Verlander Wins 20th; Danks Keep White Sox in Hunt; Gallardo, Brewers Steaming Toward Playoffs

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 27, 2011

Verlander: 20-5

American League

Justin Verlander became the first pitcher in the majors to reach 20 wins, as the Tigers fought to a 6-4 win over the pesky Minnesota Twins.

Danks: 3-hitter

Not pitching particularly well, Verlander allowed eight hits, three walks and four runs over six full innings, fanning six. His teammates picked him up with two runs in the 7th to snap a 4-4 tie and hold on for the win. Verlander is 20-5; the win kept Detroit 6 1/2 in front of Cleveland and 7 better than Chicago in the AL Central. Verlander is the quickest pitcher to 20 wins since 2002.

The White Sox got the pitching performance of the day from John Danks, who tossed his second complete game and first shutout of the season, a three-hit, 3-0, gem over Seattle, striking out 10 to match his career high.

Danks, who started the season 0-8, has won six of his last seven decisions.

Gallardo: 15-8

National League

Their magic number to capture the NL Central division at 19, the Milwaukee Brewers are cruising into September and on into the playoffs.

Yovani Gallardo improved to 15-8, striking out 10 over seven innings in which he allowed six hits. two walks and no earned runs, leading the Brewers to a 6-4 win over the Cubs.

The Brewers have the best home record in the majors, an astonishing 49-16 and lead the second place Cardinals by 10 1/2 games, the largest lead in any major league division.

Hairston Socks a Pair as Mets Win; Danks One-Hits Dodgers Over Five

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 13, 2011

American League

John Danks

Riding five solid innings from starting pitcher John Danks, the Chicago White Sox beat up the LA Dodgers, 6-1, in Cactus League play.

Danks earned his first victory of the Spring, allowing one harmless hit over five scoreless innings, walking three and fanning a pair of batters.

Following a 2010 campaign in which he went 15-11, his third straight winning season for the Sox, Danks is tuning up well and expected to be a solid starter in the coming season. He needs more work on his control, having walked 8 batters in just 10 1/3 innings, but he's kept runners on base from scoring for the most part, registering an ERA of 1.74 in three games.

National League

For the NY Mets, keeping outfielders healthy has been an issue the past few years, which is one of the reasons they fetched Scott Hairston away from San Diego in the off-season.

Scott Hairston

Despite batting just .210, Hairston played in 108 games for the Padres last season, but his performance was so far below his previous seasons, the Mets saw some promise and make the deal.

Mets' brass must have been high-fiving in their skybox on Sunday as Hairston, playing right field, singled, socked a pair of solo homers and scored three times in four at-bats, helping the Mets to a 13-3 feast courtesy of some unusually accommodating St. Louis pitchers.

Hairston is 11-for-27 (.407) in ten Spring games.

Danks Blanks Angels on 2-Hitter; Oswalt in Form with 1-Hit Win over Pirates

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 8, 2010 American League The Tigers had the day off, so the Chicago White Sox knew they could not vault into first place in the AL Central, but they did the next best thing by sweeping the LA Angels four straight with a 1-0 win on the strength of John Danks' 2-hitter. Winning four in a row over the defending AL West champs was tribute to just how well the Sox are playing these days, and getting a complete game, two-hit shutout from Danks was simply icing on the cake. Danks (8-7) threw 81 of 111 pitches for strikes, meaning he was off the plate on 30 times as he sliced through the LA lineup without allowing a walk, fanning seven. Danks took a no-hitter to the seventh inning, the only frame in which he gave up a hit - actually two - as Reggie Willits and Howie Kendrick opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Undaunted, Danks got the following three outs in order and was perfect through the 8th and 9th, all the time protecting a one-run lead provided by Paul Konerko's first inning sac fly which plated Juan Pierre. The White sox have been the best team in baseball since mid-June. since June 15, they've gone 18-4, including a major-league best (tied with Texas) 11-game win streak last month. They currently are riding five straight wins and have closed to within 1/2 game of Detroit. The Twins, former holders of the division's top slot, have faded to third place, though only two games back. They lost their second straight to Toronto, on the wrong end of an 8-1 score, Thursday. National League At 35-51, and 13 1/2 games out in the NL Central, the Houston Astros seem to be going nowhere fast this season and that means they might just lose a few good men to trades before the month of July is out. One such man is starter Roy Oswalt, who has spent all of his 10-year career in a Houston uniform. Just to prove he's ready to go anywhere and perform, Oswalt fired off a one-hitter against the Pirates, his first complete game of the season and first shutout since 2008. Not that Roy hasn't been pitching well, despite his 6-10 record, he's toting around a 3.08 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP, the kind of numbers that get starters into the Hall of Fame. Oswalt had his no-hit bid spoiled in the first inning, when Neil Walker singled to right with two outs. After that, Oswalt just set down 25 of the next 28 batters, giving up just two walks and plunking one, striking out 8 en route to his best performance of the season. Providing support was Lance Berkman, another player who could be traded shortly, who belted a pair of solo homers for the 2-0 winning margin. Oswalt needs 4 more wins without a loss to get his record back to .500. A trade to a contender would virtually guarantee that he'd avoid the first losing season of his career. The Angles, Rangers, Tigers, Red Sox, Reds, Dodgers and Braves all could use his services down the stretch. Oswalt is 143-80 with 19 complete games and 7 shutouts over the course of his career. He's a two-time 20-game winner and maybe the best 10-year starter who's never won a Cy Young award. Stay tuned.

Danks, Thome Send White Sox into Post-Season; NL AL Series Previews

Players of the Day from Tuesday, September 30, 2008 American League John Danks shut out the Twins on 2 hits over 8 innings and Jim Thome launched a 7th inning solo shot to center field in the 1-0 White Sox win over Minnesota which captured the AL Central division, sending Chicago into the playoffs. The single-game playoff was played at US Cellular Field in Chicago after the White Sox won a coin flip to determine the site and beat the Tigers in a make-up game to tie the Twins for the division lead at the conclusion of the regular season. Twins' starter Nick Blackburn worked into the seventh, shutting out the White Sox until Thome delivered with one out in the bottom of the 7th. Danks worked through the 8th before giving way to closer Bobby Jenks, who retired the Twins in order in the 9th. Notes: The White Sox head south to Tampa Bay to face the Rays in a best-of-five series to see who advances to the AL Championship series. Game one is Thursday, Oct. 2. Chicago sends Javier Vazquez (12-16, 4.67) to the hill against the Rays' James Shields (14-8, 3.56). Shields is 0-1 lifetime against the Sox, but he allowed just one run on seven hits over 6 innings in his last start vs. Chicago. Vazquez is 4-5 vs. Tampa Bay. He took a loss in his last start against the Rays, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits over 7 innings in a 5-3 home loss August 23. Vazquez has not been sharp down the stretch, losing 6 of his last eight starts. He has not even completed 5 innings in any of his last three outings. In the other divisional series, the LA Angels host the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night at 10:07 pm ET. John Lackey goes to the mound for the Angels to face Boston's Jon Lester. National League Milwaukee Brewers vs. Philadelphia Phillies The Phillies host the Brewers in the opener of their best-of-five series at 3:07 pm ET. Staff ace, Cole Hamels goes for Philly, while the Brewers - due to having used up their rotation in the hotly-contested wild card race - are forced to send up Yovani Galardo, who has started just once since May 1. The Brewers plan to start C.C. Sabathia in game 2 on three days rest. Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs Ryan Dempster takes the mound for the Cubs as they open play hosting the Dodgers in the other divisional series, which has a scheduled start of 6:07 pm ET. LA sends Derek Lowe up the hill with a 2-1 lifetime mark against the Cubs. It's widely considered an uphill battle for the Dodgers, who were just 36-45 on the road this season. The Central division winning Cubs were 55-26 at Wrigley Field this season.