J.A. Happ's 1-Hit Outing Lifts Yankees Over Rays; Ronald Acuna Jr. Leads Braves To 4th Straight

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Happ: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

American League

The New York Yankees have been holding onto the top wild card spot since early May, but they haven't lost sight of the fact that Oakland and Seattle have made up ground over the long haul. They're still 3 1/2 up on Oakland and seven to the good over Seattle.

Nearing the end of July, prior to the trade deadline, the Yankees bolstered their pitching staff by picking up Lance Lynn from the Twins and J.A. Happ from the Blue Jays. The two pitchers have been lights out since putting on the pinstripes.

On Tuesday, Happ won his third straight as a Yankees, blanking the Rays on one hit over seven innings in New York's 4-1 home victory. The 35-year-old lefty threw 106 pitches, walked four, fanned four and lowered his Yankee ERA to 1.89. On the season, he's 13-6 with a 3.86 ERA.

Lynn has done his part as a reliever and starter. In three appearances (two starts) for the Yanks, he's allowed one run on 12 hits over 16 2/3 innings with 22 strikeouts, for an ERA of 0.54. Lynn - who is 1-0 as a Yankee - is scheduled for a start Friday against the Blue Jays.

The Yankees have won seven of their last nine after being swept four straight by the Red Sox. On Wednesday, they face the Rays in game two of their three game series, 7:05 pm EDT.

Acuna Jr. is on fire

National League

Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr. isn't just hot, he's sizzling

On Monday, Acuna, the Braves' leadoff hitter, hit home runs in his first at-bat in both games of a doubleheader sweep of the Miami Marlins. On Tuesday, Acuna belted a leadoff homer on the first pitch, to become the youngest player in major league history to homer in five straight games.

Helping the Braves down the Marlins, 10-6, Acuna ripped a three-run shot in the seventh inning after Dansby Swanson put Atlanta up, 7-6. Acuna went 3-for-5, his two dingers driving in four runs.

Acuna has hit safely in his last eight games, batting at a .471 pace (16-for-24) with eight home runs, 15 RBI and 13 runs. His hot streak has vaulted the Braves into first place in the NL East by two games over the Phillies, 2-1 losers Tuesday night in Boston.

Atlanta has won four straight and 13 of their last 17. They will be seeking a four-game sweep of the Marlins when they take the field at home, Wednesday, 7:35 pm EDT.

Adrian Beltre Belts Texas to NL West Title; J.A. Happ Sends Pirates Home for Wild Card Showdown with Cubs

Players of the Day for Sunday, October 4, 2015

American League


Texas is the champion of the AL West.

Happ: 6 Shutout Innings
Sends Pirates Home Happy

Beltre: Homer Sends
Rangers to AL West Crown

By defeating the LA Angels on the final day of the season, 9-2, the Rangers clinched the division and will play Toronto in the opening round of the playoffs.

Down 2-1, Adrian Beltre socked a two run homer in the fifth, putting the Rangers on top, then drove in another run with an infield single as the Rangers tacked on six runs in the seventh inning.

The Astros, finished second in the division and will be the second wild card, losing to Arizona, 5-3, on Sunday. Both the Astros and Yankees backed into the playoffs, but moreso the Yankees, as they lost for the sixth time in their last seven games, demolished by the Orioles, 9-4, losing three straight to the Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Astros travel to play the Yankees in the wild card game, Tuesday night at Yankees stadium.

National League

The Pittsburgh Pirates will face the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Wednesday as the Pirates finished one game better than the Cubs in the NL Central, taking home field for the wild card game, with a 4-0 win over Cincinnati.

J.A. Happ held the Reds scoreless on three hits over six innings to get the win, improving to 7-2 on the year. The Pirates scored single runs in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings. Pedro Alvarez socked his 27th homer of the season in the fourth.

The Cubs did their part to make the final day of the season interesting, whipping the Brewers 3-1. Chicago enters the post-season red-hot, winners of their last eight in a row.

Chicago finished 97-65. Pittsburgh was 98-64. Despite their designation as wild cards, the Pirates and Cubs had the second and third-best records in the league behind St. Louis, which ended the season with the best record in the majors, at 100-62, despite dropping both ends of a double-header at Atlanta on Sunday.

Burnett Stops Mets on 1 Hit; Happ, Werth Provide Phillies Win

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 27, 2009 American League Boston still leads the AL East, but the Yankees continue to hunt, just 4 games back. On Saturday, A.J. Burnett twirled a no-hitter through five innings before giving up a single to Alex Cora opening the 6th for the only hit in 7 innings of work. Burnett (6-4) walked 3 and struck out a season-high 10. Only one Met baserunner reached second base as Burnett and the Yankees topped the Mets, 5-0, their second straight lopsided win in the subway series which concludes Sunday at City Park. So far, the Yankees have won 4 out of 5 between the two New York metro teams. National League Having gone 2-11 in interleague play since June 12, watching their NL East lead shrink to a mere 1/2 game, the Philadelphia Phillies needed somebody to step up and get the team back to its winnings ways. In Satruday's 10-0 plastering of the Blue Jays, Jayson Werth (left) provided the offense while rookie J.A. Happ (right) pitched his first major league complete game shutout, working over the Jays on 5 hits, striking out 4 without issuing a walk. With Happ keeping the Blue Jays in complete control, Werth did more than enough damage at the plate to secure the win, going 4-for-4 with a single, double and two homers, three RBI and three runs scored. Werth has 15 homers and 43 RBI on the season. Happ is 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Coupled with losses by both the Mets and Marlins, the Phillies opened up a 1 1/2 game lead in the division over NY, with the Marlins 2 games back. NOTES: Other stellar performances from Saturday's action included Tim Wakefield's 3-hit, 6-inning shutout effort to lead Boston past the Braves, 1-0 and Albert Pujols' pair of 2-run homers in St. Louis' 5-3 win over Minnesota. Wakefield's win tied him with Minnesota's Kevin Slowey (victimized by Pujols) and Roy Halladay for the AL lead in wins with 10. Albert the Great, meanwhile, leads the majors in homers (28) and RBI (74). Pujols could be having his best year ever, and that's saying something. He's on pace to smash is personal best power numbers of 49 homers and 137 RBI, which earned him his first MVP Award in 2005. Pujols won it again last year with 37 homers, 116 RBI and a .357 batting average. The Angels are finally back to familiar ground, atop the AL West, thanks to some help from fellow Californians down the coast. San Diego popped Texas, 7-3, while the Angels were dispatching Arizona, 2-1, resulting in the Halos taking a 1/2-game lead in the division. The Rangers will have their opportunity to take the lead back, but they'll have to do it in Anaheim, as the two teams open a 3-game series on Monday.