Nomar Hits His Stride; Angels' Anderson Still an RBI Machine

Players of the Day from Friday, July 18, 2008 American League Garret Anderson stroked three singles and whacked his 9th home run of the season as his five RBI night boosted the Angels to an 11-3 stomping of Boston in a battle of division leaders on Friday. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the loss dropped them out of first place in the AL East as Anderson went 4-for-4. The Tampa Bay Rays stopped their 7-game skid, knocking off Toronto, 2-1, and moved 1/2-game ahead of Boston. The Angels are continuing to separate from the crowd. At 58-38, they have the best record in the majors, a 7-game lead over 2nd place Oakland, and a winning record in every category: home, away, against each division and 10-8 in interleague play. Notes: The battle for first place between the Red Sox and the Rays seems to suit the Yankees just fine, thank you. With a 7-1 win over the A's on Friday, New York has snuck to within 5 1/2 games of the lead. National League After missing most of the season due to injuryNomar Garciaparra played in his 11th game since being sidelined April 25 and a fresh Nomar may be just what the Dodgers need to surge past the Arizona Diamondbacks. The timing couldn't have been better for Garciaparra to go 3-for-5 with a pair of homers and a single, driving in 3 runs in an 8-7, 11-inning win over Arizona which tied the two teams for first place in the NL West. While Garciaparra's effort was noteworthy, James Loney's 8th home run of the season - a solo shot in the top of the 11th - proved to be the game winner. Notes: The other divisional races in the NL are also tightening. With the Cubs losing and St. Louis and Milwaukee both winners on Friday, Chicago holds a 3 game edge over the Cardinals, with the Brewers a game further back. In the East, Philly knocked down the Marlins, 4-2, while the Reds ended the Mets' 10-game win streak with a 5-2 win. That leaves the Phillies on top with the Mets 1 back and the Marlins 2 1/2 games out.

Yanks win 7th straight; Holliday homers past Phillies

American League Cleveland 4 Chi White Sox 7 - Jim Thome went 3-4 with 3 RBI and stroked his career 499th home run to help the White Sox avoid being swept by the Indians. The solo shot was Thome's 27th of the season. Teammates Juan Uribe and Paul Konerko also homered. The loss snapped a 4-game Cleveland win streak, but still left them 5 1/2 ahead of Detroit in the division LA Angels 18 Baltimore 6 - The Angels reduced their magic number to 9 as they took advantage of 13 walks issued by Oriole pitchers. Garret Anderson (right) singled, doubled and homered, driving in 5 runs, while Vladimir Guerrero drove in four with a pair of singles in six at-bats. Kelvim Escobar allowed 6 runs over 5 1/3 innings, but still picked up his 17th win against 7 losses. NY Yankees 4 Toronto 1 - Mike Mussina blanked the Blue Jays on 5 hits over 5 2/3 innings and the Yankees won their seventh straight. Following four starts in which Mussina gave up a combined 32 hits and 21 runs in 13 1/3 innings, the outing was a relief for a battle-tested Yankee staff. With a showdown in Boston beginning Friday, the Yankees remain 5 games behind the Sox in the AL East, but have a cozy 4 game edge over Detroit in the wild card race. Tampa Bay 4 Boston 5 - David Ortiz smashed a pair of homers and drove in all the runs for the Red Sox as they took 2 of 3 from Tampa Bay. Texas 1 Detroit 5 - Magglio Ordonez socked a three-run homer (27) to give him 132 RBI on the season. Justin Verlander (17-5) allowed 1 earned on 7 hits over 7 innings with 7 Ks. Other AL Scores Minnesota 3 Kansas City 6 Oakland 5 Seattle 6 National League Atlanta 3 NY Mets 4 - The Mets extended their lead over the Phillies to 7 games, reducing their magic number to 11 as the Mets used six pitchers to take the rubber game in their 3-game series with Atlanta. Billy Wagner got his 34th save with a perfect ninth inning. Colorado 12 Philadelphia 0 - Mark this one down. It may signal the end of the season for the Phillies, who are 7 back of the Mets in their division and trail San Diego by 2 1/2 games in the wild card race with only 17 games remaining. The Rockies piled up 15 hits against 6 Philadelphia pitchers. Matt Holliday (right), who lined into a triple play in the first inning, got instant redemption with a three-run homer in the third, boosting his league-leading RBI total to 119. Chi Cubs 3 Houston 2 - The Cubs re-tied the Brewers for first place in the Central. Rich Hill (9-8) worked 7 innings, allowing 3 hits and an earned run, fanning 7 and walking 3. St. Louis 1 Cincinnati 5 - That's all for the Cards. The reigning world champions lost their 6th straight, all occurring right after allegations of HGH use by pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel surfaced last week. The offense has sputtered, scoring just 6 runs over the last three games. Ankiel, who had been red hot, is mired in a 2-for-22 slump. St. Louis trails Chicago and Milwaukee by 4 games. Arizona 9 San Francisco 4 - The Diamondbacks increased their lead over the Padres to 3 1/2 games with another win for Brandon Webb (16-10), who allowed 7 hits and 4 runs over 7 innings. While the D-Backs don't face the Padres again this season, they do have 6 games remaining against Los Angeles and close out the season with 3 at Colorado. Both the Dodgers and Rockies are 6 games back in the NL West standings. Other NL Scores Milwaukee 4 Pittsburgh 7 Washington 4 Florida 5, 12 innings San Diego 1 LA Dodgers 6