the day, the Orioles finished off the Tigers, also taking two of three, with a 4-2 win, and Tampa Bay crushed Cleveland, 11-3, in another 2-1 series win for the AL East, leaving Cleveland 1/2 game behind Detroit in the Central.

The Rays were led by Evan Longoria's and Yunel Escobar's two-run homers. Escobar had one of his best days of the season at the plate, going 3-for-5 with the two RBI and a couple of runs scored. Traded from Toronto to the Rays during the off-season, Escobar was 6-for-12 in the Cleveland series.

Tampa touched up five different Cleveland pitchers for a total of 14 hits. The Rays have a day off Monday before opening a series at Detroit on Tuesday.

National League

Domonic Brown

Not exactly tearing up the league, the Philadelphia Phillies, following a 6-10 start to the season, have played better than .500 ball since and have climbed back into the NL East race, a game behind second place Washington, but still 7 1/2 behind division-leading Atlanta.

Part of their recent success has been the emergence of Domonic Brown, who's been absolutely tearing it up, homering eight times in his last nine games, including a three-run, first-inning blast that propelled the Phillies to a 7-5 win over visiting Milwaukee.

With the win, the Phillies avoided being swept, Brown adding a run-scoring triple in the second and a single later in the game to go 3-for-3 with four RBI.

Brown, who had just 12 home runs in three partial seasons - all with Philly - has 16 this year, along with 40 RBI. With 16 hits in his last 37 at-bats, nine of those hits have been homers.

The 27-30 Phillies hope to gain more ground as the open a three-game series with Miami on Monday at 7:05 pm EDT. The Marlins are in the division basement, but just completed a three-game sweep of the Mets.

Today's Trivia: Who holds the single-season batting average record for the World Series? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Barry Bonds holds the career World Series mark of .700 on-base percentage, in 30 plate appearances.