Rodriguez Breaks Saves Mark; Morneau Ties Hamilton; Lincecum a Cy Young Candidate

Players of the Day from Saturday, September 13, 2008 American League Justin Morneau has been on an RBI tear. On Saturday, he ran down Texas slugger Josh Hamilton to tie for the AL RBI lead with a pair of RBI in each of the Twins' wins over Baltimore, topping the Orioles 12-2 in the opener and 12-6 in the nightcap. Morneau has driven in 15 runs in his last 8 games, He and Hamilton have 124 each. Hamilton has no RBI over his last six games. The twin killing of the O's put Minnesota into a tie with the White Sox, who have been rained out for two straight days. They will play a double-dip with the Tigers on Sunday. In the East, the Rays split two with the Yankees, as did Boston with Toronto. The Red Sox trail the Rays by 2 games in the division, but have a 5-game bulge over both Chicago and Minnesota in the wild card. Notes: Of course, out West, the Angels have already sewn up the division, but some unfinished mound work was taken care of as the Angels beat Seattle, 5-2, with Francisco Rodriguez earning his record-breaking 58th save, topping the major league mark of 57, set by Bobby Thigpen of the White Sox in 1990. Rodriguez' appearance wasn't his prettiest. Despite allowing a walk and a hit, K-Rod kept the Mariners off the board, getting two of the three outs in the ninth via strikeouts. National League Tim Lincecum isn't about to concede anything, especially not the Cy Young award. The NL competition is pretty much down to just him and Arizona's Brandon Webb, but Lincecum (17-3) boosted his stock considerably with a 4-hit, 12 strikeout, complete game shutout over the Padres on Saturday, as the Giants won, 7-0, at San Diego. Considering that Lincecum has accounted for 1 of every 5 Giants wins this season and also leads the NL in strikeouts (237) and ERA (2.43), he's going to be considered right up there with Webb, the NL's only 20-game winner. As for the NL West pennant race, the Dodgers continued to separate themselves from the competition, winning their 4th straight and 13th of their last 14 with a 5-1 triumph at Colorado. The Diamondbacks lost to the Reds, 3-2, and now trail by 4 games. The Dodgers' magic number is 11. Notes: In the Central, the Cubs and Astros were shut down again due to Hurricane Ike. At least two of their 3-game series is now scheduled for Sunday and Monday in Milwaukee. The 3rd game will be played at the conclusion of the regular season, if necessary. That game may not be needed, as the Brewers dropped their second straight to the Phillies, 7-2. The Brewers are now 6 games behind the Cubs. In the East, the Mets split with Atlanta, so the Phillies gained to within 2 1/2 games of the lead, but the Phillies are also just 2 games behind Milwaukee in the wild card race. The Phillies and Brewers play a double-header today in Philadelphia.

Rodriguez Ties Saves Record; Hot Howard Harms Brewers

Players of the Day from Thursday, September 11, 2008 American League Was there a mound conspiracy in Anaheim which allowed Francisco Rodriguez to tie the major league record with his 57th save? Mere mortals may never know, but the facts are out there. With the Angels safely ahead, 7-0 after six innings and the AL West title having already been clinched the day before, Justin Speier took the mound in the 8th and promptly allowed 3 runs. Scot Shields finished the inning, but allowed a pair of singles in the 9th. On came Rodriguez. It wasn't his prettiest performance, but two hits, a double play and a strikeout later, it was save #57. Bobby Thigpen's 1990 White Sox record was tied as the Angels beat Seattle, 7-4. Notes: With many of the AL teams traveling, the only significant action was in the Central division. The White Sox lost, 6-4, to the red-hot Blue Jays, but Minnesota also fell, 3-2, to the Royals, so the Twins remain 1 game behind Chicago. The Red Sox and Rays were idle. Tampa Bay holds a 2 1/2 game edge in the East. National League Ryan Howard has been on a tear of late, and his hot bat continued to produce as the Phillies took the first game of their critical four game series with the Brewers, 6-3. Howard homered, doubled and drove in 3 runs in 3 at-bats. Over the past five games, Howard has swatted 4 homers and driven in 10 runs. He leads both categories by wide margins with 43 home runs and 129 RBI. His closest pursuers are Adam Dunn and his 36 home runs, and David Wright, who has 109 RBI. MVP, anyone? Notes: Philly's win closed their gap with the Mets to 3 games, but, more importantly, the Phillies now trail the Brewers by the same margin in the wild card race. Milwaukee dropped 5 1/2 games behind the Cubs, who beat St. Louis, 3-2. The leaders n the West were idle. LA leads Arizona by 3 1/2 games.

Rodriguez Notches 51st Save; Guzman Hits for Cycle

Players of the Day from Thursday, August 28, 2008 American League The LA Angels got two steps closer to the AL West pennant as they rallied for 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to defeat 2nd-place Texas, 7-5, and reduce their magic number to 13. Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 51st save, shutting down the Rangers in the 9th to preserve the win. Rodriguez is just 6 saves shy of the AL and major league record of 57, set by Bobby Thigpen of the White Sox in 1990. Atlanta's John Smoltz (2002) and the Dodgers' Eric Gagne (2003) share the National League single-season saves record at 55. Notes: Tampa Bay beat Toronto and Boston lost at New York, both by 3-2 scores, boosting the Rays back to a 4 1/2 game lead in the AL East. Minnesota lost at Oakland, 3-2, and now trial the White Sox by 1 1/2 in the Central and are 2 1/2 behind Boston for the wild card. National League Manny Ramirez gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a home run in the top of the 1st, but Cristian Guzman answered with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning and went on to hit for the cycle as Washington completed a three game sweep of LA with an 11-2 win. Guzman added a 2nd inning single, doubled in the 6th and tripled in the 8th, drove in 3 runs and scored twice in 5 at-bats. LA's 7th straight loss dropped them 3 1/2 behind idle Arizona, which has lost 4 in row themselves. Even the Rockies, at 63-72, are in the mix, 6 games back. Notes: The Mets got help from the Cubs, who beat the Phillies, 6-4, and the Braves, winners over Florida, 4-2, to lead Philly by 1 game and Florida by 6. Chicago has won 6 straight and lead the Brewers by 6 1/2 games.

Sabathia Homers in Complete Game Win; Rodriguez Earns 38th Save

Players of the Day from Sunday, July 13, 2008 American League Leaving the bases loaded with Oakland A's in the bottom of the ninth, Francisco Rodriguez earned his major league best 38th save on Sunday as the Angels topped the A's, 4-3. The win gave the Angels the best record in the American League (57-38) and a 6-game lead over Oakland in the AL West. After the Angels scored twice in the top of the 9th to take the lead, Rodriguez gave up a single and a walk to start the bottom frame, and loaded the bases after a sacrifice and an intentional walk. That was all the A's would get, however, as K-Rod fanned the last two batters for his 7th straight save against the A's in seven tries.

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Rodriguez had a career-high 47 saves in 2006. He already has 38 this season. The major league record for saves in a season is 57 by White Sox closer Bobby Thigpen in 1990. Rodriguez is on pace for 63. Notes: Boston retook first place in the AL East with a 2-1 win over the Orioles on Sunday as the Tampa Bay Rays lost their seventh straight. They were swept four straight by the Indians over the weekend. Cleveland had lost 10 in a row before the Rays came to town. National League C. C. Sabathia is one tough stud. Not only did he earn his first National League complete game win as the Brewers slipped past the Reds, 3-2, he also became the first pitcher since 1970 to homer in both leagues in the same season. Sabathia gave up single runs in the second and third, but got the Brewers on the board with a solo homer in the bottom of the 3rd, his second home run of the season. He then shut out the Reds the rest of the way, finishing with a flourish by striking out the final four batters he faced and was rewarded with the win when Craig Counsel got Bill Hall home from third with a sac fly in the bottom of the 9th. Sabathia is 2-0 since moving from Cleveland and the American League to the Brewers and the NL. He struck out 9, walked one, hit two batters and allowed 8 hits and two earned runs in a gritty outing. Notes: According the Yahoo Sports and the Elias Sports Bureau, Earl Wilson was the last pitcher to homer in both leagues in the same season. He did it in 1970 with Detroit and San Diego. The Brewers are still in 3rd place, 1/2 game behind St. Louis, but both teams gained on the Cubs in the NL Central, as Chicago lost to the Giants, 4-2. In the East, the Mets won their 9th straight as Mike Pelfrey shut out the Rockies for 8 innings in a 7-0 win. Philly topped Arizona 6-3, keeping the Mets 1/2 game out of first. Arizona's loss was the Dodgers' gain, as LA beat Florida 9-1 and moved to within 1 game of the Diamondbacks in the NL West race.

NL East a Real Race; Rockies on the Rise

Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues. American League Atlanta 6 Cleveland 2 - Edgar Renteria (right) went 5 for 5 with a double, his 10th home run, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, and John Smoltz won his 8th game against just 2 losses, limiting the Indians to 7 hits and 2 earned over 6 innings. Smoltz struck out seven and didn't walk a batter as the Braves closed to within 1 1/2 of the stumbling Mets. Philadelphia and Florida were also winners and trail New York by 2 and 5 1/2 respectively. Suddenly the NL East has turned into a pennant race. Cleveland maintained a slim 1-game lead over the Tigers, who also lost, at Philly. NY Yankees 11 NY Mets 8 - While the everyone else in the NL East except Washington was beating up on AL opponents, Tom Glavine and the Mets were being pounded up in the Bronx. Glavine, stuck on 295 wins for nearly a month, lost his 4th straight, allowing 7 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks over 4 innings. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez both blasted 2-run homers off Glavine, for A-Rod, his MLB-best 26th. Rodriguez went 2-4 and scored 3 times while Jeter finished the game 4-5, with a pair of RBI and 2 scores. Both players also stole a base, as did Miguel Cairo. Jose Reyes swiped a pair, giving him 37, tops in the majors. The Yankees kept pace with Boston, 8 1/2 ahead. Boston 1 San Francisco 0 - Daisuke Matusaka pitched his best game of the season against the impotent San Francisco Giants, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks over 7 innings, fanning 8. Manny Ramirez provided the only score with his 9th home run of the season in the 4th. Bonds watch is back on again. Barry Bonds went 0-3 and failed to homer for the 4th straight game. He has hit just 2 over his last 31 games, stretching back to May 8. Bonds needs 9 to break Hank Aaron's career mark of 755 and should average one per 10 games if he plans on breaking the mark this season. In 2006, Bonds hit 4 in June, 3 in July, 5 in August and 7 in September, so he has history on his side, though the time between Barry Bombs has lengthened as 2006 turned into 2007. He'll be 43 in July and time is gnawing away at his steroid-riddle body every day. St. Louis 15 Oakland 6 - The Cardinals put up 10 runs in the 5th inning, capped off by Chris Duncan's grand slam as St. Louis swamped the A's in Oakland. So Taguchi went 4-6, drove in 3 runs and scored a pair. The A's dropped another game further behind the Angels in the AL West, now 5 back as the Angels beat the Dodgers. Other AL Scores Toronto 7 Washington 3 Arizona 8 Baltimore 4 - O's 7 straight losses Florida 9 Kansas City 8 - M. Cabrera, 2 HR (16), 4 RBI (51); M. Olivo, 5-5 Milwaukee 5 Minnesota 2 - Brewers win 4th straight, lead NL Central by 6 1/2 National League San Diego 1 Chi Cubs 0 - Carlos Zambrano took a no-hitter into the 8th inning, but ended up on the losing side of the ledger, giving up a 9th inning homer to the Padres' Russell Branyan. The game was interrupted by a bench-clearing brawl which started when Padres' starter Chris Young plunked Derrek Lee and began throwing punches in the 4th inning. Lee and Young were ejected along with Jake Peavy and San Diego hitting coach Gerald Perry. The fight was a no-decision, but the Padres won the war and took over 1st place in the NL West by 1/2-game over the Dodgers and 1 ahead of Arizona. Colorado 10 Tampa Bay 5 - The Rockies won their 4th straight and 8th of their last 10, creeping to within 4 1/2 of the NL West lead. Right fielder Brad Hawpe set the tone in the first inning with his 11th home run - a grand slam. Hawpe later singled and scored an additional run for the Rockies. Philadelphia 6 Detroit 3 - Jamie Moyer improved to 6-5 and the Phillies gained on the Mets winning for the 4th time in their last five games. The Phillies trail NY by 2 games. LA Angels 3 LA Dodgers 0 - Jered Weaver blanked the Dodgers over 5 1/3 innings and the Angels' bullpen finished the job. Francisco Rodriguez (right) picked up his 22nd save, fanning all three batters faced in the 9th inning. The Angels lead the AL West by 5 games with a 43-26 record, second best in the majors (Boston, 43-24). Weaver improved to 6-3. The best in the West series' rubber game is this afternoon. Other NL Scores Chi White Sox 6 Pittsburgh 1 Houston 9 Seattle 4 Cincinnati 8 Texas 4 - K. Griffey Jr., 2 HR (16), 3 RBI (43) Interleague Scoreboard: Friday (6/8): AL 8, NL 6 Saturday (6/9): AL 10, NL 4 Sunday (6/10): AL 9, NL 5 Monday (6/11): AL 0, NL 2 Tuesday (6/12): AL: 8, NL: 6 Wednesday (6/13): AL: 6, NL: 8 Thursday (6/14): AL: 7, NL: 5 Friday (6/15): AL: 6, NL: 8 Saturday (6/16): AL: 5, NL: 9