Drew Stubbs, Jason Kipnis Drive Indians to 8th Straight Win; Lance Lynn Goes Six Scoreless as Cardinals Clinch NL Central

Players of the Day for Friday, September 27, 2013

American League

Jason Kipnis

Winning their eighth straight, the Cleveland Indians tied Tampa Bay for the overall wild card lead while maintaining a one-game edge over the streaking (five straight wins) Texas Rangers.

Cleveland hitters banged out 17 hits, downing the Twins, 12-6 in Minneapolis Friday night.

Drew Stubbs

Jason Kipnis singled, doubled and tripled in five at-bats, driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice. At the bottom of the order, Drew Stubbs went 2-for-4, socked a two-run, ninth inning homer, stole a base and scored three times to help the Indians continue their quest for the playoffs.

Combined with the Rays' 6-3 loss to Toronto and Texas' 5-3 win over the Angels, the AL wild card race can't get much tighter. With just two games left to the season, the Rays and Indians are deadlocked, with the Rangers one game back.

Al three season-ending series continue on Saturday. Cleveland plays at Minnesota at 1:05 pm EDT.

AL Wild Card Standings (through 9/27)

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

National League

It's a familiar saga in the NL Central. The Cardinals clinched the division pennant while the Cubs sank further into the cellar - now 29 games out - as St. Louis got six innngs of shutout ball from Lance Lynn to topple the visiting Cubs, 7-0.

Lance Lynn

Lynn improved to 15-10, allowing four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in a final tuneup before the playoffs. David Freese and Matt Holliday each slugged solo homers and Yadier Molina drove in three runs with a first-inning double and a fielder's choice in the fourth.

With the division wrapped up, the Cardinals have one more goal, to finish with the best regular season record and secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They are currently tied with the Braves, at 95-65.

In Cincinnati, the Pirates secured at least a tie with the Reds for the wild card, taking a 4-1 win in the opener of their three-game series. Pittsburgh needs to win one of the remaining two games in order to host the wild card playoff on Tuesday of next week. No matter how the series finishes, the Reds and Pirates will be the wild cards. The two teams battle again on Saturday at 1:05 pm EDT and finish up Sunday at 1:10 pm EDT. Sunday's game will be broadcast nationally on TBS.

Today's Trivia: Prior to this season, when was the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the playoffs? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Frank Tanana led the AL in strikeouts in 1975.

Drew Stubbs' 9th Inning Homer Gives Reds 6th Straight Win; Adam Dunn Blasts 30th HR in White Sox Romp; A's Streak into Second Place

Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 24, 2012

American League

It's all tied up atop the AL Central, after Detroit lost to Cleveland, 3-2, and Adam Dunn cranked out his 30th home run of the season - he leads the majors - in an 11-4 romp over the last-place Twins.

Dunn: 30 HR leads
majors

The White Sox and Tigers are knotted at 52-45, with the Indians three games back. Each of the trio has been in first place for some part of the 2012 season.

Dunn went 3-for-5 on the night, busting a two-run bomb in the seventh, getting the Sox even at 4-4 after the Twins put up three runs in the sixth. Chicago scored two more in the inning, then tacked on a five-spot in the eighth. Dunn drove in a pair with a double and scored on a single by Alex Rios. Alexei Ramirez finished the scoring with a two-run shot of his own, his third.

Dunn's resurgence is one of the main reasons the White Sox are in the hunt for the playoffs. After hitting a career low 11 homers in 2011, Dunn's hard work in the off-season has produced positive results. His 71 RBI is fourth-best in the AL.

The White Sox will go for the sweep of Minnesota on Wednesday, while the Tigers and Indians sort things out in the second game of their three-game series in Cleveland.

National League

Drew Stubbs

In Houston, the Astros appeared to have the game under control entering the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead over NL East-leader, Cincinnati, looking to even their series at a game apiece and snap their seven-game losing streak.

That was until Drew Stubbs stepped to the plate with one out and one aboard and took an offering from closer Francisco Cordero into the left field seats, turning the game on its head, propelling the Reds to their sixth straight victory, 4-2.

Cincinnati added an insurance run in the frame, then Aroldis Chapman picked up his 16th save, fanning three straight after a leadoff single in the ninth.

Stubbs went 3-for-4, though, besides his game-winning homer, his pair of singles didn't yield any more runs.

The Reds improved their lead in the Central division to 2 1/2 games over the resolute Pirates, who lost their second straight in a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Cubs.

STREAKING: Right out of the "Nobody Saw This Coming" Department, the Oakland A's have won six straight - including a four-game sweep of the Yankees - tying the Angels for second place in the AL West, five games back of the Rangers. The A's have actually played two fewer games than LA and have a one-game edge in the loss column, having won 10 of their last 11, including nine of 10 since the all star break. Their record of 15-2 in July is the best in the majors.

Stubbs, Votto Star for Reds in 7-6 Win; Justin Smoak Socks Detroit

Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 27, 2011

American League

Justin Smoak

After losing the opener of their three-game home series with Seattle, 7-3, the Detroit Tigers brought out their ace, Justin Verlander, for game two, but another the hard-throwing righty was no match for Seattle's Justin Smoak, who smoked a Verlander first inning offering into the stands in left center to give the Seahawks a 3-0 lead before most fans had even settled into their seats.

Working with the lead, Seattle's Erik Bedard cruised to his first win in nearly two years, allowing a solitary run over seven solid innings. Bedard's last win was June 7, 2009.

Verlander departed after six innings, but the Tiger bullpen fell apart in the ninth, allowing Seattle six more runs. Smoak was in the middle of that rally with a two run single, and later scored Seattle's final run in the 10-1 victory. Smoak finished 2-for-5 with five RBI and two runs.

Seattle remains in last place in the AL West, but will still be looking for the road sweep on Thursday.

Smoak, who was traded from Texas to Seattle last season as part of the deal that sent Cliff Lee to the Rangers, had a promising rookie year, hitting 14 home runs and driving in 48 runs in 100 games. This season, he's batting .302 with 4 bombs and 14 ribbies.

National League

Drew Stubbs

Drew Stubbs' 10-inning homer to dead center field gave the Cincinnati Reds a 7-6, 10th-inning win over the Brewers, but they wouldn't have made it to the extra frame were it not for Joey Votto.

Joey Votto

Votto hit is fifth home run of the season in the first inning, a three-run blast off Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers' starter. He also singled in the sixth inning for his fourth RBI of the game, but Milwaukee tied the game at six with two runs in the bottom of the inning.

The teams went scoreless for the next three innings, until Stubbs hit his game winner, a mammoth shot that left the Reds 1/2 game behind St. Louis in the NL Central and the Brewers another 1/2 game behind them. Stubbs, batting leadoff, went 2-for-5 with the lone RBI, but scored three times.

To say that the division is tight would be a sublime understatement. All six teams are within four games of each other.

Hunter Dynamic in Angels Win; Stubbs, Janish Punish Cubs

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 4, 2010 American League Selecting the Royals at Angels as ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball presentation seemed a bit odd, unless you are a network executive looking to pump up the ratings for the All Star game and the Home Run Derby which precedes it. ESPN execs got a little more than they bargained for, as Torii Hunter provided one of the best performances in a single game this season. As expected, the Angels clobbered the Royals, 11-0, as Joel Pineiro blanked them for the first seven innings, while Hunter smoked them with a three-run homer in the 3rd, a two-run job in the 7th, and capped it off with a two-run single in the 8th inning. Hunter finished the game 3-for-4, with three runs scored and seven RBI. The homers were Hunter's 13th and 14th, helping to up his RBI total to 60, along with a solid .294 average. Coupled with the Rangers' loss to the White Sox, the win drew the Angels back to within 3 1/2 games of Texas in the AL West. National League Wrapping up a four-game series with the Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds played most of the game without star first baseman Joey Votto, who was ejected in the first inning for arguing balls and strikes. No problem. The Reds banged out 16 hits, 7 of them homers in the 14-3 romp Paul Janish (left) was inserted in place of Votto and played third base, with Miguel Cairo moving over from third to first. Janish only went 4-for-4 with three singles and a two-run homer, driving in three runs and scoring three times. Janish wasn't alone in his plate exploits. Of the seven bombs belted by the Reds, three of them came off the bat of Drew Stubbs (right), who, for some reason is batting 8th. Stubbs belted a pair of solo shots - one in the 3rd and one in the 9th - sandwiching a 7th-inning, three-run blast in between. Stubbs was 3-for-5, with five RBI and three runs scored. Just imagine what the NL Central leaders would have done with Votto in the lineup. Taking three of four in the series, the Reds outscored the Cubs 30-8, and lead the Cardinals in the NL Central by 1 1/2 games.