Mets Pummel Arizona; Juan Lagares, 2HR, 6 RBI; Luke Voit Leads Yankees Over Detroit

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 12, 2019

Voit: 3-5, HR, 3R, 3 RBI

American League

Rained out on Wednesday, the Yankees played two in Detroit on Thursday with the worst team in the majors.

As expected, New York captured both ends of the double dip, winning the first game, 10-4, then taking the nightcap, 6-4.

Luke Voit had himself a nice day at the plate, especially in game one, where he singled, doubled and hit a two-run homer run in the first inning, scoring three times and driving in three. In the second game, he went 1-for-3 and scored a run.

Voit has 20 homers and 58 RBI on the year.

Detroit is now 43-102, 3 1/2 games worse than the Orioles, each at the bottom of their respective divisions.

The Yankees improved to 97-51, the best record in the majors and two games better than Houston, which currently gives the Yanks home field advantage for the duration of their playoff run. With 14 games left on the schedule and a 10-game edge on Tampa Bay, the Yankees magic number to clinch the AL East is FIVE.

The Yankees head to Toronto Friday for a three-game weekend series with the Blue Jays.

National League

Lagares: 2 HR, 6 RBI

Making their way into the heart of the NL wild card race, the New York Mets completed a sweep of the visiting Diamondbacks, taking four straight from the team that until recently, had been the hottest in the majors.

Arizona had won 11 of their last 13, losing the series finale in Cincinnati before heading to New York. With the Mets' 11-1 win Thursday, New York handed Arizona its fifth straight loss and passed them in the wild card standings.

Juan Lagares led a barrage of six home runs with two of his own: a grand slam in the third inning and a two-run homer in the fifth, totaling six RBI for the game. The Mets outscored Arizona, 26-4, in the four games, winning 9-0 on Wednesday.

The win kept the Mets tied with the Phillies, two games behind Chicago and Milwaukee, who are tied for the second wild card spot. Washington continues to lead in the #1 position, 3 1/2 up. Arizona is another 1 1/2 behind the Mets and Philly. Other than Arizona, all five of the wild card contenders won on Thursday.

Arizona heads home to meet the Reds starting Friday; the Mets host the Dodgers in a three-game weekend series.

Luke Voit Paces Yankees Over Red Sox; Jesus Aguilar Homers, Drives In 4 As Brewers Triumph

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 19, 2018

American League

Voit: 4-for-4, 2HR, 3RBI

Their magic number at one, the Boston Red Sox would like to wrap up and claim the AL East title. The Yankees continue to play the denier.

With their second straight win over the Sox, the Yankees kept the Red Sox from celebrating at hallowed Yankee Stadium, taking down Boston, 10-1, as Luke Voit launched a pair of homers to lead New York.

Voit's dingers both came off Boston starter David Price, who was chased after allowing four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. Luis Severino picked up the win, improving to 18-8. Voit also singled twice, scored four runs ad drove in three.

Having scant hope of catching the Red Sox in the division - they Yanks still trail Boston by 9 1/2 games - the Yankees continue to win and hold onto the top wild card spot, ensuring that the single-elimination game will be played on their home turf. Oakland continued the chase in earnest, topping the Angels, 10-0. The A's are 2 1/2 behind the Yankees.

The Yankees and Red Sox wrap up their series on Thursday. Game time is 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

Aguilar: HR, 4 RBI

With the Cubs losing, 9-0, at Arizona, the Milwaukee Brewers pulled to within 2 1/2 games of the NL Central leaders with a 7-0 blanking of the Reds.

Jesus Aguilar continued his torrid pace with his 33rd home run and four RBI. Aguilar reached on an infield single in the first inning, plating Christian Yelich, then belted a three-run homer in the fourth as Milwaukee pulled away. Gio Gonzalez tossed six innings of shutout ball, earning his eighth win against 11 losses.

Aguilar is tied for fourth in home runs league-wide and is second in RBI, at 103, trailing the Cubs' Javier Baez, who leads with 107.

The Brewers also improved their wild card chances, opening a three-game lead on the Cardinals, 7-3 losers at Atlanta.

While the Brewers won't play the Cubs again, they will face the Cardinals next week in St. Louis. Milwaukee heads off to Pittsburgh for a three-game series beginning Friday, then takes three in St. Louis Monday through Wednesday. They close out their season at home, hosting three games with Detroit.

Luke Voit Powers Yankees With 2 HRs; Justin Turner's Hot Bat Leads Dodgers Over Padres, 11-1

Players of the Day for Friday, August 24, 2018

American League

Voit: 3-for-5, 2HR, 4RBI

Injuries to key hitters - Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorious - have slowed the Yankees scoring of late, but Luke Voit, who looks to replace slumping first baseman, Greg Bird, may provide a short-term answer to New York's hitting drought.

Voit socked a pair of two-run homers - his first two as a Yankee - to lead New York to a 7-5 victory at Baltimore. His first blast came in the fourth inning, tying the game at 2-2. After a see-saw battle resulted in a 4-4 tie after nine innings, Voit followed Niel Walker's solo shot in the tenth with his second smash, putting the Yankees up, 7-4.

Chris Davis homered for the Orioles in the bottom of he inning, but that was all the Orioles could muster, dropping them to 37-91, the worst record in the majors.

Voit has played in just eight games for the Yankees after being acquired from St. Louis at the trading deadline. As a Yankee, Voit is batting .333 (7-for-23).

New York trails the Red Sox in the AL East by 8 1/2 games, but holds the top wild card spot, leading the Oakland A's by four games and Seattle by eight.

The Yankees and Orioles play a split doubleheader on Saturday, with game times at 1:00 and 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

Turner: 2-for-5, HR, 3RBI

With NL West teams Arizona, Colorado and San Francisco all losing on Friday, the Dodgers made it a clean sweep - excepting themselves - with an 11-1 thrashing of last place San Diego.

LA starter, Rich Hill, limited the Padres to two hits and no runs over six innings, allowing the LA batsmen to do damage. Justin Turner singled and homered for the Dodgers, driving in three runs in five at-bats. Turner singled in a run in the second inning and followed with a two-run home run in the fourth, his eighth of the season.

Turner, who spent April and half of May on the disabled list, has gotten his swing grooved of late. He recently had a 14-game hitting streak and is batting .392 in the month of August with five home runs, 13 RBI and 17 runs.

The win lifted the Dodgers to within 3 1/2 games of division leader, Arizona. Colorado trails the Diamondbacks by one game.

LA's home win came in the opener of a three game series with San Diego, after being were swept three straight by the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

Game two of the series is Saturday, 6:10 pm PDT.

Cardinals Rout Marlins, 14-6, As Luke Voit Drives In 4; Max Kepler 4-for-4 In Minnesota Win

Players of the Day for Monday, July 3, 2017

American League

Kepler: 4-for-4

Minnesota hasn't been playing too well recently, but they continue to hang in the race in the AL Central and are currently tied with Kansas City and Tampa Bay for the second wild card spot after a 9-5 win over the Angels Monday.

The Twins victory was only the third in their last nine games, keeping them tied with the Royals, 2 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the divisional contest.

Max Kepler was 4-for-4 with a home run, double, and two singles, driving in three runs. His double in the third inning put the Twins up, 4-0. A solo home run in the fifth made the score 5-2. After the Angels cut the advantage to 7-5, Kepler drove in his final run in the eighth on an infield single, his fourth hit of the game.

Kepler's home run was his 10th, to go with 35 RBI and a .261 batting average.

The Twins will be looking to take the second game of the series Tuesday at Target Field. Game time is 2:05 pm ET.

National League

Voit: first MLB homer

Fresh off taking two of three from the Nationals, the St. Louis Cardinals extended their home stand by drubbing the Marlins, 14-6, in the opener a four game series at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals banged out 15 hits off five Miami hurlers, most of them coming against starter Jeff Locke (0-5) who allowed 11 hits and 11 runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Rookie first baseman Luke Voit hit his first major league home run and drove in his first runs, accounting for four of St. Louis' scores.

Voit drove in a run with a ground out in the first as the Cardinals and doubled in another in the third when the Cardinals erupted for seven more runs and an 11-0 lead.

In the eighth, with the game well in hand, Voit launched a 429-foot home run to center with a man aboard, completing the rout. Voit is batting .400, but has had only 15 at-bats.

St. Louis continues to battle in the NL Central, where the Brewers lead by 2 1/2 games over the Cubs. St. Louis is 3 1/2 out and will look for another win in game two, 2:15 pm ET, Tuesday.