Erick Aybar, Angels, Sends Tampa Bay to Fifth Straight Defeat; Freddie Freeman Keeps Braves Rolling with 5 RBI in 12-5 Win over Mets

Players of the Day for Monday, September 2, 2013

American League

Erick Aybar tripled, homered and drove in four runs in four at-bats to lead the LA Angels to an 11-2 beating of the visiting Tampa Bay Rays, sending the Rays to their fifth straight loss.

Erick Aybar

Opening the four-game series with a resounding win did little for the Angels, already destined to be spectators when the post--season commences, but made the AL wild card race even more contentious. With Oakland beating Texas, 4-2, the A's tied the Rangers atop the AL West, and one of the two lead the wild card. Tampa Bay still holds the #2 spot, but the Orioles are now just two games behind the Rays, the Yankees 2 1/2 back, with Cleveland 3 1/2 out. Even Kansas City has benefitted from the Rays' recent slide, just 4 1/2 games from the second wild card.

The Rays' collapse has been sudden and unexpected, losing not only their last five, but eight of their last nine games, with the defeats coming both at home and away.

Tampa Bay will try to get back on track when they face the Angels in game two of their four-game series, Tuesday, at 7:05 PDT. 14-3 Matt Moore will go to the mound for the Rays. Moore has won six straight but hasn't pitched since July 28.

National League

Atlanta took another step closer to the NL East pennant with a 13-5 clobbering of the Mets on Monday, extending the largest lead in the majors to 15 games over second place Washington.

Freddie Freeman

The Braves got an early boost from Freddie Freeman, who drove in two runs in the first with a double and socked a three-run homer in the second inning, taking all the suspense out of the contest as the Braves rolled to an early, 6-1 lead.

Freeman, looking more and more like the NL's MVP, added five RBI, totaling 93 on the year, fourth in the league. His homer was #18 for the season, to go with a .307 batting average.

Atlanta hosts the Mets in game two of their three-game series, Tuesday night at 7:10 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: Ty Cobb held the all-time record for career hits for 62 years. In what year did Pete Rose pass him? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Larry Walker, of the Colorado Rockies, won the NL batting title in 1998 and 1999, batting .363 and .379, respectively.

Erick Aybar 4-for-4 in Angels Victory; Verlander Wins #24; Giants Win 8th Straight

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 18, 2011

American League

Disco-era hit, "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees might become the theme song for the LA Angels, as long as they and the Rangers continue competing for the AL West crown. And, if Boston keeps faltering and the Yankees do the Angels a favor by beating back the Rays (they play them six times over then next ten days), they might find themselves the lucky recipient of a wild card ticket to the post-season.

Aybar: 4-for-4

Avoiding being swept by the lowly Orioles, the Angels hammered Baltimore, 11-2, mostly on the strength of leadoff hitter Erick Aybar, who went 4-for-4 and scored five times.

Aybar doubled twice and swatted a pair of home runs, driving in four runs. After walking in the first inning and scoring on Bobby Abreu's double, Aybar broke a 1-1 tie in the third with a solo home run, and added a two-run shot in the 4th as the Angels scored four times to take control of the game. Aybar doubled and scored in the sixth inning, then drove home another run in the eighth with his second double and scored for the fifth time.

Rival Texas knocked off Seattle, 3-0, keeping the Angels 4 1/2 back in the division, but Tampa Bay beat the Red Sox, 8-5, tightening that race. The Rays trail Boston by just two games in the wild card standings, with the Angels four games out.

Verlander: 24-5

The Yankees dropped a 3-0 decision to the Blue Jays, keeping the Red Sox 4 1/2 back and the Rays 6 1/2 behind.

In the already-decided Central, Justin Verlander improved to 24-5, allowing three hits over eight innings in Detroit's 3-0 victory at Oakland. Verlander walked three and struck out six. The Tigers were the first MLB team to clinch a division, but continue to play hard, hoping to hold off the Rangers for the second best record in the league and home field advantage in the opening playoff round. The Tigers, 89-64, have a one game lead over Texas and trail the Yankees by three games for the best AL record.

National League

Sandoval: 4 RBI

Pablo Sandoval has gotten hot at the right time.

Just a few days since hitting for the cycle, Sandoval had another big game, going 3-for-4 with a triple, two home runs and four RBI as the Giants continued to pressure the Diamondbacks in the NL West, winning their eighth straight, a no-doubt, 12-5 win at Colorado, sweeping the four game series with the Rockies.

Sandoval has had four multi hit games in his last seven, going 14-for-29 (.483) over that span with four homers and 11 RBI.

San Francisco still trails Arizona by five games in the division with nine left to play, three of those between the two contenders. Arizona reduced their magic number to five with a 5-1 win over the Padres.

The Giants also have hopes in the wild card race, where they are four games behind Atlanta, 7-5 losers to the Mets on Sunday. The Cardinals remained in the wild card hunt, beating Philadelphia, 5-0, to creep to within 3 1/2 games of the Braves, though still trailing the Brewers by 6 1/2 in the Central division. Milwaukee completed a sweep at Cincinnati with an 8-1 win.

Lance Berkman Powers Cardinals Past Marlins; Erick Aybar Strokes 4 Hits as Angels Win

Players of the Day for Thursday, May 5, 2011

American League

Erick Aybar

OK, it's only May, but on has to be impressed with the action in the AL West, which has turned into a four-way horse race (never mind that the Kentucky Derby runs Saturday) with all of the teams within three games of each other.

At the top sit the LA Angels, with a one-game lead over the Texas Rangers, courtesy of an 11-0 spanking of the Boston Red Sox, at Fenway Park, and a 3-1 win by Seattle, over the Rangers. The A's are two games back and the Mariners - who have been the hottest team in the division over the past two weeks - are three games out.

Leading the way for the Angels was, appropriately, leadoff hitter Erick Aybar, who's off to a sensational start, batting .342 after singling four times in six at-bats in the win. Aybar played just three games before going down with an injury on April 2, but has returned in fine form, hitting safely in 12 of his last 14 games.

In Thursday's win, he scored twice, drove in a run and also swiped a pair of bases.

National League

Lance Berkman

Lance Berkman is tearing it up and the Philadelphia Phillies are happy about it because the cards just split a four-game series with the Marlins, allowing Philly to establish a little breathing room in the NL East, though a mere two-game lead on Florida.

Meanwhile, Berkman, picked up from the Yankees in the off-season, is simply killing the ball, leading the Cardinals to a similar, 1 1/2 game lead in the Central division. Berkman picked up four more RBI in St. Louis' 6-3 victory over the Marlins, with a three-run homer - his 10th - and a sac fly.

Though Berkman's batting average gained a little with the 1-for-2 effort, he still trails teammate Matt Holliday at the top of the NL leader board. Berkman is hitting .392, while Holliday is steaming along at .417. Berkman is also second - tied with Milwaukee's Ryan Braun - with 10 homers (Chicago's Alfonso Soriano leads with 11), but he took over the lead in RBI. His 32 is three better than Ryan Howard's 29.

Aybar Keeps Angles in Pursuit; Howard's 2 HRs to No Avail

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 15, 2010 American League In what's become a desperate chase of the Texas Rangers in the AL West, the LA Angels continue winning without making up any ground. After the Rangers won, 7-2, in Boston, the Angels took care of business at home, smacking the Mariners by an 8-3 score. Shortstop Erick Aybar got the Angels off to a quick start, singling and scoring in the first and sparking a three-run rally in the second inning by singling home a pair of runs, leading to a quick 4-0 lead. After the Mariners scored three times in the top of the 5th to close the gap to one run, Aybar again delivered a key blow, driving home another run, and then scoring on Bobby Abreu's double, finishing up 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and two runs scored. The Angels remain 4 1/2 behind the front-running Rangers. National League Getting his second half off to a rousing start, even if his teammates aren't yet on board, Ryan Howard belted a pair of homers and drove in four runs in a 12-6 loss to the Cubs. Howard started the scoring for the Phillies with a two-run blast in the 1st inning, but starter Jamie Moyer couldn't hold the lead, allowing two runs in the bottom of the 1st, another in the 2nd and three more in the 3rd. Chicago piled on 16 hits overall, and it wasn't until the 9th inning that the Phillies showed any life, scoring fur times in the frame, ending with Howard's second two-run bomb of the game. Howard has 19 homers to go with 69 RBI and a .298 batting average. The Phillies lost ground to the NL East-leading Braves, who won, 2-1, over Milwaukee, but remained 1/2 game behind the second place Mets, losers to Tim Lincecum and the Giants, 2-0. The Braves lead the Mets by 5 full games and Philly by 5 1/2. The Cubs are trying to get back into the NL Central race. They are tied for 3rd place with the Brewers, both teams 9 behind Cincinnati. Second place St. Louis is only 1/2 back of the Reds.