Jake Lamb Leads Diamondbacks With 4 RBI; Matt Davidson's 3 HRs Lift White Sox Over Royals

Players of the Day for Thursday, March 29, 2018

Davidson: 3HR, 5 RBI

American League

OK, OK, Giancarlo Stanton belted two homers in his first game as a New York Yankee, leading to a 6-1 victory over Toronto, but, in Kansas City, Matt Davidson was raising some heads as he hammered three balls out of Kauffman Stadium, leading the White Sox to a 14-7 rout of the Royals.

After banging out solo shots in the fourth and fifth innings, walking and scoring in the seventh, Davidson delivered the coup de grace in the eighth with a three-run shot which completed the White Sox scoring, finishing his day at 3-for-5 with five RBI and four runs.

No stranger to the long ball, Davidson rocked 26 homers as a rookie in 2017, and is certain to provide plenty of power to the middle of Chicago's lineup this season.

The win put the Sox all alone in first place in the AL Central, as the Indians and Twins were losers on opening day and Detroit's home opener against the Pirates was rained out.

After a day off Friday, the three-game series in Kansas City resumes on Saturday at 7:15 pm EDT.

National League

Lamb: 2-for-4, 4 RBI

It was opening day throughout the National League, and fans could not be happier than those in Arizona, where the Diamondbacks rolled the visiting Rockies, 8-2.

With four RBI on the day, Jake Lamb delivered half of the Arizona runs with a two-run double in the first inning, followed by a single in the sixth. The Diamondbacks took advantage of some Colorado wildness, taking six walks in addition to their 12 hits.

Jamb, who batted fourth behind Paul Goldschmidt, was certain to see plenty of good pitches and came through with runners on base.

Coming off his best year as a pro, Lamb, beginning his fourth full season, is looking to improve on his impressive numbers from 2017, in which he batted .248 with 30 homers and 105 RBI, seventh-most in the National League.

The win put the D'Backs on top of the NL West with the Giants, who downed the Dodgers, 1-0. San Diego fell 2-1 in 12 innings, their home opener spoiled by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Game two of the three-game series is slated for Friday at 9:40 pm EDT.

Boston Wins 7th Straight Behind Chris Sale's 13 Ks; Jake Lamb Slams Dodgers In 6-3 Arizona Win

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 8, 2017

American League

Sale: 14-4, 2.57, 229 Ks

Boston won its seventh straight game, doing so behind their ace, Chris Sale, in a 2-0 win at Tampa Bay.

Sale was at his very best, allowing two hits and a walk over eight full innings, fanning 13, tying a season-high. Sale struck out 13 on two prior occasions, April 20 at Toronto and July 20, at home against the Yankees. Having struck out 11 in a May 7 win over Baltimore, Sale has double-digit strikeout games against all four AL East opponents.

Looking every bit like this season's Cy Young award winner, Sale leads the AL wins (14-4), ERA (2.57) and strikeouts, his 229 total a clear lead of 40 over Tampa Bay's Chris Archer.

Sale put down the first ten batters he faced, his perfect performance interrupted by a throwing error by third baseman Rafael Devers with one down in the fourth. He entered the fifth with a no-hitter, but Wilson Ramos singled with one out. Sale gave up the only other hit by the Rays in the sixth inning and issued a walk to open the seventh, but set down the next six straight, handing the ball over to closer, Craig Kimbrel, after fanning four of the last five batters he faced.

Picking up his 28th save, Kimbrel was equally impressive, fanning the three batters he faced in the ninth.

The Red Sox will be looking for their eighth straight win and a sweep of the two games at Tampa Bay when they face the Rays Wednesday night at 7:00 pm ET.

National League

Lamb: 25 HR, 90 RBI

Down 16 games in the NL West, Arizona opened their three-game series with the visiting first-place Dodgers the way they had to, with a 6-3 victory, slicing slightly into LA's overwhelming lead.

Jake Lamb did almost all of the Diamondbacks' damage, whacking a pair of home runs, a fourth inning solo shot and a seventh inning grand slam that turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 advantage for the home team.

Lamb's homers were his 24th and 25th, closing in on his career-best total of 29 round-trippers in 2016. His five RBI in the game made him the second National Leaguer to reach 90, behind Colorado's Nolan Arenado, who leads the majors with 98.

Arizona improved to 64-48. Even though they still trail the Dodgers by 15 games, they do lead the wild card race, by 1/2 game over the Rockies. Both Arizona and Colorado have to continue their strong play as there are a trio of NL Central teams gunning for at least one of the wild card slots. Milwaukee, St. Louis and Pittsburgh are currently 6, 7, and 8 games behind the Rockies.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks have two more games at Chase Stadium, with game two scheduled for Wednesday night at 9:40 pm ET.

Justin Smoak Homers Twice In Toronto Win Over Red Sox; Jake Lamb's 2HR, 6RBI Power Arizona

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 20, 2017

American League

Smoak: 3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI

It's too late in the season for the Toronto Blue Jays to complain about their poor start to the season. Too many games have been played and the Jays have had ample opportunity to get themselves back into the AL East or wild card race.

The Blue Jays find themselves nine games behind Boston, in last place in the division, even after outlasting the Red Sox at Fenway, 8-6, Thursday, finishing the four-game series tied at two games apiece. That's fine for the Red Sox, but not for Toronto, in need of making up ground.

One bright spot for the Blue Jays is the all-around excellent play of Justin Smoak, the all-star first baseman, who socked a pair of solo homers and drove in another run with a single, going 3-for-5 with three RBI.

Smoak's fifth inning home run padded a 5-3 lead. In the next inning, his single rap put the Jays ahead, 7-3. After the Red Sox plated three on a Dustin Pedroia home run in the seventh, Smoak landed on in the left field stands, giving the Blue Jay relief staff some breathing room.

At .298 with 26 home runs and 62 RBI, Smoak is having a career year. In his eighth year in the majors, Smoak has already surpassed his home run and RBI totals. His batting average is .066 better than his career average.

Roberto Osuna picked up his 24th save, pitching a perfect ninth, fanning two of the three batters he faced.

Toronto opens a three-game series at Cleveland Friday, while the Red Sox - maintaining a 2 1/2 game AL East lead over Tampa Bay - begin a six game westward swing, with three games at the Angels followed by three in Seattle.

National League

Lamb: 2 HR, 6 RBI

Arizona's Jake Lamb is proving to be a hot commodity at the hot corner.

The fourth-year third baseman whacked a pair of three-run homers, driving in six runs in Arizona's 12-2 pounding of Cincinnati Thursday night.

Lamb's power display - his 21st and 22nd home runs - has him trailing just Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the league lead in RBI. Lamb has 76; Arenado leads with 80.

Lamb got the rout started with a first inning blast and ended it with another round-tripper in the ninth inning, giving the Diamondbacks a 2-1 win of the three-game series at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park.

The 26-year-old's stats are no fluke, nor is Arizona's contention in the National League, thanks largely to his contributions. Last season, Lamb belted 29 home runs and drove in 91 runs.

The win left the Diamondbacks tied with Colorado in second place in the NL West. Even though the Dodgers' 11-game winning streak was broken by the Braves in a 6-3 win, LA leads the division by 10 1/2 games. The Rockies and Diamondbacks have a 5 1/2 game edge over the Cubs in the wild card race.

Arizona hosts a three-game series with the Washington Nationals starting Friday.

Baltimore's Wellington Castillo Crushes Blue Jays; Jake Lamb, Arizona Tear Up Padres' Jered Weaver

Players of the Day for Friday, May 19, 2017

American League

Castillo Tears Up Toronto

In the off-season, Baltimore fans wondered how Wellington Castillo would fare as a replacement for longtime catcher Matt Wieters, who was released and ended up down the highway in Washington.

Castillo endeared himself to many a skeptic Friday night as he belted a pair of home runs, each of them critical in Baltimore's 10-inning, 5-3 victory over Toronto.

Acquired from Arizona after the 2016 season, Castillo socked a two-run home run in the sixth inning which tied the score at 3-3, then delivered the game-winner in the tenth, another two-run blast. Both times, Mark Trumbo was on base when Castillo drove the ball out of the park.

The homers were Castillo's second and third of the season. He's batting .356 with 13 RBI in 20 games.

Baltimore was in need of a win, as the Yankees were losing at Tampa Bay, 5-4, and the Orioles had lost six of their last seven heading into the three-game series with the visiting Blue Jays. At the end of the night, the Yanks held a 1/2 game lead on Baltimore. Toronto, beset by injuries, is eight back.

Toronto will try to even things up when they meet the O's at Camden Yards, Saturday at 7:35 pm ET

National League

Lamb: 2HR, 5RBI

There was a time, not long ago, that Jered Weaver was one of the best pitchers in the majors. From 2009 to 2014, Weaver compiled a record of 96-50, going 20-5 in 2012. A three-time all-star, it's safe to say that the 34-year-old's best days are behind him.

Evidence of his demise occurred Friday night as the Arizona Diamondback bombed him for five hits, two walks and seven runs in just 2/3rds of an inning en route to a 10-1 romp. His shortest outing of the season left Weaver at 0-5 with an ERA of 7.44.

Chief among the Arizona protagonists was Jake Lamb, who opened the scoring for the Diamondbacks with a three-run homer and finished Weaver's stint by walking, forcing in the seventh run of the inning. Lamb was far from finished, socking a solo homer in the sixth to complete Arizona's scoring, finishing with five RBI for the game and 11 home runs with 34 RBI (5th in NL) for the year.

Arizona's win opened a three-game series in San Diego and left them tied for second place in the NL West with the Dodgers, two games behind Colorado. The win was Arizona's fourth straight and they'll look for number five when they meet the Padres Saturday at 7:10 pm PT at Petco Park.

Jake Lamb Powers Diamondbacks to 20th Spring Win; Mark Trumbo Hits 5th Homer as O's Outlast Yanks

Trumbo adds punch for O's

Players of the Day for Friday, March 25, 2016

Grapefruit League

Outlasting the NY Yankees 11-10 in 10 innings, the Baltimore Orioles won for just the seventh time in March, but they are beginning to show signs of life as there regular season approaches.

One of the highlights of Spring has been the production of Mark Trumbo, acquired during the off-season from Seattle, to add more punch to the lineup.

Turbo socked his fifth home run, hitting behind slugger Chris Davis, who sorely needed to see better pitches last season and, with Trumbo threatening behind him in the order, likely will, this year.

Splitting the season between Arizona and Seattle, Trumbo batted .262 with 22 homers and 64 RBI in 2015.

Jake Lamb

Cactus League

The Arizona Diamondbacks continued their dominance in the pre-season, improving to 20-4 with a 7-5 victory over Cleveland Friday.

Jake Lamb socked his third homer of Spring, helping the Diamondbacks pound Cleveland Starter, Cory Kluber, who was touched up for 13 hits and six runs (4 earned) over 6 1/3 innings.

Lamb, who played in 107 games for Arizona last season, is having a sensational Spring training, going 15-for-41 (.366) with three homers and 12 RBI.

The Diamondbacks have a 5 1/2 game lead over the Angels and Rangers in the Cactus League, and play a road game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.