J.J. Hardy Leads Orioles over Rays, Tie for First with Yankees; Jimmy Rollins Has Phillies Back in Wild Card Race

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 11, 2011

American League

Tying the Yankees once again for first place in the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles opened their three game home series with Tampa Bay with a resounding 9-2 victory while the Yankees were losing to the Red Sox, 4-3.

J.J. Hardy

Tampa Bay remained two games off the pace, though now they are chasing both the Yanks and O's.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy provided the bulk of the offense for the Orioles, going 4-for-5 with a pair of homers, a double, single, three runs and five RBI.

Hardy's first homer - a two-run shot to left in the third inning - snapped a 1-1 tie, In the fifth, Hardy doubled and scored on Matt Wieters two-run double, then singled in a run in the sixth and finally capped off his night with another two-run homer in the eighth, his 21 of the year.

Baltimore hosts Tampa Bay in the second game of the series Wednesday night and ifnish up with a day game on Friday.

National League

Forgotten after a horrible first half due to injuries to key players, the Philadelphia Phillies have been on a tear and are now threatening to become a key player in the NL wild card race over the final 20 games of the regular season.

Jimmy Rollins

Winning 14 of their last 18 and six in a row, Philadelphia has climbed to within four games of St. Louis, the current holder of the second wild card.

Jimmy Rollins singled and homered in three at-bats, scoring three times, driving in the same number as the http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=320911122, in the second game of their three-game set in Philly.

With the Phillies winning and the Cardinals, Dodgers and Pirates all suffering losses, Philly and the Milwaukee Brewers have both reached the .500 level (71-71).

Atlanta has a 5 1/2 game bulge over St. Louis and are virtually assured of the #1 wild card, but the scramble for the second slot is ongoing and getting crowded. St. Louis leads the Dodgers by one game, Pittsburgh, losers of five straight, is two out with the Phillies and Brewers four behind. Arizona is still in it, five games back after topping the Dodgers, 1-0. Arizona's Ian Kennedy allowed four hits and struck out six over 7 1/3 innings.

Oswalt, Rollins Lead Phillies over Giants, Tie NLCS at 1-1

Players of the Day for Sunday, October 17, 2010

National League

Roy Oswalt (left) allowed three hits and one earned run over 8 strong innings and Jimmy Rollins (right) drove in four runs as the Phillies evened the NLCS with the Giants at a game apiece with a 6-1 victory.

The Phillies got on the board in the first inning as Giant starter Jonathan Sanchez allowed the bases to be loaded before issuing a walk to Rollins. Sanchez was able to escape with just the one run, but Oswalt was hammer-tough on the mound, not allowing a hit until Cody Ross' solo homer in the 5th.

That turned out to be the only run the Giants could push across. In fact, Oswalt only allowed one runner past first, that being Pablo Sandoval, with two out in the 8th, but Oswalt finished his stint by getting Aubrey Huff on a line out to center. In addition to the three hits, Oswalt walked three but struck out nine Giants, including leadoff hitter, Andres Torres, four times.

Rollins, who went 2-for-3, completed the scoring with a bases-loaded double in the 7th, which put the game pretty much out of reach. His other hit was a 4th-inning pop-up which landed between the pitcher's mound and home plate as none of the Giant infielders made a commitment to catch it.

The series takes a day off Monday, resuming Tuesday in San Francisco, at 4:19 pm ET. Matt Cain goes up the bump for the Giants against Cole Hamels.

American League

The best-of-seven ALCS resumes Monday night in New York with the series tied 1-1. Texas sends Cliff Lee to the mound against Andy Pettitte, who will be looking to extend his post-season record for wins to 20. Lee, however, has never lost a post-season start, with six wins to his credit. Game time is 8:07 pm ET.

Longoria Batters Rangers as Rays Sweep; Rollins Rips Giants

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 18, 2010 American League Visiting Tampa Bay did not turn out to be a walk on the beach for the Texas Rangers, though the pitching staff and most of the infielders got to know Tampa's third baseman, Evan Longoria, a whole lot better. Longoria absolutely wore out the Rangers over their three game series, all wins by the Rays, going 7-for-12 (.583) with a home run, three doubles, a triple and eight RBI. After beating the Rangers two straight, Longoria made sure of the sweep by going 3-for-4 with a homer, two doubles, a sac fly and four RBI, helping lead the way to an 8-6 victory. The home run was his 16th of the season and Longoria's RBI total has now reached 80, good for 10th in the league, one behind Josh Hamilton and two ahead of Minnesota's Jason Kubel. Longoria is also batting .293 and has swiped 15 bases in 18 attempts. While the Rangers could afford the three straight losses, remaining eight games in front of both the Angels and the A's in the AL West, the Rays continue to battle the Yankees for control of the AL East. Tampa has won five straight and remain tied with New York atop the division, 5 1/2 in front of Boston. National League Even though the Atlanta Braves won their fourth straight Wednesday night, topping Washington, 3-2, the Phillies aren't letting them get too far ahead in the NL East standings. Philadelphia won its fourth straight with an 8-2 beating of the Giants, to remain 2 1/2 games behind the division leaders and seem to have their sights set on taking the division for the fourth straight season. At the top of Philly's batting order, Jimmy Rollins continues to be a catalyst for winning in the city of brotherly love. Rollins went 3-for-5 against the Giants, smacking a three-run homer and a triple, stealing two bases, driving in three runs and scoring twice. His three-run blast in the 4th inning put the Phillies up 5-1. Starter Joe Blanton managed 6 1/3 innings before turning the ball over to the bullpen, which made quick work of the Giants in the latter innings. Three relievers no-hit San Francisco over the final 2 2/3 frames. The Phillies have taken the first two of their three-game set from the visiting Giants, winning the opener, 9-3, and, with Wednesday's win, assuming a two game lead over San Fran in the wild card race, but Philly's aims reach well beyond second best in their division. The Braves and Phillies will not meet until September 20, when the Braves head to Philadelphia for a three-game showdown. The two also meet on the final three days of the regular season in Atlanta, beginning October 1st. As for the Giants, their loss dropped them six games behind the Padres in the NL West, making the wild card the preferred path to the playoffs for the Bay area team.

Gardner Slam Lifts Yanks; Rollins Sparks Phillies to Win

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 3, 2010 American League With Boston and Tampa Bay refusing to go away, the Yankees need every game to be a winning effort, so, after losing 6-1 to Toronto on Friday, the Yanks were feeling a little pressure with the Red Sox just 1/2 game back and Tampa 2 behind. The opening inning didn't offer a great prospect for success. Andy Pettitte gave up a two-run homer to Jose Bautista, putting New York in an immediate hole. But the Yankees are a resilient bunch with many potent bats. In the bottom of the 3rd, Brett Gardner, the number 9 hitter, singled to start the inning and came around to score as the Yankees loaded the bases and Mark Teixeira doubled home two. Gardner came back to the plate again, this time with the bases chock full of Yankees and pounded a grand slam - the first of his career - to right field. Again the Yankees loaded the bases, and Alex Rodriguez cleared them with a double. By the time the dust had settled, the Yankees would put up 11 runs in the inning. Game over, final: 11-2. Gardner went 2-for-3, scored twice and drove in four runs, all on the big knock. The Yankees retain the top spot in the AL East, as Boston and Tampa Bay also won. National League The bad news is that Chase Utley is on the bench for the Phillies, but the good news is they do have Jimmy Rollins back at the top of the order. Utley is out 6-8 weeks, undergoing surgery and rehab on his right thumb. Rollins missed most of April and May and the first three weeks of June nursing various injuries. Finally back to full health, Rollins added a spark in the Phillies' 12-4 win over Pittsburgh after the Pirates had take the first two of the four-game series. Rollins singled, doubled and homered in four at-bats, scoring three times and driving in three. In the field, he was part of three Philly double plays. The home run, just his 4th of the season, came with one aboard in the 5th, when the Phillies had already established a huge lead. The Phillies still have a lot of work to do if they expect to win the NL East for a third straight year and attempt to play in their third straight World Series. Atlanta keeps bowling along, with a 3-game lead over the resurgent (and injury-free) Mets. The Phillies are in third place, 5 games back.

Phillies and Angels Win with Identical 5-4 Walk-offs

Players of the Day for Monday, October 19, 2009 LA Angels 5 NY Yankees 4, 11 innings The Yankees and Angles played their second straight extra-innings game, but this time the Angels came out on top, as Jeff Mathis drove home Howie Kendrick with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning. Mathis, inserted into the lineup to replace starting catcher Mike Napoli, who was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 7th, finished with 2 hits in 2 at-bats and the most important RBI of the game. New York took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the 5th on solo homers by Derek Jeter (1st inning), Alex Rodriguez (4th) and Johnny Damon (5th), but LA nibbled away with a run in the bottom of the 5th, two more in the 6th and another single run in the 7th to take a 4-3 lead. The game was tied in the 8th when Jorge Posada belted a solo shot to center, setting up the dramatic finish in extra innings. The win was crucial to the Angels' cause, clipping the Yankee lead to 2 games to 1, instead of what could have been an insurmountable 3-0 lead for the Bombers. The series resumes on Tuesday night at 7:57 pm EDT in Los Angeles. Scott Kazmir will start for LA, while C.C. Sabathia goes to the mound on three days rest for the Yankees. Philadelphia Phillies 5 LA Dodgers 4 Mr. Dependable came through in the clutch, putting the Phialdelphia Phillies one game away from capturing their second straight National League pennant. Jimmy Rollins stroked a two-out double into the right-center gap off reliever Jonathan Broxton, sending Eric Bruntlett and Carlos Ruiz to the plate with the tying and winning runs. The come-from-behind win put the Phillies in a commanding position, with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Rollins had earlier scored the game's first run, opening with a single and coming home on Ryan Howard's second home run of the series. Howard's 2 RBI extended his post-season steak to 8 games in which he has driven in at least one run, a major league record. The series takes a day off Tuesday. Game 5 is slated for 8:07 pm on Wednesday. Clayton Kershaw will face Philadelphia's Cole Hamels.

Ortiz Heating Up for October; Rollins Leads Phillies Over Brewers

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 24, 2009 American League If there's one single player the Red Sox need swinging the bat well in the post-season, it's David Ortiz, and, from the looks of what he's been doing lately, "Big Papi" is getting ready to launch balls out of any yard. Boston moved closer to clinching the wild card - they lead Texas by 8 games with only 10 remaining - with a 10-3 win over the Royals as Ortiz blasted his 26th home run of the season, doubled, singled and drove in three runs. It was the second straight game in which Ortiz has homered. In Wednesday's game he left the park with his 25th and drove in four. National League Another player who appears ready for some October baseball is Philly's Jimmy Rollins, who belted his 20th home run of the year - a three run shot - to cap off a 6-run Philadelphia uprising in the 5th inning of their 9-4 win over Milwaukee. Rollins, who got off to a very slow start, has picked up his game over the course of the last three months while remaining one of the steadiest defensive shortstops in the game. Despite a batting average (.246) that is nearly 30 points below his career mark (.274), Rollins has quietly contributed to the Phillies' success, with 30 steals, 94 runs, 75 RBI and those 20 dingers. The win moved Philly closer to the NL East crown. Their magic number is now 4.

Rollins, Victorino Victimize Cardinals; Pena Leads Rays Comeback

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 25, 2009 American League After leading the Rays 8-1, the Toronto Blue Jays managed to squander all of that over the final four innings of regulation and finally lose the game, 10-9, in 12 innings. Jason Bartlett's double scored Ben Zobrist with the game winner, but it was Carlos Pena and his teammates who kept rallying the rays in the late innings. Pena went 2-for-6 with a bases loaded triple in the 7th inning and a solo homer in the 9th which got the Rays to within one run. Willie Aybar tied the game one out later. Pena drove in four runs and scored twice; his home run was his 25th, tying him for the league lead with the Yanks' Mark Teixeira. The Rays are still a factor in the AL East, trailing the Yankees by 5 1/2 games, and 4 games behind second place Boston. Toronto's loss dropped them 12 1/2 out in the division. National League With a 6 1/2 game lead over the Marlins and Braves, the Philadelphia Phillies are not only on cruise control in the NL East, they have shifted into overdrive, winning 16 of 21 games in the month of July. After taking one on the chin Friday in an 8-1 home loss to St. Louis, the Phils came back in the second game of the division-leader series with a vengeance, beating up Cardinals' starter Kyle Lohse and five relievers to the tune of a 14-6 laugher. The Phillies banged out the same number of hits as they scored runs, including home runs by Jimmy Rollins (left) and Shane Victorino (right), the #1 and #2 hitters in their potent lineup. The back-to-back, 6th inning homers were of the grand slam variety (Rollins) and a solo shot by Victorino. Rollins went 2-for-5, with 5 RBI and 2 runs, while Victorino also stroked three singles in a perfect 4-for-4 game, driving in 3 and scoring 3 times. The 5-run inning turned a 4-3 Cardinal lead into an 8-4 deficit and the Phillies added six more in the 7th to put the game away. Having gotten off to a very poor start in 2008, Rollins is batting .315 over the past 8 games, while Victorino has been solid all season, checking in at .318. NOTES: St. Louis' loss at Philadelphia assisted in tightening the race in the torrid NL Central, as the Cubs and Brewers won, while the Astros suffered a loss. The Cards' lead is down to just 1/2 game over Chicago, with Houston 1 1/2 back and Milwaukee 2 1/2 out. In the AL, the Tigers took their third straight from second place Chicago, improving their lead to 3 games in the Central. In the West, the Angels continued to gradually pull away, now 4 1/2 ahead of Texas, as the Angels won their 8th straight, 11-5 over Minnesota, while the Rangers dropped a 6-3 decision at Kansas City.

Rolllins, Hamels Send Phabulous Phillies to World Series

Players of the Day from Wednesday, October 15, 2008 NLCS: Philadelphia 5 LA Dodgers 1 Jimmy Rollins (L) scored the first two runs of the game - on a 1st inning leadoff home run and off a Ryan Howard single in the 3rd. Those two runs proved to be enough as Cole Hamels (R) shut down the Dodgers on five hits over 7 innings, the only run coming on a Manny Ramirez 6th inning homer as the Phillies took out the Dodgers 4 games to 1, with a 5-1 win to clinch the National League pennant. The Phillies used timely hitting and pitching in key spots to knock out LA, advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1993. Hamels, who won game 1 and game 5 was named MVP of the Championship Series. Notes: The Red Sox and Rays square off for game 5 in the ALCS on Thursday night in Boston at 8:07 pm ET. Tampa Bay leads, 3 game to 1, and has routed the Red Sox in both games at Fenway Park, 9-1 and 13-4. Scott Kazmir gets the start for Tampa, facing Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka, who got the win in game 1 with 7 innings of shutout ball in a 2-0 Boston win.

Bronx Bashers Score 21; Six Sunday Shutouts

American League ...Not exactly sure what the record is for most shutouts in one night, but 6 has to be close. There were two here in the AL and 4 over on the National side. Seattle 0 Toronto 8 - Roy Halladay (right) cooled off the Mariners with a three-hit complete game win, improving his record to 11-4. It was the second straight shutout of Seattle, giving the Blue Jays a 2-1 edge in their now-concluded series. Seattle trails the Angels by 2 games in the AL West. Baltimore 2 Oakland 0 - Jeremy Guthrie (6-3) blanked Oakland on 2 hits over 7 and the bullpen turned in 2 perfect innings of relief. Tampa Bay 4 NY Yankees 21 - The Yankees banged out 25 hits and took their third straight over the hapless Devil Rays. After losing 14-4 on Friday night, the Yanks got their revenge, outscoring Tampa 45-12 for a 3-1 series win. Alex Rodriguez hit his 34th home run and career #498, and drove in 3 runs, giving him 99 on the season. Hideki Matsui went 5-6 with his 17th homer, drove in 2 and scored 3 times. The Yankees totaled six homers in the win but still trail Boston by 7 1/2 in the AL East. Chi White Sox 5 Boston 8 - Manny Ramirez - drove in 3 runs with his 17th home run of the season in the first inning and knocked in another with a single in the 6th as the Red Sox took 3 straight from Chicago after dropping a 4-2 decision Thursday night. Other AL Scores Kansas City 5 Detroit 2 LA Angels 7 Minnesota 2 Cleveland 8 Texas 3 - Indians trail Detroit by 1 game in AL Central National League Philadelphia 9 San Diego 0 - J.D. Durbin tossed a 5 hit shutout and the Philly offense did their thing, banging out 15 hits. Jimmy Rollins(right) spearheaded the attack from his leadoff spot, going 3-4 with a triple and his 17th home rum of the season, scoring three times while driving in a run. Philly trails Atlanta by 1 1/2 and the Mets by 5 in the NL East. Colorado 0 Washington 3 - The Rockies were blanked 3-0 for the second straight day, this time at the hand of Tim Redding's 6 2/3 innings of work, two middle relievers and a shaky 9th inning, in which Chad Cordero allowed a hit and a walk, but picked up his 19th save. Houston 1 Pittsburgh 0 - Woody Williams (5-11) gave up just 5 hits over 8 innings and Brad Lidge picked up his 3rd save since returning to the closing role for Houston. Lidge struck out 3 and allowed a hit in the 9th. He's struck out 11 in his last 5 innings of work. The Pirates are actually as bad as people think, having now lost 8 of their last 9, scoring 3 runs or less in six of those outings. It doesn't get any better for Pittsburgh either. After a day off Monday, they travel to New York and Philly for a pair of 3-game series. Arizona 3 Chi Cubs 0 - rookie Yusmeiro Petit evened his record at 2-2, allowing 3 hits over 6 innings and Jose Valverde notched his 30th save as the D-Backs took 2 of 3 in Chicago. Valverde is 2nd in the NL in saves behind Milwaukee's Francisco Cordero, who has 31. Other NL Scores Cincinnati 3 Florida 9 - M. Cabrera, 2-4, 2 RBI (71) San Francisco 5 Milwaukee 7 - B. Bonds, DNP; F. Cordero, S (31) NY Mets 5 LA Dodgers 4, 10 innings - Mets take 3 of 4 in LA St. Louis 7 Atlanta 2, 10 innings

Pedroia Leads BoSox; Pudge, Tigers Flatten Phillies

Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues. American League NY Mets 2 NY Yankees 0 - Two streaks ended last night in New York. The Mets stopped their losing streak at 5 and ended the Yankees' winning streak at 9 straight as Oliver Perez outdueled Roger Clemens. Perez worked 7 1/3, allowing just 5 hits and 3 walks while fanning 6. Clemens struck out 8 over his 6 1/3 innings, but gave up the game's only runs on an RBI single in the 3rd by Jose Reyes and Reyes' 3rd home run of the season in the 5th. The speedy shortstop finished the night 3-3 and added 3 more stolen bases to his major league leading total. He now has 35. The Mets attempted 7 steals and were successful on 5 of them. Boston 10 San Francisco 2 - Usually, it's David Ortiz or Manny Ramirez getting the headlines in a big Boston win, but on Friday, it was rookie 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia (right) who stole the spotlight. Pedroia went 5-5, with a double and his 3rd home run of the season, amassing 5 RBI and scoring twice. The Giants, mired in the NL West cellar, again were let down by their ace, Barry Zito (6-7), who allowed 6 earned runs on 5 hits and 4 walks over 5 1/3 innings. Boston's win, coupled with the Yankees' loss put the Red Sox' lead back at 8 1/2 games. Milwaukee 11 Minnesota 3 - The Brewers won their 3rd straight to remain 5 1/2 clear of the Cubs in the NL Central. Prince Fielder clubbed his 24th home run, drove in 2 and scored 3 times. Fielder leads the NL in homers and his 53 RBI are just one behind Houston's Carlos Lee. Oakland 14 St. Louis 3 - Danny Haren (8-2) won his 8th straight after starting the season with a pair of losses. Haren worked 7 innings, giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits and 3 walks, striking out 8. The dependable righty has not lost a decision since April 7. All 9 starters for the A's had at least one hit in overwhelming the Cardinals, who dropped to 28-36, 7 1/2 games behind Milwaukee. Oakland trails the Angels by 4 games in the AL West. Other AL Scores Arizona 7 Baltimore 3 - O. Hudson, PH HR (7), 3 RBI Atlanta 5 Cleveland 4 Toronto 7 Washington 2 - R. Halladay (W, 7-2) Kansas City 6 Florida 2 National League Detroit 12 Philadelphia 8 - Jimmy Rollins (left) hit two home runs and Ryan Howard added his 14th for the Phillies, but it was the Tigers' Ivan Rodriguez (right) who broke the game open with a three-run shot in the 5th inning. Pudge's 7th of the season made the score 7-1, and the Tigers added 4 more in the 6th - two on a Rodriguez RBI single - and another run in the 7th to overwhelm their hosts. With Cleveland losing to Atlanta, the Tigers closed to within a game of the first-place Indians, while the Phillies fell 1/2 back of Atlanta and 3 behind the NL East-leading Mets. The two teams go at it again on Saturday and conclude the short series on Sunday in Philadelphia. Texas 7 Cincinnati 6 - Sammy Sosa changed the game with a 5th inning grand slam - his 11th of the season and 599th of his career - that quickly turned a 4-3 Reds lead into a 7-4 Rangers' advantage. In the bottom half of the inning, Adam Dunn launched a 2-run shot - his 16th - to complete the scoring as two of the weakest bullpens kept both teams off the scoreboard for the remaining 4 innings. Colorado 12 Tampa Bay 2 - Matt Holliday doubled twice, singled, scored a run and drove in 4 in 5 at-bats to lead Colorado to their 3rd straight win and keep pace in the ultra-competitive NL West. Holliday's .358 batting average leads the National League and his 52 RBI are the 4th best in the league.

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The Rockies' schedule may be working in their favor short term, as they handle the Devil Rays while the Dodgers battle the Angels and San Diego toughs it out with the Cubs this weekend. Colorado is 5 games behind Los Angeles. LA Dodgers 2 LA Angels 1 - The Dodgers got a win from their cross-town rivals thanks to another strong performance from starter Derek Lowe who shut out the Angels for 6 innings, finally surrendering the lone run in the 7th. Lowe (7-6) struck out 11 while allowing just 4 hits. Other NL Scores Chi Cubs 4 San Diego 1 - T. Lilly (W, 5-4) 8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Pittsburgh 4 Chi White Sox 2 Houston 5 Seattle 1 - C. Biggio, 3-5, needs 12 more for 3000 hits Interleague Scoreboard: Friday (6/8): AL 8, NL 6 Saturday (6/9): AL 10, NL 4 Sunday (6/10): AL 9, NL 5 Monday (6/11): AL 0, NL 2 Tuesday (6/12): AL: 8, NL: 6 Wednesday (6/13): AL: 6, NL: 8 Thursday (6/14): AL: 7, NL: 5 Friday (6/15): AL: 6, NL: 8

Rodriguez ties April HR mark; Rollins is Rollin'

Rodriguez ties April HR mark; Rollins is Rollin' Monday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League With two more home runs last night, Alex Rodriguez set a new AL mark for April long balls (passing Ken Griffey Jr.) and tied the major league mark of 14 set last year by St. Louis' Albert Pujols. Rodriguez also closed to within 1 of the major league record for April RBI with his 32nd, 33rd and 34th and he still has 6 games left to play. Going 4-5, A-Rod raised his MLB-leading batting average to an even .400 and scored 4 times. Despite A-Rod's hot hitting, the Yankees lost their 4th straight game, 10-8 at Tampa Bay as high-priced import Kei Igawa lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, including a pair of Devil Ray home runs. In 4 starts, Igawa has pitched a total of 20 2/3 innings, given up 5 homers, 9 walks, 18 earned runs and is carrying an ERA of 7.84. Nick Swisher homered twice, drove in 3 runs and scored 2 in 5 at-bats to lead Oakland back into 1st place in the AL West with a 6-5 win at Baltimore. Toronto 2nd baseman Aaron Hill singled,

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homered and doubled twice in 5 at-bats, driving in 2 runs and scoring 3 times in the Blue Jays' 7-4 win at Boston. Hill was joined in the Toronto hit parade by center fielder Vernon Wells who doubled, tripled, stole a base and scored 3 times in 4 at-bats. Despite the loss, the Red Sox maintained their 1 1/2 game advantage over Baltimore in the AL East. Paul Konerko went 3-4, pounding out a pair of 2-run homers, singling and driving in another run with a sac fly in Chicago's 7-4 win at Kansas City. Konerko's 5 RBI were enough to help Mark Buehrle gain his second win in his first start after last week's no-hitter. Other AL Scores Detroit 9 LA Angels 5 - C. Granderson, HR (3), SB (2) Seattle 5 Texas 4 - I. Suzuki, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI Cleveland 7 Minnesota 3, 12 innings - T. Hafner, 4-4 National League Jimmy Rollins (right) nearly hit for the cycle, going 4-5 with a solo home run, triple and a pair of singles. Rollins scored 4 times and drove in a couple of runs in Philadelphia's 11-4 thumping of the visiting Houston Astros. Rollins, batting in the leadoff spot, leads the NL with 7 home runs, has 14 RBI, a .313 bating average. His 19 runs scored is 3rd best in the National League. John Maine improved to 3-0, allowing just one earned run on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 in the Mets' 6-1 win over visiting Colorado. Maine, who pitched 7 2/3 innings, lowered his ERA to 1.71. Jose Valentin hit a 3-run homer, Carlos Delgado hit his first of the year - a 2-run shot - and Jose Reyes increased his major-league leading stolen base total to 12 with a pair of thefts. Prince Fielder hit his 3rd and 4th home runs of the season, the latter a solo shot game-winner in the 12th inning, sending the visiting Brewers to their 3rd straight win and 1st place in the NL Central with a 5-4 win over the Cubs. Fielder has 2 RBI and scored twice in the win. Despite the best efforts of Atlanta's Jeff Francoeur, who went 4-5 with a pair of singles, a double, a solo home run and 4 RBI, Dontrelle Willis became the first National League pitcher to reach 4 wins as Florida survived at home, 8-7. Willis may not be the sharpest 4-game winner with an ERA of 5.28, but his teammates have given him plenty of support, scoring 36 runs (9 per game) in his 4 wins. Willis has given up at least 7 hits in each outing this season.

Morneau Walks Off D-Rays; Rollins Bombs Can't Stop Glavine

Thursday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League Justin Morneau (right) drove reliever Brian Stokes' 9th inning offering over the wall in left field for a walk-off home run as the Twins won at home over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-2. It was Morneau's 3rd homer of the season and came with nobody on and no outs in the bottom frame. Last year's AL MVP, Morneau is off to a reasonably good start, batting .250 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI. Plate Struggles in Kansas City: The Royals are off to another poor start, and most of the blame can be placed firmly on the middle of the batting order, which has failed to produce any kind of consistent offense. Through 10 games, the 3-7 Royals are averaging just 3.1 runs per game, and while they haven't been shut out yet, they've scored just 1 run in four games, the latest being last night's 12-inning 2-1 loss at Baltimore. The prime suspects for the Royals' sluggish bats are the regular 3-4 hitters, Mark Teahen (5-30, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .167) and Mike Sweeney (4-24, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .167). Rookie third baseman Alex Gordon (3-33, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .091) is doing a credible plate impersonation of reliever Tom Gordon thus far. He hasn't panned out, though the Royals are hoping for betting things. Seriously... Cleveland leadoff man Grady Sizemore is sizzling at the plate with a .364 batting average and 4 home runs in just 6 games. His latest - a solo shot in the 6th - helped the Indians to a 4-2 win over the Angels last night in Milwaukee, the unofficial home of the Indians while snow played havoc at Jacobs Field, and gave Cleveland a 2-1 edge in their series with the Angels. In addition to his homer, Sizemore was also aboard for Travis Hafner's 3-run shot in the 8th, his 1st of the year. Sizemore has scored 9 times and stolen 3 bases thus far. Sponsor: Box scores, stats and more: MLB at Yahoo Sports National League Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins (right) touched up Mets' starter Tom Glavine with a solo home run to lead off the game and a 2-run shot in the second inning, but it was all the offense the Phillies could produce as Glavine allowed only 2 other hits through 6 innings of work and the Mets won at Shea, 5-3. Rollins, who said back in January that he considered the Phillies the "team to beat" in the NL East, has tried his best to back up those words. He's batting .278 with 5 home runs, but not getting much support from the rest of the lineup, especially last season's NL MVP, Ryan Howard, who's hit just one dinger this season and is batting .212. The Phillies are 2-7. The other headline for this game was the showdown of 40+ pitchers, Glavine and the Phillies' Jamie Moyers. Glavine got the bragging rights and the win and is now just 8 shy of 300 for his career. Last night's was his 50th win as a Met. He won 242 games with the Braves from 1987-2002, winning 20 or more in a season 5 times. Maybe the Nationals just have to get out of RFK Stadium. They opened the season with a 9-game home stand and promptly lost 8 of those games, but turned things around last night in Atlanta as starter Jason Bergman blanked the Braves on 1 hit over 6 innings en route to a 2-0 road win. Bergman did not figure in the decision, as 3 relievers finished up what he started. Sponsor: Baseball history comes alive at Baseball Almanac