Kevin Correia Shuts Down Cubs; Adam Jones, Matt Wieters Power Orioles to 10-4 Win

Players of the Day for Monday, September 17, 2012

American League

Back in July, when the Yankees had opened a sizable lead on the rest of the division, conventional thinking was that the Baltimore Orioles had begun their annual ritual of fading into the the depths and out of contention.

That thinking was incorrect, as August saw a revival of the "birds" and September brought forth the call, "they're not going away."

On Monday, the Orioles got even with the front-running Yankees in the win column and a game worse in the loss column to trail by just 1/2 games, beating the Mariners in Seattle by a 10-4 score.

Matt Wieters

Adam Jones

Beyond the steady managerial hand of Buck Schowalter, the Orioles have been led throughout the season by two of their bright, young stars, 26-year-old Matt Wieters and Adam Jones, 27.

In their win over Seattle, Wieters continued his hot streak with a pair of singles and his 22nd homer - a two-run, fourth-inning blast - three RBI and a couple of runs in five at-bats. Jones went 3-for-4, with a double and two singles, a lone RBI and four runs.

In his last ten games, Wieters has hit safely in seven, with multi-hit games in five, socking four homers with 12 RBI. Over the same span, Jones has batted at a steady .293 clip (12-for-41) and scored ten runs.

The series continues Tuesday in Seattle, where an Oriole win could land them in sole possession of first place, should the Yankees lose their series opener at Toronto.

National League

Having hit a bit of a speed bump in September, the Pittsburgh Pirates remain in the hunt for the wild card after splitting their series in Chicago, 2-2, topping the Cubs in the finale, 3-0.

Correia: 7IP 2H 0ER

Kevin Correia twirled two-hit ball over seven innings for his 11th victory against nine losses, giving way to relievers Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan, who each worked an inning of hitless, scoreless relief, Hanrahan picking up his 36th save, one behind Atlanta's Criag Kimbrel, who leads the league.

Striking out the first four batters he faced, Correia fanned six total, walking only one. Darwin Barney was the only Chicago batter to hit safely, getting two singles off Correia, but erased by double plays both times he reached.

The win left the Pirates still very much alive in the wild card race, tied with Milwaukee, 2 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second wild card.

Pittsburgh, 4-11 in September, hosts a three game series with the Brewers beginning on Tuesday.

Young Guns: Tampa's Jackson, Giants' Correia Post Zeroes

Players of the Day for Thursday, April 10, 2008 American League It was widely reported in off-season baseball circles that the Tampa Bay Rays were building a contender. Well, they're still a game under .500 at 4-5, but looking better thanks to starter Edwin Jackson, who tossed 8 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball at the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, resulting in a 7-0 win for Tampa and Jackson's second victory against no losses on the season.

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Last year, Jackson went 5-15 with an ERA of 5.76 in his first full season as a starter, though he did register a complete game shutout in the process of learning the AL hitters. He's off to a fine start in '08, with an ERA of 0.64 and an 0.93 WHIP. National League All of a sudden the Giants have pitching? That's positive, because they really don't have much else. Last night, reliever-turned-starter Kevin Correia blanked the St. Louis Cardinals for 7 2/3 innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 walks while fanning 4. A trio of relievers finished the job in a 5-1 San Francisco win, their third straight. To say that the Giants are offensively-impaired would be kind. Through 10 games they've scored 25 runs (2.5 per game) and have won their three latest by a combined score of 9-3. Correia evened his record at 1-1. Notes: Streaking: The Arizona Diamondbacks are on a 6-game win streak as they prepare tp host Colorado this weekend in a three-game set beginning Friday. The Nationals have headed in the opposite direction with their 7th straight loss. They've been swept by St. Louis and, most recently, Florida. The Nats host a 3-game series with the Braves starting Friday.