Cole Hamels Helps Phillies Avoid Sweep; Juan Francisco Powers Toronto to 8-0 Win over Boston

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 24, 2014

American League

Juan Francisco

Tight is the AL East race. Toronto continues to put pressure on the Baltimore Orioles. With the O's Yankees and Blue Jays all posting wins on Thursday, Toronto remained tied for second with the Yankees, three games behind the front-running Orioles.

The Blue Jays hammered visiting Boston, 8-0, on 14 hits, six of which went for extra bases, two of those from Juan Francisco, who tripled, socked a two-run, third inning homer and added a single for a 3-for-4 day at the plate with four RBI, scoring twice.

The home run was Francisco's 15th of the season, to go with 39 RBI and a .242 average.

Cole Hamels

Toronto took the series, three games to one.

National League

Thanks to Cole Hamels, the Phillies avoided being swept at home by the Giants, ending their four game series on the wrong side of a 3-1 advantage for San Francisco.

Hamels allowed five hits and one earned run in eight solid innings to even his record at 5-5 in Philly's 2-1 victory. He struck out 10 and issued just one walk. Jonathan Papelbon came on in the ninth to earn his 24th save.

Around the plate all day, Hamels threw 90 of 116 pitches for strikes. He's been the victim of poor run support by his teammates, sporting a solid 2.72 ERA while the Phillies have sunk into last place in the NL East, 12 1/2 games out.

Juan Francisco Socks a Pair as Braves Go 12-1; Miguel Cabrera Leads Detroit to 1st Place in AL Central

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 16, 2013

American League

Miguel Cabrera

With their 6-2 victory at Seattle and Kansas City's 6-3 loss at Atlanta, the Detroit Tigers took over sole possession of first place in the AL Central.

Last year's MVP and triple crown winner, Miguel Cabrera provided the bulk of the tigers' offense, singling in the game's first run in the first inning, then erasing a 2-1 Seattle lead with a two-run homer in the fifth. Cabrera got his third hit of the day in the seventh, singling home Austin Jackson with an insurance tally.

Cabrera's homer was his second of the year, his 3-for-5 effort raising his batting average to .345. His four RBI upped his total to 17 on the season, the third highest total in the AL behind teammate Prince Fielder and Baltimore's Chris Davis, both of whom have 19.

Detroit leads the Royals by one game in the division and have two games remaining in Seattle before heading down the coast to play the Angels.

National League

Juan Francisco

In Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Royals, Braves' hitters produced nine hits, five of them going over the fences for solo home runs.

Justin Upton blasted his major league-leading eighth of the season, sandwiched in between bombs by Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla in the eighth inning, the Braves going back-to-back-to-back off Royals' reliever Kelvin Herrera, putting the game away with four runs in the inning.

The other runs scored by Atlanta came off the bat of Juan Francisco, who touched off solo shots in the second and seventh innings, his second blast tying the game at 2-2.

Francisco's two homers were his second and third of the season, helping Atlanta to baseball's best record. At 12-1, they lead the NL East by a whopping 4 1/2 games over the Nationals. Miami, which has begun the season with a 3-11 mark, are already 9 1/2 games off the pace.