Domingo Herman Nothes 17th Win As Yanks Down Dodgers; Dallas Keuchel, Josh Donaldson Lead Braves to 8th Straight

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 25, 2019

Herman: 17 Ws tops MLB

American League

Domingo Herman out dueled the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw en route to a 5-1 win in Los Angeles as the Yankees took the series, two games to one.

After giving up a leadoff home run on the first pitch in the first inning to Joc Pederson, Herman settled in, giving up just four more hits over six innings to earn his 17th win against a mere three loses.

Herman's 17 wins are two more than any other major league hurler. At 4.03, Herman's ERA is a little on the high side, but the results speak for themselves. He's been very efficient at keeping runs from scoring in key situations. He's fanned 136 batters in 127 1/3 innings, walking 30. While hitters are averaging .233 against him, he keeps chalking up wins. In his last 10 starts, Herman is 8-1 as the Yankees have maintained a huge lead in the AL East.

D.J. LeMahieu, Mike Ford and Aaron Judge each socked solo homers off Kershaw.

With the Rays losing, the Yankees improved to a nine-game bulge in the division. On Monday, they head to Seattle for a three-game series, wrapping up a nine-game road trip.

Keuchel: 7 scoreless

National League

Winning their eighth straight, the Atlanta Braves rode the arm of Dallas Keuchel to a 2-1 win over the Mets, completing a three-game series sweep of their NL East opponents.

Donaldson: 2 solo HRs

Keuchel (5-5, 3.78) blanked the Mets for seven innings, allowing four hits while fanning seven. Sean Newcomb worked a scoreless eighth and Mark Melancon gave up a run in the ninth but still managed the save, his sixth of the season.

Josh Donaldson's two solo homers provided the winning edge. Donaldson has 32 homers on the season.

The win left Atlanta six up on the Nationals in the NL East. The Mets are in fourth place, 12 games out, 1/2-game behind the Phillies, both struggling to keep up in the wild card race. The Nationals have won five straight and hold a four-game lead over the Cubs for the top wild card. Chicago is 1 1/2 ahead of the Phillies for the second spot.

The Braves head to Colorado on Monday for a make-up game before two in Toronto, Tuesday and Wednesday, wrapping up their road trip.

Josh Donaldson Saves Braves With 10th-Inning Homer; Cleveland Downs Houston, 10-4, on Roberto Perez HRs

Players of the Day for Wednesday, July 31, 2019

American League

Perez: 2 HR, 4 RBI

After dropping the series opener, 2-0, to Justin Verlander, Cleveland roughed up AL West leader, Houston, with a 10-4 win on Thursday.

Catcher Roberto Perez socked a pair of home runs to lead the Indians. He touched off a three-run bomb in the second inning to get Cleveland on the board and followed up with a solo shot in the sixth.

Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis each added three-run homers as Cleveland pulled away for their 13th win in their last 17 games.

Perez is having a breakout year with the Tribe, batting .242 with 18 home runs and 44 RBI.

With Minnesota winning, the Indians remained three games behind the Twins in the AL Central. Houston continues to lead Oakland by eight games in the West. The A's lost, 4-2 to Milwaukee.

Tied at a game apiece, Cleveland hosts the series finale Thursday, 7:10 pm ET.

NOTES: Houston may have lost a game, but they won in free agency. With the trade deadline hours away, the Astros picked up starting pitcher, Zack Greinke from Arizona. In the most stunning trade of the mid-season, the Astros got Greinke for four minor league players. Houston also grabbed starter Aaron Sanchez and reliever Joe Biagini from Toronto and snagged catcher, Martin Maldonado, from the Cubs.

The 2009 AL Cy Young award winner, Greinke was 10-4, with a 2.90 ERA in 23 starts with Arizona this season.

Donaldson's HR wins game

National League

Josh Donaldson belted a 10th-inning solo home run to dead center, boosting the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 win at Washington, taking two of three from the Nationals.

Poor relief pitching was once again at issue for Atlanta Wednesday afternoon, as the Braves' bullpen blew a 4-1 lead, allowing Washington to tie things up at 4-4 with a run in the eighth and two in the ninth.

Atlanta was bailed out by a bases-loaded double play with none out in the bottom of the ninth that scored the game-tying run, but also set up reliever Sean Newcomb to strike out Brian Dozier, ending the threat.

Donaldson was 0-for-4 prior to his heroic smash. Josh Tomlin worked into and out of trouble in the bottom of the 10th, allowing a one out single and walk before retiring the final two batters.

Donaldson, acquired from Cleveland in the off-season, has been a steady performer for the Braves, batting .259 with 25 home runs and 66 RBI in 62 games.

The result left Atlanta with a 6 1/2 game lead over the Nationals and a seven game bulge on the Phillies in the NL East.

The Braves return home Thursday to open a four-game series with the Reds. Game one is slated for a 7:20 pm ET start.

Josh Donaldson Powers Blue Jays Over Twins, 7-2; Charlie Blackmon Drives Colorado 16-0 Romp

Players of the Day for Saturday, September 16, 2017

American League

Donaldson damages Twins

Despite being eliminated from post-season consideration, Josh Donaldson and the Toronto Blue Jays have played spoiler agains the Minnesota Twins, the current holder of the #2 wild card.

After losing the first game of their four-game series, 4-3, the Jays came back on Friday with a 3-2 victory and Saturday took a 7-2 decision at Minnesota.

Donaldson, who was 1-for-3 with an RBI in the opener, and homered and drove in two in the second game, upped the ante with a pair of solo bombs on Saturday, also singling twice to go 4-for-5 with four runs and two RBI. He has 28 homers and 69 RBI on the year.

The losses for Minnesota have reduced their edge in the wild card race to a mere one game over the Angels, 2-0 winners over Texas Saturday.

The series concludes Sunday at 2:10 pm ET. On Monday, the Twins head to New York for three games with the Yankees, who currently hold a five-game lead as the top wild card.

National League

Blackmon: MVP potential

The Colorado Rockies put on a show Saturday, whacking the Padres 16-0, a subtle reminder to the Arizona Diamondbacks that they are not going to be an easy out in the wild card showdown.

Colorado currently trails Arizona in the wild card by five games and has a 3 1/2 game edge over Milwaukee and 4 1/2 better than St. Louis. If the standing don't change, the single-elimination wild card game would be played in Arizona between the Rockies and Diamondbacks. That appears to be the most likely scenario.

In their rout of San Diego, the Rockies banged out 17 hits, roughing up Padres' starter, Jordan Lyles, for eight hits and seven earned runs over four innings. Charlie Blackmon doubled in a run and scored in the third inning and launched a three run homer - his 35th of the year - in the sixth to lead the assault.

Blackmon should garner quite a few votes for National League MVP. In addition to the outrageous home run numbers (he's a leadoff hitter, after all), Blackmon is carrying a league-leading .333 batting average, has 93 RBI and leads the majors in hits (198) and runs (131).

Colorado has won two straight and eight of their last ten. They'll be looking to sweep the series with the Padres sunday at 3:10 pm ET.

Jays' Josh Donaldson Homers, Scores Game-Winner Over Twins; Anthony Rizzo Leads Cubs' Rout Of Phillies

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 26, 2017

American League

Thanks to the Yankees and especially the Toronto Blue Jays and Josh Donaldson, the AL wild card race has become tighter and more interesting.

Josh Donaldson

New York took game two of their series with Seattle in New York, 6-3, while the Blue Jays managed to hold on for a 10-9 win over the Twins, who are currently in possession of the second wild card spot. The Yanks hold the top position, with a 3 1/2 game bulge.

Donaldson was an integral part of Toronto's victory, going 3-for-5, swatting his 23rd home run and scoring what turned out to be the winning run, scampering home from third on a wild pitch.

Toronto had an 8-3 lead after six, but the Toronto bullpen - one of the worst in baseball - gave up a grand slam to Max Kepler in the eighth, and Roberto Osuna managed to pick up his 34th save, despite allowing two hits and two unearned runs in the top of the ninth.

What Toronto's win and Minnesota's loss did was 1) give the Yankees a larger lead in the wild card top position, 2) Enable the Angels and Orioles to gain ground. LA topped Houston, 7-6, and the Orioles shut out Boston, 7-0. The Angels are tied with Seattle, 1/2 game behind the Twins; Baltimore is just two games out, along with the Rangers. Tampa Bay is three games behind. In the middle of it all is Kansas City, who lost to the Indians, 4-0. The Royals are 1 1/2 behind the Twins.

Meanwhile, Cleveland has opened up a 6 1/2 game lead on Minnesota and is eight games up on the Royals, apparently on their way to a second straight AL Central crown.

The Blue Jays and Twins close out their three-game series Sunday at 1:07 pm ET, with plenty of other intriguing action across the league.

National League

Rizzo: 2 HR, 5 RBI

A three-game series in Philadelphia against a last place team is probably just what the Chicago Cubs would have wanted at this point in the season, and, so far, it's turning out all right as the Cubs pounded the Phillies, 17-2, smashing seven home runs in the process.

Both Tommy La Stella and Anthony Rizzo belted two bombs. Going 3-for-5 with five RBI, Rizzo smacked a three-run homer in the third, a solo shot in the fifth and reached on an infield single in the seventh, driving in another run.

Rizzo has 30 home runs on the year and upped his RBI total to 90, tops on the Cubs.

The win came in game two of the series after Chicago lost game one, 7-1, on Friday, but kept the Cubs three games ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central and 4 1/2 better than the third place Cardinals. Both Milwaukee and St. Louis were winners Saturday.

Game three of the series is scheduled for Sunday, 1:35 pm ET at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.

Jake Arrieta Improves to 21-6 with 7-Inning 1-Hitter; Josh Donaldson Belts Walk-Off Homer as Jays Down Rays, 5-4

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 27, 2015

American League

Donaldson: 41st HR

Josh Donaldson finished the final home game for the Toronto Blue Jays with a flourish, belting a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 win over Tampa Bay, completing the three-game sweep of the Rays while inching closer to the AL East crown.

Donalson's 41st home run is third in the league behind Seattle's Nelson Cruz and Baltimore's Chris Davis, each with 43, but Donalson leads the league in RBI with 122, and the majors in runs, at 121.

With the Yankees beating the White Sox, 6-1, Toronto remains four games to the good over the second-place Yankees. With seven games remaining in the regular season, Toronto's magic number is four.

The Blue Jays open a four-game series in Baltimore on Monday, then head to Tampa to close out the season with the Rays. New York starts a four-game series with Boston at Yankee Stadium Monday and finishes up in Baltimore with a three game set against the Orioles.

Toronto has already clinched a playoff spot. The Yankees have a 4 1/2 game lead on Houston in the wild card.

National League

That man was at it again.

Arrieta: 21-6

Jake Arrieta shut down the Pirates on one hit over seven innings, helping to avoid a sweep by Pittsburgh, putting the Cubs into the playoffs with a 4-0 win.

Not only did Arrieta record his 10th straight win, he also homered in the second inning, fanned nine and improved his record to a stunning, 21-6, easily the best in the majors. He's the only 20-game winner thus far. In the AL, only Houston's Dallas Keuchel has a shot to win 20. He currently is 19-8. In the National League, it appears only Arrieta will reach the 20-win plateau. the Giants' Madison Bumgarner, Pittsburgh's Gerrit Cole, and LA's Zack Greinke each have 18, but likely have only one start remaining as the season draws quickly to a close this week.

In the strikeout department, Arrieta moved past Bumgarner into third, with 229 Ks. Max Scherzer is second at 249. Clayton kershaw leads the majors with 281.

Chicago's win assured the Cubs that they would be in the playoffs, most likely as the second wild card. They trail Pittsburgh by 4 1/2 games with only seven left on the schedule. Pittsburgh still has a shot at winning the NL Central. They are three games behind the Cardinals and open a three-game series with the Cards in Pittsburgh beginning Monday. Both the Cardinals and Pirates have six games left to play.

The Cubs will play a make-up game of a May rainout with the Royals at Wrigley Field on Monday. The final six games for the Cubs are all on the road: three at Cincinnati and three at Milwaukee.

Josh Donaldson - First to 100 RBI - Helps Blue Jays Crush Angels; Paul Goldschmidt Powers Arizona

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 22, 2015

American League

Donaldson: 100 RBI

The American League East appears to be headed for a stretch duel between the Yankees and Blue Jays, both teams winning on Saturday to keep the Yankees up by a mere 1/2 game over the relentless Toronto squad.

Josh Donaldson singled, doubled, crushed a pair of homers, drove in six runs and scored three times in six at-bats as the Blue Jays blistered the Angels, 15-3, in the second of their three-game series at Anaheim.

Donaldson raised his batting average to .301, became the first player in the majors to reach 100 RBI, leading the AL, and his 34 homers have him tied with Baltimore's Chris Davis in second place behind Seattle's Nelson Cruz, who has 37.

Goldschmidt: 4-5 2HR

The Toronto third baseman is having a remarkable season and is one of the prime reasons the Blue Jays are in a contending position. Even if they don't catch the Yankees for the division crown, they appear a lock for the first wild card spot, with a 4 1/2 game edge on the Rangers, who have surged into the second spot with two straight victories.

The Orioles, Angels, Twins, and Rays are all within 1 1/2 games of the Rangers, so the race to the post-season is on, with wings, in the AL.

The Blue Jays seek to sweep the Angels on Sunday when the teams meet at 3:35 pm EDT.

National League

With the NL Wild Card ostensibly looking increasingly like an exclusively Central Division event since the Pirates and Cubs have a substantial lead over the rest of the contenders (the Cubs are five games up on the Giants for the second spot), the most viable option for the Arizona Diamondbacks might be to win the West division.

With an 11-7 win at Cincinnati Saturday, the Diamondbacks find themselves in third place, six games back to the Dodgers, with the second place Giants 1 1/2 out. Chasing the D'Backs - winners of three straight - are the suddenly surging Padres, who have strung together five straight victories.

Arizona's triumph was fueled by one of the league's best hitters and underrated stars, Paul Goldschmidt, who went 4-for-5 with a pair of singles and a pair of two-run homers (23, 24), driving in four and scoring three times.

Goldschmidt is the engine that powers Arizona, his 93 RBI leading the league.

The Diamondbacks will have ample opportunity to catch the Giants and/or Dodgers in September, with a total of 13 games against those two division foes.

Arizona will be seeking the series sweep on Sunday, when they when they meet the Reds at 1:10 pm EDT at Great American Ball Park.

Josh Donaldson Crushes 2-Run Walk-Off Homer in 10th; Matt Kemp Tearing It Up as Dodgers Seek NL West Pennant

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 21, 2014

American League

Josh Donaldson cracked a two-run homer in Oakland's 8-6, 10-inning, walk off win over the Phillies.

Donaldson: MVP?

The game-winner came with one out off Philly reliever Miguel Gonzalez (0-1), after Nate Freiman singled and was replaced by pinch runner Billy Burns. Donaldson's blast was a no-doubter, traveling 444 feet, over the center field wall.

Donaldson finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs and the two RBI from the homer, giving him 97 ribbies on the season, to go with his 28 home runs and .255 batting average. Should Oakland make the playoffs - a distinct possibility - Donaldson would be a viable MVP candidate.

Oakland's win put them 1/2 game in front of Kansas City in the wild card race. The A's are in line for the top wild card spot as Kansas City beat Detroit, 5-2.

On Monday, the A's open a three-game home series against the Angels, who need just a few more wins to wrap up the best record in the American League. Oakland closes out the season with a four-game series at Texas on September 25-28.

Kemp: 4-5, HR, 4RBI

National League

Matt Kemp has been on a tear as the Dodgers streak toward the NL West division title.

Including Sunday's 4-for-5 effort, Kemp has stroked four homers and driven in 15 runs in his last nine games, securing his spot in the Dodgers' crowded outfield roster.

In the 8-5 Dodger win over the Cubs, Kemp singled three times and smacked a two-run homer in the third inning - his 23rd - driving in four runs to give him 84 on the year.

LA scored 37 runs in the four-game series at Chicago, winning three of four, the lone loss an 8-7 decision for the Cubs on Saturday.

The Dodgers have a 4 1/2 game lead over the Giants, who have lost three straight. LA has six games remaining in the regular season; San Francisco has seven, making the Dodgers' magic number to clinch the division, three.

Finishing out the season at home, the Dodgers host the Giants in a three-game series starting Monday, before finishing up against Colorado on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Josh Donaldson Sets A's Straight with Five Hits in 11-2 Win; Giants Close Gap on Dodgers as Yusmeiro Petit Hurls Complete GameD

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 9, 2014

American League

Donaldson: 5-for-6

Despite having won just three times in their last 12 games, the Oakland A's have maintained their hold on the first wild card spot, though their grip has been tenuous of late, at best.

Winning, 11-2 over the White Sox in Chicago on Tuesday, the A's managed to hammer out 18 hits, five of them coming off the bat of third baseman, Josh Donaldson, who was also responsible for driving in four runs and scoring twice in his six at-bats.

Donaldson's hits were all singles, except for a fifth-inning double that plated two teammates and put the A's up 4-0. His two other RBI came in the ninth inning off a single, when the A's added five runs.

With a .257 batting average, Donaldson leads the team in RBI with 93.

The A's win came at an opportune time, as Seattle had closed to within one game in the wild card race. As of Tuesday's results, Oakland leads either Detroit or Kansas City (the two are tied for first place in the Central) by 1 1/2 games with Seattle two back. Further back, six games out, is Toronto, winners of three straight, having bypassed the Yankees and Cleveland in the race for the wild card spots.

Petit: 4H, CG, W

With the four-game series tied at a game apiece, Oakland and the White Sox go at it Wednesday at 8:10 pm EDT and finish up Thursday with a day game, scheduled for 2:10 pm EDT.

National League

Winners of 10 of their last 13 games, the San Francisco Giants continue to hound the first-place Dodgers in the NL West, their 5-1 victory over Arizona Tuesday, combined with LA's 6-3 loss to San Diego, has them just 2 1/2 games off the front-runner's pace.

Yusmeiro Petit threw his first complete game of the season, having started just nine times this year. Petit allowed four hits and one run - that coming on a fourth-inning solo homer by Arizona's Ender Inciarte - struck out nine and issued no walks, completing the nine innings with a judicious 84 pitches, 68 of them thrown for strikes. Petit improved to 5-3.

The Giants got most of their production from the top of the order. Leadoff hitter, Angel Pagan, was 4-for-5 with three runs. Joe Panic went 5-for-5 but only kept rallies going, neither scoring nor driving in any runs. Buster Posey went 0-for-4 but drove in two, increasing his RBI total to 81 on the year.

San Francisco hosts Arizona in the second of their three-game series on Wednesday, 7:00 pm PDT, and hosts the Dodgers in a crucial three-game series over the coming weekend.

Doug Fister Blanks Mets over Seven as Nationals Take Command in NL East; A's, Josh Donaldson Snap KC Win Streak at Eight

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 12, 2014

American League

Donaldson: 2HR

Stopping Kansas City's winning streak at eight, the Oakland A's abused KC starter Jeremy Guthrie and reliever Bruce Chen for 20 hits in an 11-3 romp.

After Guthrie had allowed 11 hits and six runs, Aaron Crow came on to get one batter to end the fifth. Chen worked the rest of the game, already out of hand.

Josh Donaldson drove in a pair of runs off Guthrie with a single and a sac fly and made sure to disrespect Chen, hitting solo homers in the seventh and eighth innings. Donaldson went 3-for-5 with four RBI, scoring three times.

The A's maintained their 3 1/2 game lead over the Angels in the West, while KC held onto their slim lead in the Central, holding off the Tigers by 1/2-game, as Detroit lost their second straight at Pittsburgh, 4-2. The Tigers have lost four in a row.

Tied at a game apiece, the four game series between the A's and Royals resumes Wednesday at 8:10 pm in Kansas City.

Fister: 7 scoreless

National League

While the Dodgers were bopping the Braves 4-2, Doug Fister was leaving Mets all over the bases in a 7-1 Nationals win, allowing seven hits and stranding all of them as he shut out the Mets over seven innings for his seventh win in his last nine starts, boosting his season record to 12-3.

Fister, who joined the Nationals this year after two seasons in Seattle and two in Detroit, has been on a roll, allowing just two earned runs in his last four starts, spanning 28 1/3 innings. He's currently on a scoreless streak of 14 1/3 innings.

On Tuesday night, Fister threw 107 pitches and bore down when he had runners on base, stranding single runners in the second, fourth and fifth innings, and leaving two aboard in each of the sixth and seventh.

The Nationals advanced another game on second place Atlanta and now lead the East division by five games. Miami is six back.

Game two of the three-game series at Citi Field in New York starts at 7:10 pm EDT on Wednesday.

Josh Donaldson's Grand Slam Lifts A's to 1st Place in AL West; Todd Helton, Nolan Arenado Power Rockies

Players of the Day for Friday, June 7, 2013

American League

Josh Donaldson

Combined with the Rangers' 6-1 loss at Toronto, the A's 4-3 decision over the White Sox earned Oakland a 1/2 game lead in the AL West, a spot long occupied by Texas.

The result was not always assured, as Chicago had built a 3-0 lead through the first five innings, and Sox Starter, Chris Sale, was cruising along with a two-hit shutout. But, in the top of the sixth, Adam Rosales and Jed Lowrie singled, with Rosales moving to third on a throwing error. Yoenis Cespedes walked to load the bases with one out for third baseman, Josh Donaldson.

With one swing, Donaldson changed the outcome of the game, belting a 364-foot grand slam to right, putting the A's up 4-3 and headed for the top of the division standings. From there, the A's pitching staff took over, slamming the door shut on White Sox hitters. Starter Jarrod Parker worked into the eighth, followed by Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour, who picked up his 15th save by setting down the Sox in the ninth.

The A's have been steaming since dropping two of three to Texas on May 15. Since then, they've been the hottest team in the AL, winning 18 of 21 games, including their last three in a row.

Oakland will look to make it three straight over the White Sox in Chicago at 4:10 pm EDT, Saturday.

National League

Nolan Arenado

Paul Goldschmidt's 3-run, eighth-inning home run lifted the Diamondbacks to a 3-1 win over the Giants, and the Rockies gladly rode Todd Helton's bat and Nolan Arenado's walk-off homer to take a 10-9 win over the visiting Padres and second place in the NL West.

Helton, who turns 40 in August, was 3-for-4 with three RBI, all off San Diego starter, Edison Volquez, who was bombed by the Rockies for 11 hits and nine earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Colorado's pitchers could not hold their 9-3 lead after the third, however, as San Diego came back with a run in the fifth and five more in the seventh.

Todd Helton

The game tied 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth, Arenado, the rookie third baseman who had singled in a run in the second inning, led off the inning with his fifth home run of the season, a towering solo shot to left.

The result left the Rockies 2 1/2 behind the Diamondbacks in the three-way race that is the NL West. The Giants dropped the opener of a three-game series at Arizona to fall 3 1/2 off the pace.

The Rockies play at home against San Diego in the third of their four-game series at 7:15 pm EDT. Arizona hosts San Francisco in the second game of their series at 10:10 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: Everyone loves an RBI guy. Who had more RBI in his career than any other major league player? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Willie McCovey had 521 homers to Ernie "let's play two" Banks' 512, but Banks played three fewer seasons (19) than did McCovey (22)

Josh Donaldson's 4-for-4 Lifts A's over Astros; Mike Minor blanks Mets, Homers as Atlanta Rolls to 8th Straight

Players of the Day for Saturday, May 25, 2013

American League

Maybe this season wasn't exactly the right time for the Houston Astros to switch from the National to the American League. Their few successes have been mere footnotes in an 18-35 start to the season. They trail the Rangers by 18 games in the West division.

Donaldson: HR, 4-4

On Saturday, they dropped their second straight, at home, to Oakland, as the A's battered five Houston pitchers for 18 hits in an 11-5 beat-down.

The A's got off early, scoring six runs in the second inning and four more in the fourth. Pacing Oakland was third baseman, Josh Donaldson, who clubbed his eighth homer of the season in the midst of a 4-for-4 game, adding two singles and a double.

Donaldson scored two of Oakland's runs and drove in a pair, raising his batting average to .322, 10th in the league.

The A's have been the only team in the division to somewhat keep pace with the red-hot Rangers, who have the best record in the majors, at 32-17. Oakland is 5 1/2 back.

Oakland will be seeking a sweep of Houston on Sunday, at 2:10 pm EDT.

National League

Mike Minor

With Mike Minor on the mound, the Braves didn't need much offense to take their second straight from the Mets and eighth in a row, overall.

Minor shut out the Mets on three hits over 7 1/3 innings and broke open a scoreless tie in the fifth with a two-run homer, his first of the season, helping the Braves roll to a 6-0 win.

Minor, 6-2, struck out 10 and walked three, throwing 113 pitches before turning the ball over to the bullpen.

In his fourth year with the Braves, Minor is having his best season, posting a 2.34 ERA and an 0.93 WHIP with 61 strikeouts, having fanned 19 in his last 13 1/3 innings.

The Braves lead the NL East by 5 1/2 over the Nationals, with Philadelphia another game back. The Mets have fallen eight games off the pace and will try to avoid being swept on Sunday, when they conclude their series with the Braves, at 8:00 pm EDT at Citi Field.

STREAKERS: Besides the Braves' eight-game winning streak, other teams have also been on tears. The Angels have won seven straight, but still trail Texas in the AL West by 10 games. In the same division, Seattle has lost eight straight and dropped into fourth place, 12 out. The Cubs are challenging Miami - losers of four in a row - for the worst record in the NL. Chicago has dropped their last six.

Today's Trivia: Who was the last American Leaguer to win the MVP Award in consecutive seasons?

Yesterday's Answer: Starlin Castro, of the Cubs was the only NL player to appear in all 162 games in 2012.