Twins Blank Mets on Pavano 3-Hitter; Loney Delivers 4 RBI for Dodgers

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 26, 2010 American League With the Tigers and White Sox breathing down their backs, the Minnesota Twins could not allow their four-game losing streak to get any deeper, so a win against the Mets and their ace, Johan Santana, was a critical task for Saturday. Detroit was just 1/2 game back and the onrushing White Sox - winners of 10 straight - had drawn to within 1 1/2 games. Playing the Mets in New York wasn't exactly going to make matters any easier, as the Twins were 17-20 on the road. Minnesota's chances were quickly improved when the Twins busted out for four runs in the top of the first inning off Santana. After that, it was just a matter of starter Carl Pavano keeping the Mets' hitters in check, a task he performed with precision, blanking them. 6-0, for his first shutout of the season. It was Pavano's second straight complete game, and third this year. The Mets managed only three hits all day off Pavano, who has recorded wins in each of his last four starts. Throwing 75 of 110 pitches for strikes, he walked one and stuck out four, getting 12 more outs on ground balls and 7 on flies. Pavano improved to 9-6 and looms a solid choice for an All Star appearance. Better yet, the Tigers lost to the Braves, 4-3, though the White Sox extended their win streak to 11 - tying Texas for the longest in the majors this season - with a 3-2 win over the Cubs. Those results left Minnesota 1 1/2 ahead of both AL Central rivals. National League Considering all the attention usually focused around everything that happens in Los Angeles, the Dodgers haven't exactly been burning up the headlines lately. Part of the reason has to be the success of the teams to their South and North, the Padres and Giants, which currently control the top two spots in the NL West standings. The Padres lead San Fran by 3 1/2 games, and even though the Dodgers were just four games off the pace, their 9-4 win over the visiting NY Yankees on Saturday kept them in touch with the leaders. With much of the attention focused around Dodger manager Joe Torre coaching against his former team, center stage belonged to James Loney, who drove in four runs with a sac fly and a pair of well-timed singles, helping dispatch Yankee starter, A.J. Burnett, who pitched into the 4th inning but could not retire either of the first two batters he faced, as the Dodgers built an insurmountable 7-4 lead. Loney is quietly having what appears to be his best season since breaking in with the Dodgers in 2006. His two hits in four at-bats raised his batting average to .296 and he has 51 RBI, well on pace to better his total of 90, which he had in both 2008 and 2009. Though a big guy at 6'3", 220, Loney is not a power hitter. His five homers this season are about normal. His totals over the past three seasons were 15, 13 and 13. At the end of the day, the Dodgers were still in 3rd place in the division, 4 games back, with the Rockies another game behind them, though the Giants lost, improving San Diego's lead to 3 1/2 games.

Red Sox Ground Angels; Loney Slams Cubs; Hamels a Hero in Philly

Players of the Day from Wednesday, October 1, 2008 American League Boston 4 LA Angels 1 Jason Bay crunched a two-run homer in support of Jon Lester's strong 7 inning performance as the Red Sox won the opener of their playoff series with the Angels, 4-1. Bay's homer lifted the Red Sox from a 1-0 deficit and the Red Sox bullpen kept the Angels off the board for the remainder of the proceedings. Lester, who allowed an unearned run in the second inning, gave up six hits - all singles - and a walk while fanning seven. Boston's win was the 10th straight over the Angels in the playoffs and the 8th straight playoff loss for LA overall. The Angels dominated Boston during the regular season, winning 8 of 9 games. Notes: The series resumes Friday night in Anaheim with Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound for Boston, facing the Angels' Ervin Santana. National League Philadelphia 3 Milwaukee 1 Cole Hamels was at the top of his game, striking out nine batter and shutting out the Brewers over 8 innings on two hits to lead the Phillies to a 3-1 win over Milwaukee in the opener of their best-of-five playoff series. Brad Lidge, who was named NL comeback player of the year on Monday, came on for the ninth, getting the final three outs on strikeouts, but not before allowing a walk, two hits and the Brewers' only run. Hamels was a strikeout machine, getting Mike Cameron swinging to start the game and Ryan Braun swinging to end the first inning. He fanned Jason Kendall and slugger Prince Fielder twice each. For good measure, Lidge also struck out Fielder with Ryan Braun on 2nd and first base open in the ninth. The Phillies scored all of their runs in the 3rd inning on a Chase Utley 2-run double and a bases loaded walk to Shane Victorino. Though all of the runs were deemed unearned because of second baseman Ricky Weeks' one-out error, starter Brewers' starter Yovani Gallardo struggled through 4 innings, allowing 3 hits while walking 5. The Brewers and Phillies take the field again Thursday night (6:07 pm ET). C.C. Sabathia will start for Milwaukee. Philly sends Brett Myers to the mound. Sabathia has been a stud for the Brewers since coming over in a mid-season trade from Cleveland. He will be pitching on three days rest after a complete game win which clinched the wild card for the Brewers on Sunday. LA Dodgers 7 Chicago Cubs 2 The cloud hanging over the Chicago Cubs for the last 100 years just won't go away. Nursing a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning, starter Ryan Dempster managed to load the bases on walks and with two outs let James Loney take him - and the hopes of thousands of Cubs fans in attendance - out of the park with a grand slam that broke the game open. Loney's blast was just the start for the Dodgers. Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin also homered in the 7th and 9th innings. Casey Blake singled in another run in the 8th. The Cubs had no answers in the Dodgers' 7-2 romp at Wrigley. While the Dodgers had only 8 hits, 5 of them went for extra bases, three of them out of the park. Chicago collected 9 hits, but only two - a double by Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa's second-inning two-run homer - were anything beyond singles. The Cubs can make amends Thursday night (9:07 pm ET) with Carlos Zambrano on the mound to face the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley. After that, it's off to LA for a pair of weekend games and back to Chicago on Tuesday, if necessary. It's been 100 years since the Cubs last won a World Series. On such an auspicious anniversary, they're still a long way from celebrating.

Loney Leads LA to 8th Straight; 4 More for Morneau

Players of the Day from Sunday, September 7, 2008 American League Justin Morneau drove in 4 runs with a triple and a pair of sac flies, but it wasn't enough to keep the Twins from losing to Detroit, 7-5. Morneau has driven in 4 runs in 3 of his last seven games, giving him 117, just 7 behind league leader Josh Hamilton of Texas. The loss was made more palatable by Chicago losing to the Angels, 3-2, which kept the Twins 2 1/2 games behind the White Sox in the Central. Francisco Rodriguez picked up his 55th save in that game. He is now just 2 shy of the all time single-season saves record. LA's magic number for clinching the West is now 3. Notes: Boston beat Texas, 7-2, and the Rays lost 1-0 at Toronto, shaving Tampa's lead to a mere 1 1/2 games. The Blue Jays passed the Yankees in the standings and are now 9 1/2 back as they won their 8th straight. They are having a major impact on the AL races, and will continue to do so for the remainder of the season. After taking the final two games of their series at New York, the Jays went home and swept the Twins and Jays. This week includes four games at Chicago and four more at Boston. Their season extends with 3 games at home vs. Baltimore, then Boston and NY. The close out with 3 in Baltimore. National League A two-run single in the 1st and a sac fly in the 6th inning were all James Loney needed to match Arizona's output as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks, 5-3, completing a 3-game sweep, winning their 8th in a row and extending their lead in the NL West to 1 1/2 games. While the Dodgers have been on fire, the D-Backs have been languishing in a 2-6 slump, watching their 4 1/2 game lead vanish in just over a week. Notes: The Phillies and Mets split their day-night double header, so the Mets remain two games in front in the East. In the Central, both the Cubs and Brewers were beaten on Sunday, keeping the Cubs 4 games to the good with the Cubs still staring down a season-ending stretch of 4 games at NY, followed by 3 at Milwaukee.

Loney Drives Dodgers Past Phils; Perkins Shuts Down Yankees

Players of the Day from Monday, August 11, 2008 American League Minnesota starter, Glen Perkins (9-3), whose wife, Alisha, gave birth to their second daughter, Lyla, on Sunday, worked over the Yankees for 8 innings en route to a 4-0 Minnesota win Monday night. Perkins is 7-1 over his last 10 starts, but, in addition to basking in the glow of birth, he also beat the Yankees for the first time in three tries. Perkins allowed just 4 hits and 3 walks while fanning 4 before giving way to reliever Joe Nathan, who didn't earn a save, but struck out the middle of the Yankees' order in the ninth, getting Bobby Abreu swinging, Alex Rodriguez looking and Xavier Nady swinging. With the White Sox dropping a critical 5-1 decision to Boston, the Twins reassumed first place in the AL Central by 1/2 game. The Sox and Twins have traded places twice this week atop the division. Notes: Perhaps the biggest loser in the battle for the Central is the Tigers, who continue to lose games they sorely need, on Monday losing to Toronto, 7-2, and dropping 8 games off the pace.

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The Rays continue to lead the Red Sox by 4 games in the East, but injuries to two of their top players, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford could make matters interesting. Longoria is expected to miss three to four weeks with a fractured wrist, while Carl Crawford may need surgery to repair a tendon in his right hand. Crawford may miss up to 5 weeks, but could return middle to late September. With two stars sidelined, the race could tighten, benefiting Boston, and maybe even the Yankees, who have fallen 9 games off the pace. National League With Arizona taking a day off, James Loney and his fellow Dodgers started a 4-game series with the Phillies by dumping the AL East leaders, 8-6, gaining to within 1 game of the Diamondbacks. Loney singled home 2 runs in a 6-run third inning, and added insurance with an RBI double in the 8th. Earlier, he had singled in the second inning and went 3-for-4 for the night.

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Notes: Philly's loss was barely registered because the Phillies got some brotherly love from St. Louis, who dumped the Marlins, 4-2, and the Pirates, who slashed the Mets, 7-5. Consequently, Philadelphia remained 2 ahead of NY and 2 1/2 in front of Florida. In the Central, Milwaukee won their 6th straight to creep to within 3 1/2 of the Cubs with St. Louis 3 games further back.

Joyce, Cabrera Clobber KC; Loney Leads LA Past Rockies

Players of the Day from Monday, July 21, 2008 American League Miguel Cabrera went 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles and 6 RBI and rookie Matt Joyce knocked a pair of singles, a triple and a homer in six at-bats, driving in 5 and scoring three times as the Tigers humiliated the Royals, 19-4. Coupled with losses by both Minnesota and Chicago, the Tigers stalked to within 5 1/2 games of first place in the Central division, the closest they've been since early April. Minnesota trails the White Sox by 1/2 game. Notes: The Yankees, Red Sox and Rays were all winners on Monday, so nothing changed in the East standings. In the West, the Angels were beaten by Cleveland, 5-2, but the A's lost their 6th straight and fell 1/2 behind Texas, 6-1 winners over Chicago. The now-2nd-place Rangers trail the Angels by 8 1/2 games. National League The Dodgers kept pace with the Diamondbacks as James Loney drove in five runs helping Los Angeles outlast Colorado, 16-10. The game was never close, as the Dodgers scored 8 times in the first inning and made the lead 11-0 by the third. Going 3-for-6, Loney singled in a pair in the first, drove in another with a single in the 2nd, and drove in two more with a triple in the 5th inning. Notes: Tied for first place with the Dodgers in the West, Arizona knocked off the Cubs, 2-0, as Randy Johnson worked 7 strong innings, allowing just 2 hits. Chicago hurler Rich Harden allowed only one hit in his seven inning stint, but it was a solo homer by Alex Romero, and it proved to be the difference-maker. The Cubs' loss allowed Milwaukee, 6-3 victors over St. Louis, to tie the Cardinals just 2 games behind Chicago in the Central. The Brewers, winners of 6 in a row, are percentage points ahead of St. Louis with their sights clearly set on the Cubs, whom they next meet on July 28-31, in a four-game series at Milwaukee. The Mets and Phillies remained tied for the NL East lead as both had the night off in advance of their three-game set which begins Tuesday at Shea Stadium.