Twins Top Yankees Again On Jake Ordorizzi 1-Hit Effort; D.J. LeMahieu Smashes HR As Rockies Walk Off Arizona

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 12, 2018

American League

Odorizzi 1-hits Yankees

Jake Odorizzi took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the Minnesota Twins took their second straight over the Yankees, 3-1. The game was the last of the season series with the Twins. The Yankees had won the first five this season, but stumbled, losing two of three in Minnesota.

After striking out Gary Sanchez to open the eighth, Odorizzi walked Luke Voit, then gave up a double to Greg Bird, which scored Voit all the way from first. Having thrown 120 pitches, Odorizzi was immediately replaced on the mound, but the Yankees could muster no more hits or runs.

Odorizzi worked 7 1/3 innings, fanned five and walked three, improving to 6-10 on the year.

With Oakland scoring all of their runs in the third inning for a 10-0 win at Baltimore, the Yankees' lead in the wild card over the A's has been cut to one game. The Yankees have Thursday off prior to opening a nine-game home stand with three each against Toronto, Boston and Baltimore. It's the final home stretch for New York of the season. They close out with four games in Tampa and three at Boston.

Winners of six straight, the A's continue their dual track in Baltimore Thursday, hoping to wrap up the three-game series with a sweep. Oakland trails the Astros in the AL West by three games.

National League

LeMahieu: Walk-off HR

In the NL West, Colorado continued to cling to a 1 1/2 game lead over the Dodgers with a dramatic, 5-4 win over Arizona Wednesday night.

Down 4-3 with one out and Gerardo Parra on base in the bottom of the ninth, D.J. LeMahieu took Arizona reliever Yoshihisa Hirano deep to right field for a walk-off, top run homer.

Finishing a 3-for-5 night with the big blast, LeMahieu had singled twice earlier and scored in the third inning on a wild pitch by Diamondback starter, Patrick Corbin. He's batting .283 with 15 home runs and 55 RBI.

The win kept the Rockies atop the division as the Dodgers won at Cincinnati, 8-1. The Rockies have taken two of three from the visiting Diamondbacks and wrap up their series Thursday afternoon. Colorado is 8-3 in September and has surged past both the Diamondbacks and Dodgers in the division.

The Dodgers open a four-game series at St. Louis Thursday.

Stephen Strasburg Fans 10 In 6-1 Washington Win; Jake Odorizzi Allows One Hit In 3-2 Tampa Victory

Players of the Day for Monday, July 17, 2017


American League

Khris Davis launched a solo home run - his 26th - in the fourth inning, as the A's cut Tampa Bay's lead in half.

Odorizzi: 1-hit winner

As it turns out, that was the only hit the A's would get off Rays' starter, Jake Odorizzi, the 27-year-old righty going seven innings to improve to 6-4 as the Rays out-dueled the Athletics, 3-2, in the opener of their three game series in Oakland.

Odorizzi struck out five, walked two, and worked around a pair of errors - one by himself - throwing 103 pitches, 61 for strikes. Of the 15 outs made by balls in play, Ordorizzi registered just one by ground, but 14 on fly outs.

Evan Longoria grounded into force that provided a run in the third. He and Steven Souza Jr. each had solo homers for the three Tampa runs.

Tommy Hunter worked a hitless eighth inning for the Rays and closer Alex Colome gave up a leadoff double to Yonder Alonzo and allowed him to score on a wild pitch, cutting the Rays' lead to 3-2. Nonetheless, Colome picked up his 27 save as Tampa moved closer to the Red Sox, who lost, 4-3, to Toronto. Boston leads the AL East, and the Rays, by two games.

Game two is slated for 7:05 pm PT, Tuesday at the Oakland Coliseum.

National League

Question: What happens when the Washington Nationals stake Stephen Strasburg to a 5-0, first inning lead?

Strasburg: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R

Answer: Strasburg allows one run on four hits over seven innings, strikes out ten and improves to 10-3 in a 6-1 Nationals' victory, finishing off a four-game sweep of the Reds and their fifth straight win overall.

That was the scenario Monday night in Cincinnati, as Washington improved its lead in the NL East to 10 1/2 games over the Braves, as Atlanta dropped a 4-3 decision to the visiting Cubs.

Strasburg walked one and threw just 105 pitches. Joe Blanton and Matt Grace each pitched a perfect inning, getting the Nationals through the eighth and ninth, respectively.

The 10 whiffs gave Strasburg 139 on the year, fifth in the NL, but nowhere near teammate Max Scherzer, who leads the league with 183.

The Reds' only run came on a second inning solo homer by Eugenio Suarez. After that, all Cincy could muster were singles. After plunking Adam Duvall to open the seventh, Strasburg finished his stint by fanning the final three batters he faced.

With their fourth straight loss, the Reds have fallen 11 1/2 off the pace set by the Brewers in the NL Central. Washington heads West to play two games with the Angels, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tampa's Jake Odorizzi, Toronto's Drew Hutchison Each Throw Seven-Inning 1-Hitters; Matt Holliday Homers Twice as Cardinals Break Losing Streak

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 30, 2014

American League

Drew Hutchison

If any one thing typifies the state of baseball in the 21st century it is the advent - and overuse - of the pitch count, the nearly deified number that skews statistics and has managers scurrying from the dugout to the mound with the diligence of a third grade schoolmarm.

Jake Odorizzi

On Saturday, the dreaded pitch count marred two exceptional performances, both in the AL East and both by pitchers on their separate ways to what could have been - should have been - shutouts.

In Tampa, rookie hurler, Jake Odorizzi quieted the Red Sox on one hit over seven innings, blanking them, while striking out seven and walking three, in a 7-0 Tampa Bay victory.

Other than plunking Yoenis Cespedes in the second inning and walking the bases full in the seventh, Odorizzi was round the plate, allowing only a Will Middlebrooks fourth-inning leadoff single to soil his record. That one hit, did, however, give manager Joe Madden an excuse to take his rookie from the mound ad turn the ball over to relievers for the final two innings. One supposes that had Odorizzi been throwing a no-hitter, Madden might have left him in, even after the alarming 103 pitches he'd thrown.

Jake Beliveau and Kirby Yates mopped up, pitching the eighth and ninth, respectively, preserving the victory.

Earlier in the day, Toronto's Drew Hutchison had set the mark for young hurlers, blanking the visiting Yankees on one hit over seven innings - a fourth-inning double by Mark Teixeira - before being lifted. Hutchison threw (you guessed it) 103 pitches, walking two and striking out nine prior to getting the hook.

Strangely enough, Hutchison also faced a bases-loaded condition, when he plunked Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann with two outs, around Teixeira's double, but got Martin Prado to fly out to center, ending the inning.

Aaron Sanchez came on with a flawless two innings of relief for the 2-0 Toronto win.

Hutchison, who tossed 58 innings in 2013, so is technically not a rookie, has already thrown a shutout this season. Odorizzi has not.

The results of the games did little to affect the standings, except that the Yankees fell further behind the Orioles in the East, now eight games back, and fell 3 1/2 off the pace in the race for the second wild card.

National League

Holliday: 2HR, 5RBI

The Cardinals finally broke out of their funk, winning the back end of a day-night double-headers with the Cubs Saturday night, breaking a four-game losing streak with a 13-2 win.

Matt Holliday led the hitting assault with a pair of homers - his 14th and 15th - a three-run jolt in the fifth inning which unknotted a 1-1 tie and a solo blast in the ninth igniting a nine run Cardinal eruption.

Holliday was also hit by a pitch with the bases loaded later in the inning, accounting for his fifth RBI of the night. He finished 2-for-3.

The victory came at an opportune time for St. Louis, holding onto their status in both the Central division and wild card races. While the Giants were beating Milwaukee, 3-1, for their fifth straight win (and the Brewers' fourth straight loss), the Cardinals had already lost the first half of their double-header to the Cubs, 5-1.

The results leave St. Louis one game behind the Brewers in the division, with Pittsburgh another game back. The Cardinals are a game behind the Giants in the wild card race, leaving them in the #2 slot, with the Pirates, again, one more game back. Atlanta is 1 1/2 behind the Cardinals.

Teams and positions are sure to change as baseball enters September. The Giants trial Los Angeles by just 2 1/2 in the NL West.