Clayton Kershaw, Carl Crawford, Dodgers Reach Playoffs with 9-1 Win over Giants; Toronto's Mark Buehrle Leaves Seattle Sleepless in 1-0 Victory

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 24, 2014

American League

Strong-armed Mark Buehrle nearly ended Seattle's post-season chances with eight shutout innings in a 1-0 win by Toronto.

Buehrle: 200+ IP

Reaching a milestone of 14 consecutive seasons with 200 or more innings pitched, Wednesday's effort was vintage Buehrle, allowing three hits, fanning ten and issuing one walk before turning over the ball to Aaron Sanchez, who picked up his third save with a perfect ninth inning.

From 1966 to 1980, Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry each had 14 consecutive seasons of 200 innings or more, but the streaks of both pitchers were snapped by the 1981 player's strike.

Buehrle went past the 200-inning mark in the sixth. Now finished for the season, Buehrle logged 202 innings for the Blue Jays with a 13-10 record, an ERA of 3.39. His career mark stands at 199-152, a record achieved over 15 seasons with the White Sox, Marlins and Blue Jays.

Seattle's loss, their fifth in a row, did not officially finish off the Mariners, though it might as well have. Seattle still trails the A's and Kansas City by three games in the wild card race, but there are only four games left to play. Both Kansas City and Oakland lost on Wednesday, putting any celebration of clinching a wild card temporarily on hold. Kansas City lost to Cleveland (also just barely alive in the wild card race, 3 1/2 games behind the co-wild card leaders), 6-4, while the A's fell, 5-4, to the Angels.

Looking ahead, Oakland and Kansas City can each clinch a wild card on Thursday. The A's are at Texas, while the Royals open a four-game series in Chicago with the White Sox.

National League

Kershaw: 21-3

The Dodgers clinched the NL West Wednesday night and did it in style, pounding their fiercest adversary, the San Francisco Giants, 9-1, in the final game of their three-game series, taken by the Dodgers, two games to one.

Carl Crawford

Carl Crawford punished the Giants with a 2-for-2 effort, singling, doubling, driving in two runs, scoring three times with a stolen base. Starter Clayton Kershaw became the major league's only 21-game winner, holding the Giants to one run on eight hits, striking out 11 without issuing any walks.

Kershaw is almost certain to win the league's Cy Young award, which would be his third (2011, 2013). He is 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA. His win over the Giants put the Dodgers into the post-season. In one of the most remarkable seasons ever compiled by a pitcher, Kershaw has won his last seven starts, and has 239 strikeouts, the fifth straight season he's fanned 200 or more.

Kershaw leads the NL in Ks, with four more than Johnny Cueto and Stephen Strasberg. Cueto, who has 19 wins, is slated to pitch on Sunday, while Strasberg is scheduled to start for the Nationals on Saturday, but, with the post-season looming and Washington 2 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers for the league's best record, Strasburg could be rested.

Adam Wainwright of St. Louis, currently 20-9, could tie Kershaw with wins if he appears as scheduled, on Sunday, at Arizona, in the final game of the season for the Cardinals, but he also could be benched, especially if the Cardinals wrap up the NL Central, which they currently lead by 1 1/2 over the Pirates.

Mark Buerhle Ends Blue Jay Skid with 2-Hit Shutout; Bryce Harper's Walk-Off Homer Sends Nationals to 9-7 Win over Pirates

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 25, 2013

American League

For the Blue Jays, it's been a season of frustration.

A team laden with talent, picked by many to contend in the AL East, Toronto is instead dead last in the division, with time in the 2013 campaign running short.

Mark Buehrle

Mark Buehrle ended the Blue Jays' seven-game losing streak with a two-hit, complete game shutout in a 4-0 win over the Houston Astros.

Buehrle (6-7) needed only 108 pitches to go the distance for his ninth career shutout and 29th complete game, though the nine-inning blanking was the first of this season in both categories.

Walking two while striking out nine, Buehrle didn't allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning, fanning five of the first seven batters he faced.

Nursing a 1-0 lead, Buehrle gave up his second hit of the game in the top of the seventh, a one out double by J.D. Martinez, but that was all he would allow. After the Blue Jays plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh, Buehrle set down the Astros in order over the final two innings for the win.

The game was the first of a four-game set in Toronto. Game two is slated for 7:07 pm EDT at the Rogers Centre.

National League

Bryce Harper

A series which may be of great impact to both teams closed Thursday in Washington, as the Nationals avoided a four-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates with a 9-7 win.

With the Mets dropping the first-place Braves and the Cardinals topping the Phillies, 3-1, Washington re-gained a tie for second place in the NL East with Philadelphia, losers of five straight, while the Pirates fell 2 1/2 behind St. Louis in the Central. The nats and Phils trail Atlanta by egiht games.

Bryce Harper led a 14-hit Washington attack, going 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI in a game that was always in doubt despite Washington taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Harper scored the first Washington run on an error off a sacrifice bunt, after he reached base by being hit by an A.J. Burnett pitch to open the game.

Washington eventually tacked on three more runs in the inning, posting an imposing lead, but the Pirates battled back to tie the game at 7-all in the ninth. After doubling in the sixth and singling and scoring in the eighth, Harper collected his third hit of the game with two down in the bottom of the ninth, launching two-run homer to center for the walk-off victory.

It was Harper's 14th home run of the season, but he's driven in only 31 runs and scored just 42 times, having played in just 64 of a possible 102 games.

Today's Trivia: Brett's 1976 batting title interrupted a string of batting titles by Minnesota's Rod Carew. If Carew had won the batting title that season, how many in a row would he have had?

Yesterday's Answer: George Brett won the 1976 AL batting title, hitting .333 for the Kansas City Royals.

Mark Buehrle Shuts Down Phillies in Toronto Shutout; AJ Ellis Slams Angels in Dodger Victory

Players of the Day for Friday, March 29, 2013

American League

With additions to their regulars and pitching staff, the Toronto Blue Jays have built a franchise that will be competitive in the wide-open AL East this coming season.

Buehrle: smokin'

One of those pitching add-ons is starter Mark Buehrle, who went to the mound Friday in his final tune-up and delivered five innings of two-hit ball, blanking the Phillies for five innings en route to a 1-0 Blue Jay win.

Buehrle fanned five and recorded his first victory of the exhibition season in six starts, without suffering a loss.

The 34-year-old veteran played 12 seasons with the White Sox before spending 2012 in a Miami Marlin uniform. With the wholesale restructuring of the Marlins underway during the off-season, Toronto made the move to bolster their rotation, of which Buehrle will be an integral part of this season.

With 174 wins, Buehrle is a workhorse, averaging more than 200 innings over the past 12 seasons.

Ellis: slammin'

National League

A.J. Ellis, the Dodger's stating catcher, stroked a first inning grand slam off Angels' starter, Jason Vargas, catapulting the Dodgers to an early advantage as they held off the Angels, 9-8, for their second straight win.

Ellis was the Dodger starter behind the plate all of 2012. He batted .270 with 13 homers and 52 RBI, appearing in 133 games.

The slam was his first home run of the spring, upping his RBI total to nine while batting .356. Ellis added a single in three at-bats.

While Ellis was solid behind and aside the plate, Josh Beckett struggled on the mound, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits over four innings. Beckett did not issue any walks and struck out five, but did allow a pair of Angel long balls.

Greg Dobbs, Mark Buehrle Snap Marlins Losing Streak; Cody Ross Homers Twice of Boston

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 24, 2012

American League

Good baseball continues to be played by the Boston Red Sox, winners of seven of their last eight with Sunday's 9-4 win over Atlanta.

Cody Ross

The Sox have managed to clamber out of last place - that position now occupied by Toronto - but gaining ground in the rugged AL East is no easy feat. Boston is still 5 1/2 behind the division-leading Yankees, with Baltimore and Tampa Bay sandwiched in between.

Cody Ross was the hero of their latest win, driving in five runs with a pair of homers in four at-bats for Boston. Ross delivered a three-run shot in the fourth inning, and, after Atlanta battled back to trail by just one run, Ross, in his next plate appearance, went deep again, socking a two-run homer over the Green Monster as the Red Sox put up three runs in the fifth.

Boston fans said farewell to Kevin Youkilis, a longtime staple at third base, as he was dealt to the White Sox. Apparently, Red Sox brass was willing to replace Youkilis with the younger Will Middlebrooks and his .326 batting average.


National League

Greg Dobbs

Mark Buehrle

Avoiding being swept at home by the Toronto Blue Jays, the Miami Marlins took a 9-0 win in the finale of their three game series but still have plenty of work to do to get back into the NL East race.

Sunday's victory snapped a six-game Marlin losing streak. Despite their win and Washington's 2-1 loss to Baltimore, Miami is still eight games off the pace in the division.

Greg Dobbs went 3-for-4 in the contest with a pair of singles and a two-run homer - his first of the season - scored twice and drove in two runs while Mark Buehrle Held the Blue Jays scoreless over seven innings, scattering seven hits and fanning seven, getting his record to 6-8 on the year.

With interleague play ended, the Marlins will host St. Louis beginning Monday, in a three-game series.

INTERLEAGUE SCOREBOARD: With interleague play wrapping up Sunday, the AL emerged the better of the rival leagues, winning 11 of 15 games, including a double-header sweep by Tampa Bay over the Phillies.

The final tally had the American League winning 140 games to the NL's 110.

Buehrle Blanks Twins as Sox Advance; Wells, Cubs Put Giants Down 5 in NL West

Players of the Day for Monday, August 29, 2011

American League

Mark Buehrle

On Sunday, the Chicago White Sox slipped past Cleveland into second place in the AL Central, finding themselves six games behind division-leading Detroit. On Monday, they inched closer.

As the Tigers were being pounded, 9-5, by Kansas City, Chicago was shutting down the Twins, with Mark Buehrle blanked Minnesota for 7 2/3 innings in a 3-0 White Sox victory.

Buehrle (11-6) allowed four hits, walked two and struck out four, eventually being lifted with two out and a man on second in the 8th inning. Jesse Crain came on to get Michael Cuddyer to end the inning, and Sergio Santos worked a perfect 9th for his 27th save.

That left the Sox, winners of four straight, five out in the division, with Cleveland 1/2 game behind. The White Sox play two more with the Twins, while Detroit has three games left in their series with the Royals. After a day off Thursday, the White Sox head to Detroit for a three-day weekend series that will help sort out the division. The two teams meet again in Chicago on September 12, 13 and 14.

National League

Randy Wells

In order to return to the World Series, the reigning champion San Francisco Giants will have a long, uphill climb in September. After falling to the Cubs, 7-0, on Monday, San Francisco has dropped five games back of Arizona, winners of seven straight.

The Cubs beat up on Giants' starter Tim Lincecum, who pitched into the 7th inning, but allowed three home runs - two of them with none out in the 7th - before being pulled. His mound opponent, Randy Wells (6-4), had no such issues, blanking the Giants with a two-hit complete game shutout, the first of his major league career.

Wells, a Chicago favorite from Belleville, IL, allowed his only walk of the game to leadoff hitter Andres Torres, but settled in to pitch the game of his life, striking out seven Giants' batters in the process.

Later, the Arizona Diamondbacks won their seventh straight, stretching their lead over second place San Francisco with a 5-1 win over Colorado. Both the Giants and D'Backs will complete their three game series on Wednesday, then meet up in San Francisco for a crucial three game series beginning Friday.

Buehrle Shuts Down Indians; Polanco Slams for Phillies

Players of the Day for Monday, April 5, 2010

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American League The Chicago White Sox opened their 2010 campaign in sharp fashion, getting 7 scoreless innings from starter Mark Buehrle while putting up 6 runs against division rival Cleveland for the 6-0 win in their home opener. Buehrle was in command from the get-go, limiting the Indians to just three hits, walking one and fanning three. Buehrle, who was 13-10 last season with the Sox, threw 95 pitches, 63 of them for strikes. Reliever J.J. Putz worked the 8th and Matt Thornton mopped up with a hitless 9th. The White Sox are seeking to return to the top of the AL Central, a position they held at the end of the 2008 season, but failed to repeat in 2009.

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National League After losing the World Series to the Yankees last season, one thing the Phillies needed to do was replace Pedro Feliz at third base with a more consistent - and potent - bat, so they shopped around and plucked Placido Polanco from the Tigers, an infielder who can play second or third base and a career .303 batting average.

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Polanco made an immediate impact in Monday's opener at Washington, going 3-for-5 with 6 RBI, 4 of which came on a 7th inning grand slam that put away the lowly Nationals by an 11-1 score. His 2 other RBI came on a sacrifice fly in the Phillies' 5-run 4th and a run-scoring single in the 6th. Roy Halladay picked up the win, his first for the Phillies and first career NL victory.

Buehrle Perfect Against Rays; Zito on Right Track Again

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 23, 2009 American League Mark Buehrle worked over the Tampa Bay Rays like little leaguers, tossing the first perfect game since Randy Johnson turned the trick in 2004, in Chicago's 5-0 win over the Rays. Buehrle (11-3, 3.28) struck out 6, got 11 batters on ground balls, 8 on flies and 2 on foul pops. In going the distance, he threw 116 pitches, of which 76 went for strikes. First baseman Josh Fields provided almost all of the offense with a second inning grand slam. The fact that Buehrle threw the perfect-o against the Rays is testament to the man's mechanics and work ethic. Tampa Bay has the 4th highest Batting average in the league, third in home runs and RBI, tied for second in on base percentage and third in slugging percentage. Buehrle shut down one of the best-hitting teams in either league. It was the 16th perfect game in major league history, and Buehrle's second no-hitter. He faced the minimum in his 2007, 6-0 win over Texas, walking Sammy Sosa, but then picking him off first base moments later. He joins six other players since 1900 who have tossed a no-hitter and a perfect game, Randy Johnson one of them, and the only active player in that group, The magic was almost ended in the 9th inning when Gabe Kapler launched a drive to deep left-center, but the ball was captured in an exceptional over-the-fence grab by defensive replacement DeWayne Wise to preserve the perfect game. Buehrle retired the final two batters with a strikeout and ground ball to short. Buehrle received a call from President Barack Obama following the historic effort. Just a week ago Buehrle met Obama personally in the AL All Star game clubhouse. The win moved the White Sox closer to the top of the AL Central, just .001 behind the Tigers and no games behind. The Tigers are 49-44, the Sox 50-45. National League Don't write off the Giants just yet. After losing five of six coming out of the All Star break, Barry Zito - who's been up-and-down for the past three seasons - turned in one of his better performances of the season, working over the Braves for seven innings in a 5-1 win for San Francisco. Zito allowed just three hits, punching out 6 on strikes while allowing five bases on balls. Clearly not working with his best control, he was around the plate enough to keep the Atlanta batters off-balance most of the night. After the Giants scored in the top of the 8th to make the score 2-1, Zito was lifted for a pinch hitter. The Giants scored three more times to guarantee Zito's 6th win against 10 losses this season and close to within one game of Colorado for second place in the NL West, but more importantly, closer to the wild card lead. The Giants have a wealth of pitching talent on their roster and hope to reach the post-season on the strength of their arms. Clearly Barry Zito will have to have more games like Thursday's if they plan on playing in October.

Buehrle One-Hits Tigers; Zimmerman Streak Reaches 25; Man-Oh-Manny! 50 Games in the Hole

Players of the Day for Thursday, May 7, 2009 American League Mark Buehrle (5-0) tossed a 1-hitter over 8 innings in Chicago's 6-0 win over Detroit. Perfect through 6 innings, the White Sox lefty allowed the only detroit baserunners in the seventh inning, when he gave up a one-out double to Placido Polanco, walked Clete Thomas, and after getting Miguel Cabrera to fly out, walked Magglio Ordonez to load the bases. Cather Gerald Laird lined out, however, to end the Tigers' only scoring threat. That was all Buehrle would allow, one hit and a pair of walks. Paul Konerko reached on a two-out error in the 8th, but Buehrle ended his night getting A.J. Pierzynski to ground out to first before giving way to Bobby Jenks for the ninth. Buehrle struck out 5 on the night, and is sporting a 2.61 ERA and a WHIP of 1.08 National League The Dodgers may have won 13 straight at home to open their season, and the news about Manny Ramirez being suspended for 50 games (violating MLB's substance abuse policy), but the real feel-good story was over on the Washington side of the diamond as Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 25 games with a single in his first at-bat. The rangy third baseman collected another hit and a walk in five at-bats, scoring twice to help the Nats knock off the Dodgers, 11-9, ending their major league record home win streak. Zimmerman got 2 hits for the tenth time during his streak. He has had 4 hits just once, and hasn't compiled three hits yet. He is batting .336 with 5 home runs and 20 RBI for the last place Nationals. NOTES: The suspension on Manny Ramirez sent shock waves through both leagues on Thursday. His 50 game suspension is one of the stiffest penalties ever imposed on a player for violating the substance abuse policy. Two things aer very clear right now: 1. Steroid use in Major League Baseball has been extremely widespread, with even players who were thought to have been clean - Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez - having been found out; and 2. MLB is not going to allow any leeway on the issue any longer. After years of looking the other way, it now appears that the league is taking a no-nonsense, zero-tolerance policy toward banned substances. It's about time.

Soriano Gets Cubs Closer; Angels Soar over Tigers

American League Detroit 3 LA Angels 10 - Garrett Anderson blasted a three-run homer and the Angels won their 2nd straight over Detroit and third straight overall, maintaining their 4-game lead on 2nd place Seattle in the AL West. The Halos look for the sweep tonight on ESPN. Toronto 0 Chi White Sox 2 - Mark Buehrle (right) outdueled Toronto's Roy Halladay, hurling 8 innings of shutout ball, fanning 6. Bobby Jenks worked a perfect 9th for save #30. Boston 12 Tampa Bay 6, 12 innings - Manny Ramirez has come to life, with 13 RBI over his last 7 games, including a 2-run double in the 6-run 12th as the Red Sox stretched their lead over the struggling Yankees to 9 games. The Red Sox have won three straight while New York has lost 3 in a row. Tampa Bay has lost 8 straight. Other AL Scores Oakland 3 Seattle 4 Minnesota 3 Cleveland 2 NY Yankees 5 Baltimore 7 - Yankees fall 9 behind Boston Texas 5 Kansas City 6 National League Chi Cubs 8 Cincinnati 1 - Alfonso Soriano (right) singled and homered twice in five at-bats, driving in 5 runs and scoring 3, as the Cubs relentless 2nd half drive continued in earnest. Coupled with the Brewers dropping a pair at St. Louis, the Cubbies are now just 1 1/2 behind the crumbling Milwaukee squad. Die-hard Cardinals' fans will note that St. Louis is just 7 games behind, albeit with a losing record (48-53). Since July 1, the Brewers haven't exactly been playing like a first-place team, going 9-15. Over the same stretch, the Cubs are 15-8, and are tied in the loss column with the Brewers at 48. Milwaukee 6 St. Louis 7 Milwaukee 2 St. Louis 5 - The Cardinals scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to take the opener and began game two with another 3 run inning in the first, helping Anthony Reyes (1-10) to his first win of the season. Albert Pujols went 2-4 in each game, raising his batting average to .317 and his RBI total to 68. The Cards have taken 2 of 3 from the Brewers in this series and will look to draw even closer in the finale on Sunday. Pittsburgh 5 Philadelphia 10 - While the Mets were splitting a double-header with last place Washington, the Phillies were busy keeping Pittsburgh in the NL Central basement. Jimmy Rollins, who has moved from leadoff into the 3-hole because of the injury to Chase Utley, went 3-5, drove in three, stole a base and scored a run. Rollins has 64 RBI, not bad for a guy batting mostly leadoff. The Phillies are 3 1/2 behind New York. Philly has a tough stretch coming up, with four games at Chicago followed by 3 at Milwaukee beginning Monday. Near the end of August, Philly hosts LA and San Diego for three games each, followed by a 4-game home series with the Mets. Atlanta 3 Arizona 4, 10 innings - The Diamondbacks won their 8th straight and are just .001 behind the Dodgers in the NL West. LA Dodgers 2 Colorado 6 - Matt Holliday cracked his 19th homer and drove in two, giving him 81 RBI overall, and Jeff Francis allowed just 2 earned runs over 7 2/3rds as the Rockies clawed to within 4 1/2 of first place in the West. Other NL Scores Washington 1 NY Mets 3 Washington 6 NY Mets 5 San Diego 1 Houston 3 Florida 3 San Francisco 4