Lance Lynn Blanks White Sox As Yankees Rebound; Rockies' Kyle Freeland Stops Pirates In 2-0 Win

Players of the Day for Monday, August 6, 2018

Lynn: 7 1/3IP, 2H, 0ER, 9K

American League

After losing four straight in Boston, the Yankees were in dire need of a win and a solid pitching performance. They got both thanks to recently-acquired Lance Lynn, who is likely to replace the underperforming Sonny Gray in the New York rotation.

In his first start in pinstripes, Lynn worked a gem, allowing just two hits over 7 1/3 innings, blanking the White Sox in a 7-0 romp.

Lynn, who's had a .500 season or better every year since 2011, struck out nine and walked one. At one point, he set down 19 straight White Sox batters. The Yankees struck for two in the fourth, two in the fifth and three in the eighth inning. A.J. Cole mopped up the final 1 2/3 innings.

Lynn played for the Cardinals through 2017 and was traded to the Twins during the off-season. The Yankees picked him up prior to the trading deadline. In two appearances, Lynn has pitched 11 2/3 innings, allowed seven hits, no runs, one walk and fanned 14.

The win left the Yankees nine games behind the Red Sox in the East division, but hold the top spot in the wild card, three up on Oakland and five better than Seattle. The Yanks, A's, and Mariners are the only teams with a legitimate wild card chance.

Game two in Chicago is Tuesday at 8:10 pm EDT.

Freeland: 7 IP, 2H, 0 ER

National League

The National League is where it's at this season.

Eight teams are within 7 1/2 games of each other in the wild card race, four within 3 1/2, and that does not include the three division leaders - the Phillies, Cubs, and Diamondbacks.

As far as those division leaders are concerned, they each could become a wild card contestant or be completely eliminated from post-season contention over the next eight weeks. The Phillies are a game up on the Braves in the East. The Cubs lead Milwaukee by 1 1/2 in the Central, and the Dodgers, in the West, are just 1/2-game better than Arizona.

Which brings us to the Rockies, two games behind in the West and two behind Atlanta in the race for the second wild card.

The Pirates - also one of the wild card contenders - opened a series in Denver with the Rockies and got blanked, 2-0, at the hand of Kyle Freeland, who shut the swashbucklers down on two hits over seven innings.

Freeland (10-7) threw 102 pitches, walked three, fanned five, and didn't allow a hit after the third inning. The Rockies scratched out two runs in the fifth, more than enough for the Colorado lefty. Seughwan Oh and Wade Davis worked perfect eighth and ninth innings for the win.

Pittsburgh will try to even the series when they take the field on Tuesday. Game time is 8:40 pm EDT.

Toronto's Edwin Incarnation Belts Three HRs, Drives in Nine; Lance Lynn Hurls Cardinals Past Giants

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 29, 2015

American League

Encarnacion: 3HR, 9 RBI

Lynn: 7 Scoreless

Baseball season is roughly 26 weeks long, so, if a player were to drive in nine runs a week, he'd break every RBI record dating back into the 1800s by a long shot, because he'd have somewhere in the neighborhood of 234 RBI at the conclusion of the season.

With that in mind, consider the accomplishment on Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion, who didn't drive in nine runs this week, but did it in just one game, belting three home runs in the Blue Jay's epic 15-1 romp over the Detroit Tigers.

Encarnacion tied Roy Howell for the single-game club record for RBIs and matched another club mark, tying Carlos Delgado (1997) and Darrin Fletcher (2000) with three grand slams in a season, which he did in his final at-bat, in the seventh inning, off Detroit hurler Alex Wilson.

An equal opportunity mauler, Encarnacion hit his other two homers off two other Tiger pitchers. In the first, he smacked a three-run shot off starter Buck Farmer and in the sixth, he ended reliever Guido Knudson's day with a two-run blast.

The big day at the plate added to what's already been a banner year for the Toronto basher. Encarnacion has 29 homers with 90 RBI and a .269 batting average. His RBI total has him tied for third in the AL with KC's Kendrys Morales. Toronto's own Josh Donaldson leads the league with 104. Baltimore's Chris Davis is second, at 92.

Toronto's victory kept them 1 1/2 games up on the Yankees in the AL East as New York topped Atlanta for the second straight day, 3-1. The Blue Jays seek the sweep of the Tigers when they host Detroit in the third game of their series at the Rogers Centre at 1:07 pm EDT Sunday.

National League

For nearly the entire season, the St. Louis Cardinals have had the best record in the majors (83-46), and it hasn't been by accident, though it has served a valuable purpose: keeping them ahead of the volatile Pittsburgh Pirates, who have the second best mark in the National League at 79-49. Only Kansas City, in the AL Central, has a better record than the Pirates, at 80-49.

On Saturday, the Cardinals were the beneficiaries of a gutsy performance by starting pitcher, Lance Lynn, who shut out the Giants into the eighth inning before having to leave the field, twisting his ankle fielding a chopper off the bat of Juan Perez.

Lynn picked up his 11th win against eight losses, allowing six hits in the Cardinals' 6-0 victory.

Lynn suffered only a mild sprain and is expected to make his next scheduled start. The Cardinals kept their edge over the Pirates at 3 1/2 games. Pittsburgh has won four straight after downing Colorado, 4-3, and, if they don't catch the Cardinals in the division race, are looking like a certain lock for the first wild card spot in the post-season.

St. Louis wraps up their three-game series at San Francisco Sunday afternoon at 1:05 PDT. The series is tied at one game apiece.

Drew Stubbs, Jason Kipnis Drive Indians to 8th Straight Win; Lance Lynn Goes Six Scoreless as Cardinals Clinch NL Central

Players of the Day for Friday, September 27, 2013

American League

Jason Kipnis

Winning their eighth straight, the Cleveland Indians tied Tampa Bay for the overall wild card lead while maintaining a one-game edge over the streaking (five straight wins) Texas Rangers.

Cleveland hitters banged out 17 hits, downing the Twins, 12-6 in Minneapolis Friday night.

Drew Stubbs

Jason Kipnis singled, doubled and tripled in five at-bats, driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice. At the bottom of the order, Drew Stubbs went 2-for-4, socked a two-run, ninth inning homer, stole a base and scored three times to help the Indians continue their quest for the playoffs.

Combined with the Rays' 6-3 loss to Toronto and Texas' 5-3 win over the Angels, the AL wild card race can't get much tighter. With just two games left to the season, the Rays and Indians are deadlocked, with the Rangers one game back.

Al three season-ending series continue on Saturday. Cleveland plays at Minnesota at 1:05 pm EDT.

AL Wild Card Standings (through 9/27)

Team	GB
Tampa Bay	--
Cleveland	--
Texas	-1

National League

It's a familiar saga in the NL Central. The Cardinals clinched the division pennant while the Cubs sank further into the cellar - now 29 games out - as St. Louis got six innngs of shutout ball from Lance Lynn to topple the visiting Cubs, 7-0.

Lance Lynn

Lynn improved to 15-10, allowing four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in a final tuneup before the playoffs. David Freese and Matt Holliday each slugged solo homers and Yadier Molina drove in three runs with a first-inning double and a fielder's choice in the fourth.

With the division wrapped up, the Cardinals have one more goal, to finish with the best regular season record and secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They are currently tied with the Braves, at 95-65.

In Cincinnati, the Pirates secured at least a tie with the Reds for the wild card, taking a 4-1 win in the opener of their three-game series. Pittsburgh needs to win one of the remaining two games in order to host the wild card playoff on Tuesday of next week. No matter how the series finishes, the Reds and Pirates will be the wild cards. The two teams battle again on Saturday at 1:05 pm EDT and finish up Sunday at 1:10 pm EDT. Sunday's game will be broadcast nationally on TBS.

Today's Trivia: Prior to this season, when was the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the playoffs? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Frank Tanana led the AL in strikeouts in 1975.

Jose Altuve, Chris Carter Power Astros in 16-9 Rout of Mariners; Lance Lynn Fans 10 in St. Louis Win

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 9, 2013

American League

Jose Altuve

Houston's tenure in the American League is just eight games old, but the Astros have already settled into their usual position, at the bottom of the standings in the West division.

Chris Carter

On Tuesday, however, the Astros showed they have some punch, scoring 13 runs in the first four innings in a 16-9 win over the Seattle Mariners for their second win of the season against six losses.

The barrage was led by a couple of Houston's "youth movement" players, second baseman Jose Altuve and first baseman Chris Carter.

Altuve, who hit .290 in 147 games last season, was 4-for-6 against the Mariners, stroking a pair of singles, a double and his first homer of the season, a two-out, two-run, fourth inning shot, raising his batting average to a sharp .353. Altuve drove in four runs from the leadoff spot.

Carter belted a pair of solo homers and had two singles in six at-bats, driving in three runs. Carter's homers were his first of the season. He socked 16 in 67 games with Oakland last year and was traded to the Astros during the off-season.

Lance Lynn

National League

St. Louis isn't planning on letting the Reds forge a big lead in the NL Central.

After losing the opener of their three-game set in Cincy, the Cards rode the arm of Lance Lynn to a 6-1 victory, evening their record at 4-4, while cutting the Reds' division lead to one game.

Lynn allowed one earned run on four hits over six innings with one walk. He struck out 10 for his first win of the season (1-0), throwing 101 pitches before departing the mound.

A trio of St. Louis relievers finished up, each working an inning, setting down the Reds on one hit.

Homer Bailey will start Wednesday's rubber game against Cardinal starter, Jake Westbrook, at 1:45 EDT in St. Louis.

Lance Lynn Shuts Out Marlins over Six; Royals Wrap Up Cactus League as Eric Hosmer Leads

Players of the Day for Thursday, March 28, 2013

Grapefruit League

Lynn: 6IP, 2H, 0ER

With exhibition season winding down and opening day just a few days off, starting pitchers are getting in the final tune-ups.

Lance Lynn, last season's rookie phenom for the St. Louis Cardinals, has to be feeling good after blanking the Marlins for six innings on two hits in St. Louis' 1-0 victory.

The burly right-hander struck out five, didn't allow a walk and improved to 2-3 in his final Grapefruit League start. Three Cardinal relievers each worked an inning to keep the shutout intact, sending the Cardinals to a 16-14 record, good for fourth place in the standings.

Lynn was 18-7 in 2012, with a 3.78 ERA. He fanned 180 hitters in 176 innings.

Cactus League

Eric Hosmer

Kansas City wrapped up the Cactus League title with an 8-3 win over Cincinnati, winning as they have all Spring, by battering the opposition with a relentless attack.

The Royals banged out 16 hits against a parade of six Reds' hurlers, scoring five in the third and three more in the fifth.

Alex Gordon hit his seventh homer, catcher Salvador Perez whacked his fourth and Eric Hosmer went 3-for-5 (all singles) and scored a pair of runs. Hosmer is having a spectacular Spring, batting .385 with two homers and 14 RBI.

Kansas City stands 3 1/2 games in front of Seattle in the Cactus standings, with just three games remaining. The Royals have posted a 24-7 in exhibition play.