Adeiny Hechavarria Wrecks Roy Halladay, Phillies in Miami Romp; Mark DeRosa Leads Blue Jays over Mariners

Players of the Day for Sunday, May 5, 2013

American League

Mark DeRosa

Avoiding a sweep at home, the Toronto Blue Jays pounded Seattle starter, Joe Saunders, for nine hits and seven runs over five innings, en route to a 10-2 victory in the third and final game of the series.

Despite their record of 11-21 (7-12 at home), there were a number of positives coming out of the win. Starter Brandon Morrow pitched well, allowing two earned runs on just three hits over eight innings. It was his first victory of the season, against two losses.

The Blue Jays hammered out 15 hits and swiped four bases. Third baseman Mark DeRosa went 3-for-5, on a home run and a pair of doubles, driving in three and scoring three times. DeRosa has been used as a pinch hitter and part-time player and has only 36 at-bats this season, but responded to the starting call at third with a productive outing.

With good hitters and power producers up and down their lineup, the Blue Jays need to get better pitching performances from both the starting rotation and the bullpen.

National League

Adeiny Hechavarria

As a starting pitcher, you know things are going bad for you when the Marlins knock you out of the game with nine runs in the first 2 13 innings.

Such was the case for one Roy Halladay, the supposed "ace" of the Phillies' staff, who walked four and gave up four hits before retiring with his fourth loss of the season, only two wins and an 8.65 ERA.

Victimizing Halladay was Miami's Adeiny Hechavarria, who tripled with the bases loaded in the first inning to put Miami up 5-0 and then made it 9-0 two innings later when he took Halladay deep with a grand slam, his second homer of the season.

The Marlins eventually won the game, 14-2, earning a 2-2 split in their four-game series at Philadelphia.

Hechavarria didn't get another hit the rest of the game, but the rookie shortstop did go 2-for-5 with seven RBI, making a statement that may get him more playing time.

The Marlins improved to 10-22, but are just four games behind both the Phillies and the Mets in the NL East.

Blackburn Buzzes ChiSox; DeRosa Hammers Astros

Players of the Day for Monday, September 20, 2009 American League The Minnesota Twins got another win and 1/2 game closer to the idle Detroit Tigers in their relentless chase for the AL Central title. Nick Blackburn (11-11) blanked the White Sox over 7 innings, scattering 8 hits while fanning 6 without issuing a walk as the Twins opened their three-game series in Chicago with a 7-0 win. Blackburn had good command, setting down the side in order in the 1st and 7th innings. In between he allowed at least one base hit in each inning, but worked out of each situation by inducing ground outs and, in one instance, was aided by his infield turning a double play. Of the 102 pitches thrown, 72 were for strikes. Blackburn got 12 batters to ground out; 5 flew out. The win pushed the Twins to within 2 1/2 games of Detroit which begins a six game road trip with three games each against Cleveland and Chicago. After that, the Twins and Tigers hook up for a pivotal 4 game series in Detroit which will likely decide the division, September 28 through October 1. National League Mark DeRosa doubled in a pair of runs in the first inning, then belted solo homers in the 3rd and 5th, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros. DeRosa, acquired from Cleveland in June, has proven to be a worthwhile pick-up for the Cardinals, both for his defense and his bat. It was his second 2-homer night since joining St. Louis and his 4 RBI his best effort in a Cardinal uniform. The win shaved another digit off the Cardinals' magic number, now down to 3. St. Louis leads the Cubs by 10 games in the NL Central, the largest lead in either league.

Monroe Hammers a Pair for Pirates; DeRosa Helps Tribe Ambush Yanks, 22-4

Players of the Day for Saturday, April 18, 2009 American League The Cleveland Indians have made a farce of the Yankees' celebration of the opening of their new stadium, winning two out of three games by wide margins. On Saturday, the indians put up 14 runs in the second inning, en route to a 22-4 thrashing. Key among the offensive assault was Mark DeRosa, who contributed with two singles, a double and a three run homer in 7 at-bats, driving in six runs and scoring twice. Six different players homered for the Indians, as they cranked out 26 hits. National League Craig Monroe hasn't had much playing time over the past few seasons. In fact, after being traded from Detroit to the Cubs in 2007, and then to Minnesota in 2008, he's only seen action in a total of 87 games. On Saturday, he got the start for the Pirates in right field and the hard-hitting veteran smacked a pair of three-run homers, driving in six runs in support of Ian Snell's seven shutout innings as the Pirates cruised past Atlanta, 10-0. When playing regularly, Monroe can mash. From 2003-2006, when platooning and playing nearly full time, he averaged 22 homers and 81 RBI. If he continues to produce at the plate, he could fit in nicely for Pittsburgh. NOTES: Maybe we'll be calling them the Amazin' Marlins before long. The Florida Marlins continue their hot start to the 2009 season with a 10-1 record - the best in baseball - and a 4-game lead over the Mets in the inept NL East. The Marlins are on a 6-game winning streak and all ten wins thus far have come against division foes. While the standings in the NL East are a surprise, the AL is simply shocking with Toronto, Kansas City and Seattle leading the divisional races. Those three teams compiled a combined record of 222-262. Only the Blue Jays had a winning record (86-76).

Cubs Clinch Central; Dodgers Inch Closer; Rays Reach First Playoff Berth

Players of the Day from Saturday, September 20, 2008 American League Scott Kazmir (12-7) shut out the Twins n five hits over 6 innings, ensuring Tampa Bay's first ever appearance in the post-season while dampening Minnesota's playoff hopes as the Rays dropped the Twins, 7-2 The Rays wrapped up at least a wild card spot, but reman focused on winning the AL East. With Boston losing 6-3 to Toronto, they lead the Red Sox by 2 1/2 games and have reduced their magic number to clinch the division to 7. Notes: The White Sox didn't take advantage of Minnesota's loss, dropping a 5-2 decision at Kansas City. Chicago still leads the Twins by 2 1/2 in the Central. Their magic number is 6. National League Mark DeRosa singled and scored on Aflonso Soriano's bases-loaded single in the first, doubled in a run and scored the game-winner in the 4th as the Cubs clinched the NL Central with a 5-4 win over St. Louis. Chicago clinched the division for the second straight year and, in all likelihood, will have home field advantage throughout the league playoffs. In the year marking the hundredth anniversary of the Cubs' last world series championship, the Cubs have the best record in the National League and is the first team to clinch a division title. Notes: The Phillies beat back the pesky Marlins, 3-2, ending their nine-game winning streak, and, when the Mets lost to Washington, 4-2, took back first place in the NL East by 1/2 game over New York. The Marlins are 5 1/2 back. Milwaukee continued to unwind down the stretch, losing their second straight game at Cincinnati, 4-3, dropping 2 1/2 games behind the Mets in the wild card race. The Brewers have lost 15 of 19 in September. Taking one step closer to the NL West title, Los Angeles reduced its magic number to 5 with a 10-8 win over San Francisco. Manny Ramirez homered twice and drove in five runs in the LA win. The Dodgers continue to lead the Diamondbacks - 5-3 winners at Colorado - by 3 1/2 games. Since joining the Dodgers in late July, Ramirez is batting .404 with 16 home runs and 49 RBi in 47 games.

DeRosa Slam Lifts Cubs; Halladay Tosses 4-Hit Shutout at Mariners

Players of the Day from Monday, June 30, 2008 American League Year in and year out, veteran Roy Halladay is one of the best pitchers in the game, but he's labored much of his career in the relative obscurity of Toronto. The idea that nobody notices didn't deter him from pitching his 37th complete game and 10th shutout on Monday, as the Blue Jays topped Seattle, 2-0 Halladay (9-6) threw 84 of 115 pitches for strikes, didn't walk a batter and struck out nine while allowing just four harmless singles. 16 of the 27 outs recorded were via ground balls. With power and control, Halladay's numbers are rock solid, as usual, with an ERA of 2.90 and a 1.04 WHIP. Notes: The three-game series which opened in Chicago with a 9-7 White Sox win last night could prove pivotal to the Indians' chances of repeating as NL Central champions. With their fifth straight win, the Sox pulled 2 1/2 clear of Minnesota, losers to Detroit (5 behind), which has won six straight. Cleveland has lost three straight and are in last place, 10 1/2 out and a game behind the Royals. In Monday's game, Cleveland's Jhonny Peralta went 5-for-5, with three doubles and a home run, driving in three runs and scoring three. For the White Sox, hit a solo homer and a grand slam,k driving in six runs in four at-bats. National League With contributions from players up and down the lineup, the Cubs have established themselves as the team to beat in the NL Central. On Monday, third baseman Mark DeRosa had the big hits, socking a two-run homer in the 5th inning and a grand slam in the 8th, driving in six runs as Chicago blasted past San Francisco, 9-2.

Winnipeg Food Caterers
Affordable, quality catering for weddings or events of any size.
www.kingcolecatering.net

DeRosa also singled to go 3-for-4, boosting his batting average to a very respectable .295. The loss went to troubled Barry Zito, whose record dropped to 3-12. The Cubs maintained their 2 1/2 bulge over St. Louis while Milwaukee dropped a 6-3 decision at Arizona to fall 5 1/2 off the pace. Notes: Ken Griffey Jr. belted home run #603 in the bottom of the 9th inning with a man aboard to give the Reds a come-from-behind win over Pittsburgh, 4-3 Griffey entered the game in the top of the inning as a defensive replacement, but came through at the plate. With the pressure of reaching the 600 mark now past, Junior's been playing a little more like, well... himself lately. He's hit 3 homers in his last 8 games.

Guillen slams Yanks; Cards sweep Brewers

American League Detroit 8 NY Yankees 5 - For the Yankees, now comes the hard part. After going 25-10 since the All-Star game, with all but three of those games against either Toronto, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Chicago and Kansas City (the other three were a sweep of Cleveland), the Bombers began a string of 14 games against upper-eschelon teams Detroit, Los Angeles and Boston with a loss to the Tigers. While the Yankees picked up a lot of ground on the Red Sox and in the wild card race during their span against some of the league's bottom-feeders, finishing the deal may not be so easy. Things started out badly for the Yankees, as starter Mike Mussina only got one out in the first inning before surrendering a grand slam to Detroit's Carlos Guillen (right) Mussina wasn't entirely to blame, however, as Alex Rodriguez misplayed what could have been an inning-ending double play grounder, leading to a runners on first and second. It went downhill from there, as the Tigers scored two more in the 2nd, and the Yankees were never in it after that. Justin Verlander (13-4) didn't pitch all that well but picked up the win, which vaulted the Tigers into first place in the Central division, 1/2 ahead of Cleveland. New York fell to 5 1/2 behind Boston and 1/2 back of Seattle in the wild card race. LA Angels 4 Toronto 3 - Kelvim Escobar (13-6) allowed just one run over 7 solid innings, but Francisco Rodriguez had an adventuresome 9th inning, allowing two runs in earning his 20th save. The Angels stretched their lead over Seattle to 3 1/2 games in the West Other AL Scores Chi White Sox 5 Oakland 8, 10 innings - Chicago, 5 straight losses Kansas City 6 Texas 2 National League St. Louis 8 Milwaukee 0 - Adam Wainwright allowed just 2 hits and struck out 8 over 7 innings as the Cardinals completed their sweep of the slipping Brewers. The Cards, still two games under .500 (58-60) are now 2 1/2 back of Milwaukee in baseball's weakest division. Yadier Molina led the offensive attack, going 3-3 with a pair of homers, scoring three times with 3 RBI. Troy Percival, an interesting addition to the Cardinals' bullpen, gave up one hit while fanning two in the ninth. Percival, who missed half of 2005 and all of 2006, has 22 Ks in 21 innings with the Cards. From the mid-90s through 2005, Percival was one of the most dominating closers in baseball, racking up 324 saves. Cincinnati 4 Chi Cubs 12 - The Cubs won for just the 5th time in their last 15 games to draw within 1/2-game of the Brewers. Chicago got a career-best 5-for-5 efforts from Mark DeRosa (right), who doubled and singled four times, driving in 4 runs. The Cubs' struggles of late can largely be tied to the absence of leadoff man Alfonso Soriano, who was last seen pulling up lame in an 8-3 loss to the Mets on August 5. The Cubs have scored three runs or less in 7 of their last 10 losses. NY Mets 7 Pittsburgh 10 - Pitching is not the Mets' strong suit and it proved to be their undoing as the Pirates overcame deficits of 5-0 and 7-4, scoring in each of the 4th through 8th innings, finally putting the Mets away with 3 in the 8th. Philadelphia 4 Washington 2 - The only winner from the NL East on Thursday, the Phillies leapfrogged over Atlanta into second place... again, and now trail the Mets by 3 games.

Fish , Hunt Ducks and Waterfowl Lake Manitoba Narrows
Golf, Fish Walleye , Fall Duck Hunting at Resort Lake Manitoba Narrows Home Cottage Lot.

fishlakemanitobanarrows.com

With a 4-game series with the division leaders looming (Aug. 27-30, at Philly), the Phils will have another shot at the Mets, against whom they are 5-7 this season, and first place. Philly will host the Dodgers and Padres in consecutive 3-game series just prior to the division showdown. The Phillies are at Pittsburgh for a 3-game set this weekend while the Mets travel to Washington. Colorado 9 San Diego 11 - The chase continues in the NL West. The Padres scored 9 times in the 5th inning to stay 3 games back of Arizona and put some space between themselves and 3rd place Colorado. The Rockies are now 6 games out after dropping two of three to the Padres. Other NL Scores Arizona 5 Florida 4 San Francisco 9 Atlanta 3 Houston 2 LA Dodgers 6

A-Rod Delivers; Lopez 5 RBI for Mariners; DeRosa Leads Cubs

American League NY Yankees 6 Boston 5 - The NY Yankees were in danger of falling completely out of contention in the AL East... until A-Rod stepped up in the 9th. Alex Rodriguez shattered a 5-5 tie with his 20th home run of the season, knocking Jonathan Papelbon's delivery into the far reaches of Fenway Park. Mariano Rivera set down the Sox in order in the bottom half of the frame and the slim hopes of Yankees' fans live on. Still 12 1/2 behind the AL East-leading Red Sox, the Yankees took 2 of 3 in Boston and rekindled the flame. Detroit 9 Cleveland 2 - The Tigers uncaged another of their beasts and beat Cleveland for the 2nd straight day, earning a 2-2 split against the host Indians. Gary Sheffield smacked a 2-run homer (13) off Jeremy Sowers (L, 1-6) in the opening inning, later added a single and scored 3 times to lead the Detroit rout. The Tigers closed to within 2 1/2 of Cleveland in the AL Central. Sowers, who had a solid rookie campaign, going 7-4 last year, has been a major disappointment this season. Saddled with a 6.63 ERA, Sowers has had control problems, walking 18 with only 14 Ks. The Tigers got another solid effort from their starter, Jeremy Bonderman, who lasted 6 2/3, allowing 4 hits and 2 earned runs, both of which came via a 1st inning blast by Victor Martinez. Bonderman struck out 6 to go 5-0. Seattle 11 Texas 6 - Jose Lopez (right) rapped out 3 singles and a bases-loaded double, drove in 3 and scored twice in 5 at-bats as the Mariners took 3 of 4 from the fading Rangers. The Mariners remain in 2nd place in the AL West, 5 1/2 behind the Angels. Texas right fielder Victor Diaz had another big game with 2 homers (7) and 5 RBI after going 3-5 with 2 RBI on Saturday. LA Angels 4 Baltimore 3 - Vladimir Guerrero smashed a 2-run homer (12) in the bottom of the ninth to send the Angels to their 3rd straight win over the stunned Orioles. Baltimore won the first of the 4-game set, but the Angels - now 22-8 at home - came back strong with Vlad leading the charge. Guerrero's .347 batting average is good for 4th in the AL and his 48 RBI ranks 3rd behind Magglio Ordonez (52) and Victor Martinez (50) Other AL Scores Toronto 4 Chicago White Sox 3 - Jays take 3 of 4 from slumping Sox Oakland 4 Minnesota 2 - C. Gaudin (W, 6-1), 2.41 ERA Tampa Bay 5 Kansas City 1 - J.P. Howell (W, 1-0) 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K National League Chicago Cubs 10 Atlanta 1 - Mark DeRosa (right) hammered a 1st-inning grand slam and later drove in another run with a sac fly as the Cubs ended their 6-game losing streak and avoided being swept at home by the Braves. The Cubs have really slipped of late; at 23-31 they are 7 1/2 off the pace in the NL Central. Philadelphia 9 San Francisco 8 - S. Victorino hit a game-winning home run (4) with one out in the bottom of the 9th to get the Phillies back to .500 and take their 2nd straight over the visiting Giants. Philly leads the 4 game set, 2-1, with the finale this afternoon. Three other Phillies went yard on Sunday. Chase Utley (10) had a solo shot, Aaron Rowand (8) a two-run job and Ryan Howard a 3-run knock, his 10th. St. Louis 8 Houston 6, 10 innings - For those writing off the St. Louis Cardinals, this reminder that it's early June and there are still more than 100 games left. So Taguchi and Albert Pujols homered in the 10th to give the Cardinals a 2-1 edge in their series at Houston. The Cardinals have quietly snuck into sole possession of 2nd place in the troubled NL Central, 6 1/2 behind the Milwaukee Brewers. Speaking of which... Milwaukee 3 Florida 0 - Ben Sheets shut out the Marlins over 6 innings, allowing 7 hits and a walk while fanning 7. Sheets improved to 6-3. J.J. Hardy knocked his 16th home run. LA Dodgers 5 Pittsburgh 4 - The Dodgers erased a 4-0 Pittsburgh advantage with 3 runs in the 7th and 2 in the 8th - those via Andre Ethier's 5th home run - to take a 2-1 edge in the series at Pittsburgh which concludes tonight. Nothing was settled in the NL West as Arizona and San Diego both won, keeping all three tied for first place. The Dodgers can get a temporary edge with a win on Monday, as both the Diamondbacks and Padres are idle. Other NL Scores Arizona 4 NY Mets 1 - Arizona, won 9 of last 10, take 2 of 3 in NY San Diego 7 Washington 3 - Padres take 2 of 3 at Wash. Colorado 10 Cincinnati 9, 10 innings - K. Matsui, 3-6, 3 RBI