Drew Smyly Comes Though Again for Rays in 3-1 Win at Baltimore; LA's Clayton Kershaw is MLB's 1st 16-Game Winner

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 27, 2014

American League

Smyly: Nice trade

About a month ago, Drew Smyly was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the deal that sent David Price to Detroit. As of Wednesday night, that deal didn't look too bad... for the Rays.

As Price was getting shelled by the Yankees, allowing nine straight hits in the third inning en route to an 8-4 Yankee win, Smyly was setting up and knocking down the Orioles for a 3-1 victory.

Staked to a 3-0 lead after the first two Tampa Bay at-bats, the only run given up by Smyly - and one of just two hits over seven innings - was a two-out, solo homer to Baltimore's Chris Davis in the bottom of the second. After that, Smyly was just about untouchable, getting the next 12 batters in order before Steve Pearce's two-out single in the sixth inning.

After 87 pitches, Smyly was done. Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee pitched hitless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, McGee picking up his 15th save.

So, let's review. Since the trade:

Smyly: 5 starts, 3 wins, 1 loss, 1.50 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, Opp. BA: .150

Price: 5 starts, 1 win, 2 losses, 4.41 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, Opp. BA: .232

And, it gets worse, or better, depending upon which side of the trade you're on. The Rays also got 18-year-old infield prospect Willy Adames from the Tigers. Center fielder Austin Jackson was sent from Detroit to the Mariners, who then sent infielder Nick Franklin to the Rays.

Wednesday's results helped cloud an already murky playoff picture. The O's still lead the Yankees in the AL East by six games. Detroit trails Kansas City by 2 1/2 in the Central and Seattle by 1/2 game for the second wild card. The Yankees are 2 1/2 back of Seattle, with Cleveland 4 1/2 out.

Baltimore has taken two of three from the Rays and will complete the four-game series at Camden Yards on Thursday at 7:10 pm EDT.

Kershaw: 16-3

National League

There's little doubt that Clayton Kershaw is one of the best pitchers to ever don a Dodger uniform, and that list was already pretty impressive beofre Kershaw came along (Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax come to mind).

On Wednesday, Kershaw became the first 16-game winner in either league, tossing eight innings in a 3-1 Dodger win.

Kershaw didn't have his best stuff, but still limited the Diamondbacks to six hits and a pair of walks. The only Arizona run was unearned, coming in the fourth inning on a throwing error by left fielder Steve Van Slyke.

Throwing 106 pitches, Kershaw struck out 10, moving him into third place among NL starters, with 194 Ks. Stephen Strasburg leads the league with 202; Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto is next, with 199.

Kershaw leads the league in wins and has only three losses this season. He sports a 1.73 ERA, lowest in the majors.

LA's win kept them five games up on the Giants, who also won, topping Colorado, 4-2. The Dodgers took both games in Arizona and, after a day off, head to San Diego for a three game series with the Padres. After that, they return home for a nine-game stand to start the month of September.

Drew Smyly Tosses Two-Hit Shutout for Rays; Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna Power Marlins over Rockies

Players of the Day for Friday, August 22, 2014

American League

Symly: 2-Hit SHO

When the Rays traded their ace, David Price, to the Tigers in late July, it may have signaled the end of their season, one which started poorly, gained a bit of momentum, but seems eventually to be headed toward the dustbin of baseball history, and out of the playoffs.

The games go on, though, and the Rays can play spoiler while looking ahead to 2015, which was exactly the script in their 8-0 win over AL East division rival, Toronto.

Drew Smyly, one of the Detroit players received in the Price trade, tossed his first major league shutout, blanking the Blue Jays on two hits, fanning four and facing just one over the minimum, thanks to a first-inning double play.

Smyly threw 105 pitches, of which 75 were strikes, and set down the final 19 batters in order. Jose Reyes led off the Toronto first with a single, but was erased one batter later on a double play. After Steve Tolleson's two-out single in the third inning, the Blue Jays went hitless while Tampa Bay piled on the runs.

The win was the first of a three-game series in Toronto. leaving the Blue Jays 4 1/2 games behind Seattle in the race for the second wild card. Tampa Bay is two games further behind. Game two is Saturday, 1:07 pm EDT at the Rogers Center.

National League

Stanton leads NL
with 32 HR, 92 RBI

Ozuna: GS, 5 RBI

Time may be running out on the Miami Marlins in their quest to reach the post-season, but they made the most of their potent offense in a 13-5 win at Colorado Friday, banging out 16 hits off six Rockies' hurlers.

Giancarlo Stanton went 3-for-4, drove in three runs and scored three times. Stanton's 92 RBI leads the National League, as do his 32 home runs.

Second-year center fielder, Marcell Ozuna had the look of a budding star, going 3-for-5 with five RBI, including a ninth inning grand slam. Ozuna has 70 RBI and 19 homers on the year.

Miami picked up a game on East division leader, Washington, but they are still nine games back. The Marlins continue to have their best hope for post-season play in the wild card, where they trail the Cardinals by 4 1/2 games, though they've got plenty of company, as the Giants, Braves and Pirates are all above them in a tight race for two spots.

Game two of the three-game series with the Rockies is set for Saturday at 8:10 pm EDT.