5-for-5 Matsui Falls Short; Cecil Guns Down Rangers; Billingsley Fans 10

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 24, 2011

American League

Matsui: 5-for-5

Hideki Matsui did everything he could to beat his old team. Unfortunately, going 5-for-5 - three singles, two doubles - scoring a run and driving in one was not enough as the Yankees took the rubber game of the three-game series, 7-5.

After going 0-for-3 in the first game, Matsui completed the series by going 7-for-10 in the last two games. The A's have fallen out to the AL West race, trailing Texas by 13 1/2 games, while the Yankees are desperate to keep pace with red-hot Boston, winners of their last four straight, who lead New York by three games.

Cecil: 4-hit Shutout

In Texas, two teams known for scoring plenty of runs were subdued by pitching, as Toronto's Brett Cecil tossed a complete game, 3-0, shutout to avoid being swept by the Rangers.

Allowing four hits and two walks while fanning seven, Cecil earned just his third win of the season, against four losses. Cecil spent all of May and most of June on the DL, but has won two of his last three starts. It was his first career shutout.

Toronto remained 12 1/2 games out in the AL East, while the Rangers saw their lead slip to 3 games over the Angels in the West.

National League

Billingsley: 10 Ks

Out of last place in the NL West - the basement now belongs to the Padres - the LA Dodgers took the final two games of a three-game set from the Washington Nationals, culminating in a 2-1 win Sunday.

Starter Chad Billingsley (9-8) stymied the Nats on two hits over seven innings, allowing just the one earned run while striking out 10 and walking two. Billingsley did most of his damage on the middle of the order, registering 8 Ks on the 4th through 7th hitters, including getting Rick Ankiel three separate times.

STREAKS: Seattle set a new club record for failure, losing their 15th straight game, 12-8, in Boston.

Emilio Bonifacio extended his MLB-best hitting streak to 23 games, going 2-for-5 as the Marlins dropped the Mets, 5-4.

Matsui Goes Off; Yankees Take series in 6

Players of the Day for Wednesday, November 4, 2009 NY Yankees 7, Philadelphia Phillies 3 Prior to the 2003 season, the New York Yankees acquired Hideki Matsui from Japan's Yomiuri Giants with the promise of delivering more World Series glory to the team. Seven years and more then 3300 at-bats, Matsui delivered on that promise with a magnificent Game 6 performance, taking out the Phillies by a 7-3 score, 4 games to 2. Matsui wasted little time making his presence felt. In the 2nd inning, with no outs and Alex Rodriguez aboard, he took Pedro Martinez out to right field, his two-run homer giving the Yankees an early 2-0 lead. With Martinez struggling to stay alive in the 3rd, Matsui stepped up with the bases full of Yankees and stroked a single off a two-strike, two-out high fastball. 4-1 Yankees. By the 5th inning, with Martinez out of the game, replaced by reliever Chad Durbin, it was becoming apparent that New York was on their way. After Derek Jeter doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Mark Teixeira's single, Rodriguez walked and Matsui appeared again at the plate, this time driving a double to right center, plating both of his teammates for a 7-1 lead. Matsui had driven in 6 runs with a single, double and home run in 3 at-bats. Andy Pettitte protected the lead well until the 6th inning, allowing just one run in the 3rd inning until Ryan Howard finally got untracked with his first homer of the series. with Chase Utley aboard, Howard drove the ball into the left field stands, cutting the Yankee lead to 7-3. Yankee relievers Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte came on to work the last out in the 6th, the entire 7th and the first out in the 8th inning before manager Joe Girardi brought on closer Mariano Rivera. When Rivara induced a weak ground ball from Shane Victorino to second baseman Robinson Cano, the verdict was in: the New York Yankees had captured their 27th World Series championship. Andy Pettitte took the win, his second of the series. Pettite completed a remarkable post-season, which began by breaking a tie with John Smoltz for the most career post-season wins when he pitched the clincher in the divisional series sweep over Minnesota. It was Pettitte's 16th win in the post-season. He also won the ALCS clincher against the Angels, plus the two World Series wins for 18 post-season wins, a record that likely will stand for a long time. After Smoltz, who is probably pondering retirement, there are no active players listed among the leaders. Matsui was named Series MVP shortly after the game. He batted an incredible .615 (8-for-13), with 3 home runs and 9 RBI. Tomorrow: That's a wrap on the 2009 season.

Matsui Drives Yankees Past O's; Pedro Wins 5th Straight

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 13, 2009 American League For a player who usually bats in the 5 or 6-hole, Hideki Matsui is one tough out, and the Baltimore Orioles found out just how tough Sunday at Yankee Stadium. After taking the first two games of their series with the Yanks, the O's set out Sunday to sweep the AL East leaders in the finale, but with C.C. Sabathia on the hill for New York, it was going to be a tall order. By the time the O's and Yanks reached the bottom of the 8th, the O's still had hope, trailing by just 2 runs, 5-3, but Matsui ended their fantasy with a three-run yard job and the Yankees added 5 more in the inning for the 13-3 shellacking. Matsui earlier had singled in 2 runs and added another single, going 3-for-5 with 5 RBI, boosting his RBI total for the year to 81 with 24 homers in just 404 at-bats. He's had multiple-hit games i 4 of his last 5 starts, raising his batting average from .264 to .275. Sabathia picked up the win to go 17-7, and the Yankees' magic number dropped to 13, despite the second-place Red Sox taking a pair from Tampa Bay. National League Pedro Martinez got a little more revenge against one of his former teams pitching 8 scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the Mets. After taking the first game of their double-header, 5-4, the Phillies called on the ancient one (37) for some magic, as Martinez dueled with Tim Redding, who lasted only 6 innings, but allowed the one Philly run on three hits. Martinez (5-0) threw 130 pitches (80 for strikes), allowing 6 hits and a pair of walks with 7 Ks. It was the longest outing of the season for him, an encouraging sign as the Phillies race toward their 3rd straight NL East crown. In seven starts, Martinez has garnered 5 wins with a 2.87 ERA and 34 Ks in 37.2 innings. The Phillies' magic number fell to 16, as the Marlins - 6 1/2 back - lost to the Nats.

Matsui, Yankees Bomb Red Sox, 20-11; Wolf Does It All in Dodger Win

Players of the Day for Friday, August 21, 2009 American League There were so many stars in the Yankees' 20-11 win over Boston (no, that's not a football score), it might have been difficult to find just one player to feature as POTD. Considering that the Yanks banged out 23 hits (11 for extra bases), scored multiple runs in the 1st, 2nd, 5th 6th and 9th innings, and won their 5th straight over Boston, the stats were amazing. A-Rod was 4-for-4 with a triple, Derek Jeter went 3-for-6 and scored three times, Mark Teixeira was 3-for-5, with 3 RBI and 3 runs, but it was Mr Monster Mash himself, Hideki Matsui, who wielded the biggest bat of the night, going 2-for-6, both hits being 3-run home runs to right. Matsui also grounded out in the 7th inning, getting Rodriguez home after his triple, giving him 7 RBI on the night. The game was the highest-scoring one in the long history of these two teams, surpassing the previous high score, when the New York Highlanders topped the Boston Americans, 15-14, back in 1903. With that history in tow, the Yankees continued their drive to the AL East crown, taking a 7 1/2 game lead over the Sox and leading the third place Rays by 10 1/2. The teams renew the rivalry twice more this weekend at Fenway. National League At 8-6, with a 3.34 ERA, LA's Randy Wolf is having a pretty good season with the first-place Dodgers. Wolf, who turns 33 today, got his birthday celebration started a little early, winning a 2-1 contest with the Cubs almost all by himself. On the mound, Wolf was nearly untouchable, allowing just one earned run on one hit and two walks over 7 innings, fanning five. At the plate, he was perfect, doubling in both of the Dodger runs in the second inning and walking in the 4th. When he came to bat in the 7th, his job done, he was pinch hit for by Juan Pierre. George Sherrill held the Cubs hitless in the 8th and Jonathan Broxton picked up his 27th save with a perfect 9th.The win was the second straight for LA, and provided a little breathing room as Colorado was losing to the Giants, 6-3. The Rockies are 4 1/2 back of LA, the Giants trail the leaders by 5 1/2. NOTES: With so much focus on the Yankees-Red Sox series, it's hard to get excited about the other divisional races, but they are still not close to being decided. The Angels have lost two straight and lead the Rangers by 5 1/2. Texas would like to run down the Angels, but they are locked into a wild card battle with the Red Sox and Rays. Boston is one up on the Rangers and 3 ahead of Tampa Bay. The Tigers continue to be hounded by the White Sox in the Central, with a 3 1/2 game lead. Chicago's path to the playoffs is probably through Detroit, as they are 7 1/2 back in the wild card. Over in the NL, Philly still leads the Marlins by 5 1/2 and the Braves by one more. The Central looks to be a one-team race, as the Cardinals have taken control, 7 games to the good over the Cubs. In August, the Cards have amassed a 13-5 record while the Cubs have wilted, going a pathetic 7-12 thus far.

Arroyo, Gomes Power Reds; Matsui Belts Two in Yankee Win

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 13, 2009 American League The Yankees have the look of a team itching to clinch their division title. They've won 3 straight, 10 of their last 11 and are 21-4 since the all star break. One of the reasons the Yankees are playing so well is the steady play of right fielder Hideki Matsui, who has 19 home runs and 58 RBI to go with his .268 batting average. After winning 6 of 7 on their most recent home stand, the Yanks headed to Seattle for a three-game set with the Mariners and started out in usual Yankee fashion with an 11-1 win. C.C. Sabathia improved to 13-7 with 8 innings of 3 hit work, allowing just the one run while fanning 10. Matsui delivered a healthy share of the offense, going 4-for-5 with a pair of two-run home runs, 5 RBI and 4 runs. The Yankees suddenly have opened up the largest divisional lead in the majors, at 6 1/2 games over the second place Red Sox, who are now being mentioned as the leader of the wild card race. Just half way through August and Yankee fans are starting to calculate magic numbers. (Incidentally, it's 41.) National League The Cincinnati Reds fell out of contention for any post-season play form July 20 to August 4, when they lost 14 out of 15 games to the Dodgers, Cubs, Rockies and Padres (the Cubs beat them 5 straight times in two separate series), but they can certainly play the spoiler role down the stretch with players like Bronson Arroyo (left) and Jonny Gomes (right). In Cincy's 7-0 win over the Nationals, Arroyo didn't need very much offense as he stymied the Nats on 2 hits, a walk and a hit batsmen. Arroyo struck out just 3, but didn't allow a single runner to reach second base and finished strong, getting the last nine batters in order for the complete game shutout, his second shutout and third complete game this season. Arroyo is 11-11 with a 4.74 ERA. With Arroyo in complete control of the Nationals' hitters, Gomes made the most of his 4 trips to the dish, whacking three home runs, one each in the 2nd, 4th and 6th innings, the first two, two run shots and the third a solo blast. Gomes' 5 RBI gave him 33 with 14 home runs in just 166 at-bats.

Bonds, A-Rod, Glavine, No, No, Almost

American League Chi White Sox 3 NY Yankees 16 - The Bombers lived up to their nickname, blasting 8 balls out of the yard, tying a franchise record set in 1939 by Joe DiMaggio and his teammates. Hideki Matsui knocked out a pair, driving in 3 runs and scoring 4 times. Alex Rodriguez, sitting on 499 career homers was not part of the hit parade. A-Rod went 0-5 and is in an 0-17 slump as he seeks the milestone. The other six homers were hit by Robbie Cano, Bobby Abreu, Melky Cabrera, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon and Shelly Duncan. The Yankees drew to within 3 games of losing Cleveland in the wild card race, which seems to be the most likely way the Yankees might reach the playoffs this season. New York also trails Seattle by 1 1/2 in the wild card chase and is 7 behind Boston in the AL East. LA Angels 8 Seattle 0 - Payback is a... well, you know the rest. Just one night after being blanked 2-0 by the Mariners, John Lackey (right, 13-6) stepped to the mound and returned the favor with a complete-game, 7 hit shutout. The win increased the Angels' bulge over the Mariners to 4 games. Other AL Scores Texas 3 Cleveland 1 Baltimore 5 Boston 3 Toronto 2 Tampa Bay 0 Kansas City 3 Minnesota 5 Detroit 3 Oakland 7 National League Arizona 4 San Diego 0 - Brandon Webb worked over the Padres hitters for seven innings, allowing just 3 hits while improving to 10-8 and getting the D-Backs into sole possession of first place in the NL West as the Dodgers were being handled by Nick Lowry and the SF Giants. Colorado 6 Florida 3 - Earlier in the evening, the Rockies continued their push toward the top of the division with their 3rd straight win and 5th in their last 7. Matt Holliday

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continued his torrid hitting, going 3-4 and scoring twice. Garrett Atkins provided the big blow, a 3-run double in the third. Philadelphia 3 Chi Cubs 7 - In the 2nd game of the battle between second-place clubs, the Cubs got even with the Phillies, and remained 1 game behind Milwaukee in the NL Central race. In the East, the Phillies and Mets were both losers, so Atlanta moved to within 3 1/2 of the lead, just 1/2 back of the Phillies. NY Mets 2 Milwaukee 4, 13 innings - Tom Glavine pitched well enough to get his 500th win, allowing just 2 hits and 1 earned over 6 innings, but the bullpen gave up the tying run in the 8th and the game winner on Geoff Jenkins' (right) 14th home run in the 13th. Houston 4 Atlanta 12 - The Braves were the main beneficiaries of the Mets and Phillies' largess, picking up a game on each of them. Kelly Johnson went 4-4, including a pair of homers and 5 RBI. Other NL Scores St. Louis 6 Pittsburgh 4 Cincinnati 3 Washington 6 San Francisco 3 LA Dodgers 1 - B. Bonds, 0-2, booed lustily in LA