Royals Pound D'Backs, 12-2, Billy Butler Goes 4-for-5; Juan Uribe Delivers in Dodgers' 5-4 Win over Angels

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 5, 2014

American League

Billy Butler

Opening a three-game interleague series at Arizona, the Kansas City Royals mashed out 15 hits over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday in a 12-2 win over the Diamondbacks, keeping pace in the Central division with the Tigers.

Billy Butler unleashed a barrage of four hits in five at-bats, getting a pair of singles, a double and his sixth home run of the season, driving in three runs and scoring twice.

Arizona had no answers, getting just five hits over the course of the game.

The win kept Kansas City 4 1/2 behind Detroit - 4-3 winners in 12 innings over the Yankees - and right in the middle of the race for the second wild card spot, 1 1/2 behind the Blue Jays and 1/2 game behind the Yankees.

Batting just .276, Butler is having a down year at the plate, but may be picking it up as the pennant races proceed. He has seven hits in his last nine at-bats covering the past two games, both KC wins.

The Royals will try for their third straight win Wednesday night when they meet the Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix. Game time is 9:40 pm EDT.

Juan Uribe

National League

With all the star power stacked up on the Dodger roster, third baseman Juan Uribe doesn't get much notice, but he was key to victory in the Dodgers' 5-4 win over the Angels Tuesday night.

Uribe socked a three-run homer in the second inning, erasing a 2-0 Angels lead and scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

Going 3-for-4 with three RBI, Uribe singled with one out in the ninth and went first to third on A.J. Ellis' single. He came home on Andre Ethier's ground ball to third, sliding in safely on David Freese's errant throw.

The win put the Dodgers up by 2 1/2 in the NL West as the Giants opened a three-game series in Milwaukee with a 4-3 loss.

The Dodgers-Angels series is tied at a game apiece and shifts to Anaheim for the next two games. Game time Wednesday is 7:05 pm PDT.

Evan Longoria, Jose Lobaton Keep Rays' Hopes Alive in 5-4 Win; Michael Wacha Forces Game 5 for Cardinals; Juan Uribe Homers to Lead Dodgers into NLCS

Players of the Day for Monday, October 7, 2013

American League

Evan Longoria

Jose Lobaton

Evan Longoria tied the game at 3-3 with a three-run homer and pinch-hitter Jose Lobaton delivered a walk-off, game-winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Rays to a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox, keeping the Rays alive in the ALDS.

Tampa Bay lost the first two games of the best-of-five series in Boston and were in danger of elimination, as Boston forged a 3-0 lead until Longoria's blast in the fifth inning.

The Rays took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, but Boston quickly re-tied the game with a single run in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the frame, Boston reliever Koji Uehara seemed to have things well in hand, retiring the first two batters in order, but surrendered the bomb to Lobaton, forcing a game four, Tuesday, 8:37 pm EDT at Tropicana Field.

Michael Wacha

In Detroit, the Oakland A's took a 2-1 lead with a 6-3 victory over the hometown Tigers. Game four is Tuesday at 5:07 pm EDT.

National League

Rookie hurler, Michael Wacha, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, spoiled when Pedro Alvarez socked a solo homer to put the Pirates down 2-1 against the Cardinals in game four of the NLDS. Wacha would not face another batter, manager Mike Matheny opting for his bullpen, which got the final five outs of the game without incident, evening the series at two games apiece and forcing a decisive game five in St. Louis on Wednesday night (8:07 pm EDT).

Juan Uribe

Matt Holliday's two-run homer in the fifth inning provided the winning runs for the Cardinals' 2-1 victory. Wacha was 4-1 in nine starts during the regular season for St. Louis and took the win in his first post-season appearance.

In Atlanta, the Braves were eliminated by the LA Dodgers, three games to one, when Juan Uribe touched off a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning, sending the Dodgers into the NL Championship Series with a 4-3 victory.

Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw pitched well for six innings on three days' rest, allowing just three hits, but the Dodgers surrendered two unearned runs. Reliever Brian Wilson took the win and Kenley Jansen struck out the Braves in order in the ninth for his first post-season save.

Today's Trivia: After the Yankees, what AL team has won the most World Series? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Juan Marical and Fergie Jenkins were pitchers who liked to finish what they started. Marichal had 244 complete games in 16 seasons; Jenkins, 267 in 19 seasons.

Nelson Cruz Grand Slam Lifts Rangers over Astros; Seven RBI by Juan Uribe Send Dodgers to 10-2 Win over Giants

Players of the Day for Friday, July 5, 2013

American League

Over the past five years, few teams have been as successful as the Texas Rangers. One reason for their superior play has been the mainstay of Nelson Cruz in their lineup. Not a superstar, but a quiet, solid everyday player, Cruz has been on the field for Texas throughout their reign in the AL West.

Nelson Cruz

In Friday's 10-5 victory over Houston, Cruz only had one hit, but it was a big one, a second-inning grand slam off Houston starter, Lucas Harrell, which put the Rangers up by a 6-0 score and allowed them to cruise to the series-opening win, keeping them on pace with Oakland, whom they trail by 1/2 game in the division.

The Cruz homer was his 21st of the season and the four RBI gave him 65 on the year, an exceptional total, but hardly recognizable when Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and Chris davis have 86 and 83, respectively, to lead the league. Cruz is tied for fourth in RBI and fifth in homers.

Game two of the home series for the Rangers is Saturday at 7:15 pm EDT.

National League

Juan Uribe

Juan Uribe was lashing the ball all over the AT&T Park field in the Dodgers' 10-2 win over the Giants, but he did not hit for the cycle because in five at-bats he only had a home run, triple and a double, no single.

Despite not putting himself in the MLB record book, Uribe did manage to drive in seven runs, doubling in a pair of runs in the second, tripling with the bases loaded in the third to drive in three more and capping his awesome performance with a two-run homer in the seventh inning.

A veteran of 13 seasons, Uribe is in his third year as a Dodger, the fourth stop on his major league tour, having previously played for the Rockies, White Sox and Giants.

The victory kept the Dodgers locked into second place in the NL West, tied with Colorado, 3 1/2 games behind Arizona. San Diego and San Francisco round out the division, both just 5 1/2 out.

Game two of the storied Dodger-Giants rivalry series is set for 4:15 pm PDT, Saturday in San Francisco.

Today's Trivia: Who had a higher career on-base percentage, Ted Williams or Ty Cobb? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Lefty O'Doul had 254 hits for Philadelphia in 1929, a National League record that was tied by Bill Terry of the NY Giants, just a year later, in 1930. The record still stands.

Giants Down Phillies in Six; To Face Rangers in World Series

Players of the Day for Saturday, October 23, 2010

National League

In the top of the 8th inning, Juan Uribe lifted a fly ball deep to right field, close to the line. Jayson Werth raced to the edge of the warning track, waited, turned and looked up just in time to watch the ball sail into the third of of seats above the high outfield wall.

When Uribe hit the ball, it looked innocent enough, like another routine fly out in a game full of them, but it kept carrying and carrying until it finally left the park and gave the Giants the slim, one-run lead, which, an inning and a half later, became a game six, 3-2 victory over the Phillies, granting the Giants a pass to their first World Series since 2002.

Though it took a trip back to Philadelphia to finish off the NL champs, it was eventually the Giants' pitching that prevailed over the team that had taken the last two NL pennants. The Phillies scored a pair of quick runs in the first on a walk, three hits and a sacrifice fly off starter Jonathan Sanchez, but after that could muster only five more base hits as a string of five San Francisco relievers - including Tim Lincecum in the 8th - frustrated them the rest of the way.

Roy Oswalt, the Phillies' starter, pitched well enough to win in most circumstances, but he was gone after six innings with the game tied at 2-2. Both teams squandered chances; each left 11 men stranded.

The series was dominated by pitching. The cumulative score was Phillies 20, Giants 19, which works out to just over three runs per game for each team. The highest run total by the Phillies was 6, in game two, the same as the Giants scored in their game four win.

Cody Ross, acquired from the Marlins late in the regular season, took the MVP award for the series, batting .350 (7-for-20), with three home runs and five RBI. Ross had a hit in each of the six games. His two in game one were both homers.

By virtue of the National League winning the All-Star Game, San Francisco will host the Texas Rangers in the World Series. The Giants have not captured a world championship since 1954. Texas has never won one in its 49-year existence.

Braden Halts Rangers on One Hit; Uribe Powers Giants Back Into First

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 23, 2010

American League

Dallas Braden and the Oakland Athletics apparently aren't ready to cede the AL West to the Texas Rangers.

The second-place A's delayed the Rangers' coronation for a another day at least as Braden shut out the Texas team on one hit over eight innings as the two top teams in the division opened a four-game series in Oakland.

Nelson Cruz singled with two outs in the first inning, but Braden set down the next 22 batters in order, not allowing a baserunner until issuing back-to-back walks in the top of the 8th. Braden got out of that situation and finished the inning, then was lifted for reliever Brad Ziegler, who walked one and hit another, but stuck out two to close out the game for a 5-0 Oakland win, drawing the A's to within seven games of the front-running Rangers.

Texas has the magic number at four, so the A's almost need to sweep the series in order to have any shot at all of catching the Rangers in the final week.

National League

As the pennant race winds into the final stretch of the season, the Giants are finding out what kind of team they've got - apparently one without any quit and plenty of heroes waiting to step up.

On Thursday, it was Juan Uribe donning the super-hero cape, belting a pair of home runs, the second of which a grand slam, to lead the Giants to a 13-0 smothering of the Cubs, vaulting San Francisco back into first place in the NL West by 1/2 game over the Padres.

The Giants and Padres have been swapping first and second place in the division for the better part of two weeks now, neither team able to establish any kind of open space.

Amazingly, Uribe did all his damage in one inning - the 2nd - helping to knock out starter Ryan Dempster with a two run shot and then welcoming his replacement - Thomas Diamond - with the grand slam.

The Giants depart Chicago winning two out of three, while the Padres were losing the last game of their three-game series at Los Angeles, falling to the Dodgers, 3-1, after taking the first two.

The Padres next host Cincinnati for three games as the Giants travel to Colorado for a critical three-game set with the Rockies, losers of four straight, now 3 1/2 games behind the Giants.

PENNANT NOTES: The Yankees dropped a 10-3 decision to the Rays, producing a split in their four-game series in the Bronx and leaving the Yankees with a 1/2 game lead in the division.

With the Reds idle, St. Louis won, reducing the Cincinnati lead to 7 1/2 in the Central, thouh the Reds' magic number is still just three. The Phillies and Braves both had the night off. Philly has a six game lead in the division.