Michael Wacha Throws One-Hitter in St. Louis Win; Michael Brantley, Jason Giambi Lead Wild Win for Indians

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 24, 2013

American League

Jason Giambi

Heading into the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead over the White Sox, the Cleveland Indians appeared to be on their way to a fifth straight win, retaining their one-game edge over Texas in the wild card race. They would call on closer Chris Perez and eventually win the game, but the way in which they did so was not what they had in mind.

Perez allowed solo homers to Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza, blowing the lead and the save, putting the White Sox up 4-3, the Indians coming to bat with one more chance to tie or win the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Michael Brantley

With one out, Michael Brantley, who had kept the Indians in the game with a single, a homer and two RBI, singled to right, representing the tying run. After Mike Aviles struck out, Jason Giambi was called upon to pinch hit with two down and the game - and possibly the season - on the line.

Though seldom used, the 42-year-old slugger with 437 career home runs came through with a booming blast to right field which plated the tying and winning runs, sending the home crowd into delerium with the walk-off, 5-4 victory.

The win kept the Indians a game ahead of the Rangers, who themselves were 3-2 winners over Houston, with five games left to play. In New York, the Rays eliminated the Orioles by topping the Yankees, 7-0, Baltimore falling to Toronto, 3-2 in 10 innings. Kansas City lost to Seattle, 4-0, putting them four games behind Cleveland; the Yankees, five out and all but finished for the year.

AL Wild Card Standings (through 9/24)

Team	GB
Tampa Bay	+1
Cleveland	--
Texas	-1
Kansas City	-4
NY Yankees	-5

National League

Michael Wacha

The St. Louis Cardinals maintained their two-game lead on the Pirates in the Central division thanks to the outstanding gem of a pitching performance turned in by rookie hurler Michael Wacha, who came within one out of throwing a no-hitter in just his ninth major league start.

Wacha got down to the final out against the visiting Nationals, but Ryan Zimmerman provided the spoiler, lashing a ground ball up the middle for a single, the only hit against Wacha on the night. With just a two-run lead, Wacha was pulled in favor of Trevor Rosenthal, who got the final out of the game by inducing a ground ball to first by Jason Werth, preserving the win for Wacha and a 2-0 St. Louis victory, reducing the Cardinals' magic number to three for the NL Central title.

Wacha walked two and fanned nine over his 8 2/3 innings on the mound, throwing 112 pitches, 77 for strikes. He is 3-1 since being called up August 10, getting his first major league win in June before being sent back to AAA Memphis in the Pacific Coast League.

The Cardinals have one more game remaining with the Nats, at 1:45 pm EDT in St. Louis before closing out the regular season with three games at home with the Cubs.

Pittsburgh remained two games back of the Cardinals with an 8-2 win at Chicago; the Reds fell to the Mets, 4-2, and are three games out.

Today's Trivia: Who led the NL in strikeouts more times, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax or Steve Carlton? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Cardinal hurler, Dizzy Dean, led the NL in Ks from 1932-1935.

Jason Giambi Homers Three Times; Justin Morneau Leads Twins to Win

Players of the Day for Thursday, May 19, 2011

American League

Justin Morneau

Things have not exactly gone the way the Twins would have liked in 2011, but they managed to take two games at Oakland, beating the A's 4-3 in 10 innings on Wednesday, then winning, 12-1, for the two-game series sweep on Thursday.

With Joe Mauer on the disabled list for an extended period, production has been well off the usual pace for the regulars, but the Twins unloaded 16 hits on a quintet of A's pitchers, with Justin Morneau leading the way.

Struggling with a .245 batting average, Morneau socked just his second home run - a two-run shot - of the season in the third inning, and also singled, doubled and scored twice in the rout.

At 15-27, the Twins still have the worst record in the AL, and remain 11 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the Central division.

National League

Jason Giambi

At the age of 41, Jason Giambi doesn't get much playing time, but he appears to be gearing up for an extended trip as the DH once interleague play gets underway, beginning - on a limited basis - on Friday.

Giambi belted three home runs and drove in all of the Rockies' run in a 7-1 victory at Philadelphia.

A three-run shot in the first was followed by two-run homers in the 3rd and 5th innings, as the Rockies earned a split in their brief, two-game series with the front-running Phillies.

Colorado continues to dog the Giants in the NL West, who remain 1/2 game in front of the Rockies after defeating the Dodgers, 3-1.

Giambi Blasts Rockies Past Royals; Bautista a Big Part of Blue Jay Power Pack

Players of the Day for Sunday, May 23, 2010 American League Quick, who's leading the American League in Home Runs? A-Rod? Nope. Carlos Pena? Not even close. It's Tornoto's Jose Bautista and Paul Konerko of the White Sox, each with 14 dingers. While Konerko registered only a harmless single in Sunday's 13-0 rout by Florida (the Marlins blast 5 long balls), Bautista cranked out #14 for the Blue Jays, as they avoided being swept in Arizona with a 12-4 win. Bautista first got the Jays on the board with a two-run single in the 3rd inning, then helped put the game away, smacking a two-run bomb to start off a 5-run 5th inning for Toronto. Teammate Edgar Encarnacion - for whom Bautista moved from 3rd base to right field - hit his fifth in the past three game, a two-run shot. With all the home runs coming off of Toronto bats, interleague play is posing a pleasant problem for manager Cito Gaston. He just doesn't have enough spots in the lineup for all his bashers. With Encarnacion encamped at third base, Adam Lind in left, Bautista in right, Gaston sat Vernon Wells, the regular center fielder, for recently-acquired Fred Lewis, who has more speed and can handle the leadoff spot. Wells has 11 homers already, so a day off might not be a bad thing, but Gaston will have a veritable murderer's row once the Jays get back to regular play and the use of a DH, which is likely to be either Bautista, Wells or Lyle Overbay. Bautista's 4 RBI got him to 38, within two of league-leader, Miguel Cabrera. On pace for his best season ever, Bautista has developed a penchant for clearing the fences (and the bases) this season. His best years were 2006, when he hit 16 home runs, and 2007, when he drove in 63. At his pace, those marks will be obliterated by the all-star break. National League Jason Giambi has gotten into only 21 games this season, and, with just 45 at-bats for the Rockies, he hasn't had much of a chance to groove his swing. Sunday's outing at Kansas City gave him the opportunity to DH, and he made the most of his six at-bats with a pair of singles, a home run and four RBI as the Rockies out-slugged the Royals, 11-7. Somewhat of a forgotten figure in Colorado, Giambi still can be a force, either as a DH (interleague road games only for the Rockies) or a pinch hitter, which is how he's been employed most of this season. With Todd Helton a fixture at first and Giambi's fielding and lack of speed obstacles for the outfield, he's probably not going to get many more chances like he did on Sunday. At 39, Giambi is still a long ball threat any time he steps to the plate. His 411 home runs and 1339 RBI have him ranked 7th and 8th, respectively, for active players.

Giambi, Rodriguez Smash Rangers; Glaus Heroic in Cardinals' Win

Players of the Day from Wednesday, July 2, 2008 American League With most of the attention in the AL East focused on the Rays' sweep of the Red Sox, the Yankees still pose a threat, though they are now 7 1/2 back in the division race. On Wednesday, Alex Rodriguez (left) and Jason Giambi (right) made sure that the Bombers avoided being swept themselves, but none other than the unbalanced Texas Rangers, as the Yankees feasted on Texas pitching for an 18-7 win. Giambi's grand slam in the 3rd turned a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead, one which the Yankees would give away. It was Giambi again in the 7th, tying the game at 7-7 with a two-run double that ignited a 9-run inning. Giambi finished 2-for-4 with 6 RBI. Alex Rodriguez did his part, with a single and a three run homer in three at-bats. He also walked twice and scored four times in the rout. Notes: The Angels knocked off their only challenger in the West, beating the A's 7-4, taking 2 of 3 in the series and extending their lead to 5 1/2 games. Unless injuries overwhelm the Halos, might as well chalk them in for the playoffs again. National League The three teams vying for dominance in the NL Central - Chicago, St. Louis and Milwaukee - all won 1-run games on Wednesday, but the Cardinals and Troy Glaus had to work extra hard for their 8-7 victory over the Mets.

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Glaus helped stake the Cards to a 4-0 lead in the first inning with a 3-run homer, but after 7, the Mets were up, 7-5, but the Cardinals were just getting started. Chris Duncan tied the game with a 2-run blast in the 8th, and Glaus ended it in dramatic fashion with his second homer of the night, a 2-out, walk-off solo shot. The win keeps the Cardinals 2 in front of Milwaukee and 2 1/2 back of the Cubs, who won 6-5 at San Fran while the Brewers were beating the Diamondbacks, 4-3. Notes: Milwaukee's win over Arizona dropped the D-Backs under .500, at 42-43, but still 1 1/2 better than the Dodgers. Every team in the division is now playing less than .500 ball.

Ordonez launches 2 in 2nd; Howard's homer boosts Phils

American League Seattle 6 Chi White Sox 0 - Jeff Weaver (4-10) pitched his second complete game shutout of the season on Sunday, blanking the White Sox on 5 hits, striking out 8 without walking a batter. Weaver dominated like he did back on June 20, when the Mariners whitewashed Pittsburgh, 7-0. Starting out 0-6, Weaver's gone 4-4 since mid-June and the Mariners have contended in the AL West and wild card races. NY Yankees 5 Cleveland 3 - The Yankees completed their 3-game sweep of the Indians, as Jason Giambi homered for the second straight game since returning from the DL on August 7, and Andy Pettitte (9-7) won his third straight decision. The Yankees' romp through Cleveland did serious damage to the post-season hopes of the Indians, dropping them out of first place in the AL Central (Detroit now leads by 1/2 game), and placing them in 3rd place in the wild card race, 1 1/2 games behind co-leaders NY and Seattle. Left for dead in early July, the Yankees have been relentless in their pursuit of Boston, and now trail the Red Sox by just 4 games, compiling a 23-8 record since the All-Star break. Oakland 6 Detroit 11 - Magglio Ordonez (right) led off the 2nd inning with a home run to right, and completed the 8-run Detroit outburst with a 3-run shot to left. Detroit's win gave them a 1/2-game lead in the AL Central. Ordonez leads the league with a .357 batting average, is second in RBI with 102 and his 21 homers are the 9th most in the league. Other AL Scores Boston 3 Baltimore 6, 10 innings Minnesota 2 LA Angels 6 - Angels sweep Twins, have best home record in majors at 40-17 Toronto 4 Kansas City 1 Tampa Bay 1 Texas 9 National League Florida 4 NY Mets 10 - Moises Alou may turn out to be the savior of the Mets' season, returning to full strength off the DL just about the same time slugger Carlos Beltran went to the bench for his own stint on the DL. Beltran has been back for three games now, but he's yet to produce tangible results, with just 1 hit in 10 at-bats. Alou smashed a pair of homers on Sunday and added a single to go 3-4 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. Alou has hit 5 homers in his last 8 games, helping the Mets stay 3 games ahead of Philly and 3 1/2 in front of Atlanta in the NL East. Atlanta 3 Philadelphia 5 - The Phillies took 2 of 3 and a 1/2-game edge from the Braves in the battle for 2nd place in the division. Ryan Howard (right) socked his 33rd home run, a 3-run shot in the 5th inning which turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 advantage. Starter Jamie Moyer picked up win #11 against 9 losses, and the Philly bullpen shut out the Braves over the final 2 2/3 innings. The Phillies have somewhat of an easy road week upcoming, with 3 games at Washington followed by a 3-game series at Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the Braves are home against San Fran and Arizona, while the Mets flip-flop with the Phils, playing consecutive three game sets at Pittsburgh and at Washington beginning Tuesday. San Diego 10 Cincinnati 4 - The Padres picked up a game on Arizona with their second double-digit output in the last three games, giving them a 2-1 split at Cincy. Kahlil Green went 4-5 with 3 RBI and Brian Giles hit two home runs for the second game in a row. Both of Giles' homers on Sunday were solo shots. Jake Peavy gave up 2 earned runs over 6 2/3, improving to 13-5. LA Dodgers 2 St. Louis 12 - While the Cardinals may be hitting their best stride at just the right time, the Dodgers are hurtling headlong into the abyss of of the National League.

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The Cardinals have won 4 of their last six, but the Dodgers are a pitiful 3-11 over their last 14 games. On Sunday, Ryan Ludwick smashed a 3-run homer in the first inning and delivered a run-scoring single in the 3rd to lead the Redbird assault with 4 RBI. The Dodgers fell to 4th place in the NL West, 6 games out, while the Cardinals closed to within 5 1/2 of Milwaukee in the Central. The Cardinals have a critical week ahead, beginning with a three-game series at Milwaukee, followed by a 4-game set at 2nd place Chicago. It's put up or shut up time in the Central, especially for the Cardinals, who have yet to crack the .500 mark (55-60). Other NL Scores Washington 7 Arizona 6 San Diego 10 Cincinnati 4 Milwaukee 4 Houston 6 Chi Cubs 3 Colorado 6 - Cubs, Rockies split 4-game series Pittsburgh 5 San Francisco 0