Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy Lead Mets to Sweep of Cubs, Head to World Series; Blue Jays Stay Alive as Marco Estrada Stops Royals

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Estrada saves Blue Jays

American League


With 7 2/3 solid innings from Marco Estrada, the Blue Jays staved off elimination with a 7-1 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals.

Game five was decidedly one-sided, as Estrada allowed only three hits and didn't give up a run until the eighth inning, when he surrendered a two-out homer to Salvador Perez.

Estrada set down the entire lineup in order over the first three innings, then after Alcides Escobar singled to open the fourth, Estrada recorded 11 straight outs, beginning with a double play that erased Escobar and Ben Zobrist, until walking Lorenzo Cain with two down in the seventh.

Toronto used a four-run sixth inning to take hold of the game, highlighted by Troy Tulowitzki's bases-loaded double which plated three.

The teams head back to Kansas City for game six on Friday. First pitch is slated for 8:07 pm EDT.

National League

Duda drives in five

Murphy set MLB HR mark

The Cubs will have to go Back to the Future if they wish to end their 107-year-old World Series drought because the New York Mets completed a four game sweep with an 8-3 win to capture the NL title and head for October glory.

New York took little time to press their case, scoring four runs in the first inning and adding two in the second.

Lucas Duda provided the power, socking a three-run homer in the first inning and driving in two more in the second with a double.

Daniel Murphy set a mejor league record with his sixth home run in the last six games, sending out a two-run shot in the eighth to put the game completely out of reach.

The Mets make the trip to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2000, when they lost to the Yankees in five games. They last won the World Series in 1986, when they defeated the Red Sox in seven games.

Marco Estrada Settles in for Blue Jays Win over Orioles; Chris Denorfia Homer Sends Cubs over Royals

Players of the Day for Monday, September 28, 2013

American League

Estrada: hurler hangs in

Denorfia: Game-winner

Amid news that star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki would soon return to the lineup, the Toronto Blue Jays took another step towards capturing the AL East with a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

After John Flaherty dinged Toronto starter, Marco Estrada, for a three-run belt in the second, the rookie hurler settled in and shut down the Orioles on one hit for the remaining six innings, setting down the last 12 batters in order until he was lifted with one out in the eighth. Brett Cecil took over for Estrada and worked into ninth. Cecil was awarded the win when the Blue Jays tied the game in the eighth and put up the winning run in the top of the ninth on Justin Smoak's ground out with runners on first and second.

Jose Osuna completed the comeback, getting the final two outs. The win, coupled with a 5-1 loss by the Yankees to the Red Sox, left the Jays with a magic number of two to clinch the division title.

Earlier in the day, Tulowitzki took batting practice and announced that all went well. The shortstop, acquired from Colorado prior to the July 31 trading deadline, has been out since September 12 with a cracked shoulder blade after colliding with center fielder, Kevin Pillar.

Manager John Gibbons was hopeful that Tulowitzki could be back in the starting lineup before the playoffs, possibly returning during the current series in Baltimore.

Toronto meets Baltimore in game two of the four-game series Tuesday night at 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

The Cubs and Royals played scoreless ball through 10 1/2 innings, until Chris Denorfia connected on a Miguel Almonte offering for a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the 11th and end the contest with a 1-0 Cubs win.

Denorfia was pinch-hitting for reliever Fernando Rodney, who had worked a perfect 11th inning and took the win.

By winning the make-up game from a May rainout, the Cubs clinched a wild card spot, but, while the Cardinals were blanking the Pirates, 3-0, Chicago was eliminated from the NL Central division race.

Chicago trails Pittsburgh by 3 1/2 games in the wild card standings and appears to be set to be the road team in the wild card game slated for Wednesday, October 7.

With just six games remaining in the regular season, the Cubs have seen the last of Wrigley Field until perhaps returning in the post-season. They travel to Cincinnati to meet the Reds in a three-game series starting Tuesday, then head to Milwaukee for three to close out the season.

Marco Estrada Tosses Eight Scoreless as Blue Jays Down Braves; Anthony Rizzo Homers, Cubs Take Third Straight in Pittsburgh

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 17, 2015

American League

Estrada: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER

With the Yankees idle, the Toronto Blue Jays took the opportunity to increase their lead in the AL East by 1/2 game, thanks largely to eight scoreless innings from starter, Marco Estrada, who shut down the Braves on three hits for a 5-0 Toronto victory.

Estrada allowed a pair of walks, struck out four, and the Blue Jay infield turned double plays in the third and fourth innings to end mild scoring threats. No Atlanta runner reached second base safely as Estrada allowed only singles and Roberto Osuna tossed a perfect ninth inning to complete the whiteout.

As good as the Jays' acquisition of David Price has worked out, Estrada has been a pretty solid #2 in Toronto's run to first place in the division, going 6-2, starting with a July 30 win over Kansas City.

The win for Estrada was his 13th against eight losses, his ERA gradually declining over the past two months, now down to 3.14 on the year.

Toronto's win has them 3 1/2 games in front of the Yankees with 16 games left on the schedule, all against AL East opposition, but just three against the Yankees, the lone threat in the division race. The Red Sox open a three game series in Toronto on Friday, then the Yankees come in for three games in the final meeting of the year for the two playoff-bound clubs.

The Blue Jays are 10-5 in September.

National League

Rizzo: 30th HR

Thanks to the Cubs taking three straight from the Pirates (and three of four in their just-finished series), St. Louis now has a more comfortable five-game lead in the NL Central.

The Cubs' 9-6 win at Pittsburgh left Chicago just two games behind the Pirates in the wild card scenario, with just 16 games remaining in the regular season.

Both the Pirates and Cubs are virtual locks for the post-season; Chicago has an eight game edge over the Giants for the second wild card slot.

Turning the game around for Chicago in the fifth inning was Anthony Rizzo, who belted his 30th home run - a two-run shot - to ignite a six-run uprising and turn what was a 4-3 Pittsburgh lead into a 9-4 Chicago advantage.

Rizzo's two RBI gave him 92 on the year, one behind teammate - and likely Rookie of the Year - Kris Bryant, who was 3-for-4 in the game and scored a run but had no RBI. Bryant is tied for fourth in the league's RBI stats with Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen. Rizzo is currently 6th.

With the Cubs closing fast on the Pirates, the schedule gets very interesting right away. Chicago opens a three-game series with the Cardinals in Chicago starting Friday, followed by a three-game visit from the Brewers. Next Friday, the Cubs host the Pirates at Wrigley Field in their final meeting of the regular season.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will open a three-game series in LA with the Dodgers, followed by four in Colorado before heading to Chicago. After that, Pittsburgh hosts the Cardinals for three games before ending the season with the visiting Reds (three games).

The schedule favors the Cardinals winning the division. Besides the two road series at Chicago and Pittsburgh, the Cards play the other ten games against the Reds (3), Milwaukee (4) and Atlanta (3).

Marco Estrada Blanks Yanks, Completing Toronto Sweep; Andrew McCutchen, Francisco Cervelli Power Pirates

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 9, 2015

National League

Francisco Cervelli

Andrew McCutchen

Despite being five games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the second-best record in the league and only St. Louis and Kansas City have better records in the majors.

Pittsburgh dynamism was on display Sunday night, when they banged 16 hits out of their home base, PNC Park, defeating the Dodgers by a 13-6 tally.

As usual, leading the hit parade was Andrew McCutchen, who went 2-for-4 with a home run (17) and four RBI, giving him 74 on the season.

Francisco Cervelli, an off-season addition from the Yankees, contributed a single, triple and home run in four at-bats, driving in three and scoring twice.

The Dodgers held a 5-3 lead until the seventh inning, when the Pirates got into LA's bullpen for nine runs, blowing the game completely wide open and completing the three-game sweep of the Dodgers, who still hold a three-game lead over the Giants in the NL West.

Pittsburgh has won four straight and are 3 1/2 games ahead of the Cubs in the wild card race.

Marco Estrada

The Pirates get a day off Monday prior to opening a critical series in St. Louis on Tuesday. The Dodgers head back to LA where they will host the Nationals starting Monday.

American League

With a 2-0 shutout, the Toronto Blue Jays completed their weekend sweep at Yankee Stadium, and closed to within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Yankees in the AL East.

Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista each sent out solo home runs, which was enough for starting pitcher, Marco Estrada, who held the Yankees scoreless for 6 1/3 innings before turning the ball over to Toronto's effective bullpen.

In the three-game series, the Yankees managed to score just one run, and were shut out for 25 consecutive innings, after Mark Teixeira's solo homer in the series opener.

Estrada (10-6) allowed three hits, walked three and struck out six. He threw just 89 pitches, 56 of them for strikes.

The Jays have now won eight straight and seem to have complete control over their post-season destiny. Besides closing quickly on the Yankees, their win gave them a 1/2 game lead over the Angels in the wild card race.

The Jays head back to Toronto for a series with the A's on Tuesday, as the Yankees head to Cleveland.