Evan Longoria, Logan Morrison Power Rays Past O's; Justin Turner 3-for-5 In Dodger Win Over Rockies

Longoria: 4 RBI

Players of the Day for Friday, June 23, 2017

American League

Persistence is a word best describing the Tampa Bay Rays. While the Red Sox and Yankees battle for the lead in the AL East, Tampa Bay has managed to claw their way to within 2 1/2 games of the division co-leaders.

While the Rays' record of 40-36 is not outstanding, the AL East is highly competitive, so 90 wins could take the division. Tampa took another step in that direction Friday night, working 176 pitches from Baltimore hurlers into a 15-5 victory at Tropicana Park.

Morrison: 22 HR, 54 RBI

The Rays only had 11 hits overall, but took advantage of eight walks and two Oriole errors. Evan Longoria was 1-for-3 and drove in four runs, singling in two in the first, knocking a sac fly in the second and drawing a bases-loaded walk in the fourth.

Logan Morrison homered (22), tripled, scored three times and drove in three runs as the Rays piled on the Baltimore pitching staff, the worst in the majors, with a cumulative 5.20 ERA. Starter Ubaldo Jimenez was touched up for nine earned runs on seven hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings.

Morrison's 54 RBI ranks third in the AL; he's second in homers behind New York's Aaron Judge (25).

The win was the third straight for the Rays, Tampa will be looking to send Baltimore to its fourth straight loss when the teams meet for game two of the three-game series, Saturday, 4:10 pm ET.

National League

Turner: .392 BA

Justin Turner keeps getting his reps and the LA Dodgers keep churning out wins.

Turner was 3-for-5 (two singles and a double), raising his batting average to .392, driving in a run and scoring one in support of Alex Wood, who allowed one run on three hits over six innings for his eighth win without a loss as the Dodgers won their eighth straight in a 6-1 win over Colorado.

Turner's impressive average won't show up atop the NL leader board because he's shy of the needed plate appearances for qualification. He needs 233 (3.1 per team game) and currently has 215. He keeps getting closer every day.

LA's home win increased their lead over the Rockies and Diamondbacks (6-1 losers to the Phillies) to 2 1/2 games. LA has the best home record in the majors, at 30-10.

Game two of the showdown series in LA is set for Saturday night, 7:10 pm ET.

Logan Morrison Homers in Ninth for Mariners; Dodgers Rally to Whip Cubs, Lead NL West

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 18, 2014

American League

Logan Morrison

Felix Hernandez tolled seven scoreless innings for the Mariners to no avail, as his teammates could muster but four hits against Angel pitching through eight innings.

Hernandez would receive no decision, but the Mariners eventually broke through for a 3-1 victory, on Logan Morrison's three-run homer in the top of the ninth, getting Seattle to within one game of Oakland in the quest for the second wild card.

Called on to pitch the ninth for the Angels, Kevin Jepsen managed to get the first two outs of the inning on routine ground balls, but surrendered a single to Kendrys Morales. An intentional walk to Kyle Seager after pinch-runner James Jones took second on a Jepsen pick-off attempt set the stage for Morrison, who delivered the ball to the right field stands, his ninth homer of the year.

With Oakland losing 7-2 to Texas and the Royals on a day off, the race for both wild cards has the Royals, A's, and Mariners all within 1 1/2 games. With only two spots available and 10 games left (KC has 11 remaining), it's put up or go home time in the American League.

Yasiel Puig

National League

The LA Dodgers opened their four-game series in Chicago with the Cubs with a come-from-behind, 8-4 win, picking up 1/2 game on the idle Giants in the race for the NL West.

Down 4-1, Yasiel Puig finished the scoring of a five-run seventh inning with an RBI single, putting the Dodgers up by a run. Puig was 3-for-5 on the night and scored the Dodgers' final run on a sac fly in the ninth.

LA's lead over San Francisco is 2 1/2 games. The Dodgers have nine remaining on the schedule, their magic number to clinch the division is now eight. With three games remaining at Wrigley Field this weekend, the Dodgers should make hay against the Cubs before returning home for a three-game series with the Giants. After that, they host the Rockies for three to close out the regular season.

Nate McLouth's Grand Slam Boosts Orioles over Mariners; Miami's Jose Fernandez, Logan Morrison End Cleveland's Eight Game Win Streak

Players of the Day for Friday, August 2, 2013

American League

Chris Davis hits lots of home runs. Nate McLouth, not so many, but it was McLouth's grand slam that lifted the Orioles to an 11-8 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners.

McLouth: Grand Slam

McLouth unleashed his bases-loaded belt to right-center in the sixth inning, after the Mariners had scored two runs to cut Baltimore's lead to one run, 7-6. Davis hit his 40th earlier in the game, a solo shot in the third inning. Ryan Flaherty added a solo homer in the fourth.

McLouth also singled and scored in the first inning on Adam Jones' double, setting the tone for the game. Seattle never led, though they did hit four homers and cut the lead to one run on two separate occasions.

The win boosted Baltimore's hopes in the AL East, where Tampa Bay and Boston suffered losses on Friday. The Orioles trial the Red Sox by 4 1/2 games. Tampa Bay is one game out.

Seattle will try to even the score with the O's Saturday night at 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

Fernandez: 14 Ks

Somebody had to put a stop to Cleveland's eight-game winning streak. It just so happened the the players turned out to be on the worst team in the National League.

Morrison: 4-5, 4RBI

Rookie phenom, Jose Fernandez, shut out the Indians over eight innings and Logan Morrison drove in four runs to lead the Miami Marlins to a 10-0 triumph.

Fernandez (8-5) allowed just three hits over his eight innings of work, setting a career mark with 14 strikeouts. He didn't walk a batter, but didn't finish the game because of a high pitch count (108). Still, Fernandez is making a case for rookie of the year honors. He is fifth in the league in ERA, at 2.54 and his 138 Ks are the ninth-most in the league and he's gaining quickly. Over his last three starts - all wins - he's fanned 35 batters in 23 innings.

Logan Morrison provided more than enough firepower for Fernandez, going 4-for-5 with two singles, a double and a triple, two runs and four RBI. Morrison has only played in 37 games for the marlins this season, but is making his case to be their full-time first baseman.

Cleveland's loss was a gift for the Tigers, who won their sixth straight and lead the Indians by three games in the AL Central. Kansas City also saw their nine game win streak go by the boards, losing to the Mets, 4-2, in 11 innings. KC is 7 1/2 back.

The Marlins are 43-65, at the bottom of the NL East. They'll try to make it two straight against the Indians Saturday, at 7:10 pm EDT in game two of their three-game series in Miami.

Today's Trivia: Who holds the MLB record for fewest hits per nine innings for a single season (5.261)? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Roger Clemens - then with the Houston Astros - allowed 6.43 hits per nine innings to lead the NL in 2005.