A's Khris Davis Bangs Two Homers, Walks Off Twins In 10; Yuli Gurriel Pounds 7 RBI For Houston; Matt Adams Delivers For Cardinals

Players of the Day for Friday, September 21, 2018

Davis: 45 HR leads majors

American League

Relentless in their pursuit of both the Yankees in the wild card and the Astros in the West division, the Oakland A's have won 12 of 18 September games, the latest triumph a 7-6, 10th-inning victory over Minnesota in the opener of a three-game series at the Oakland Coliseum.

Leading off the 10th, Khris Davis cracked his league-leading 45th home run to end the game in the bottom frame. Hours earlier, Davis launched his 44th, a two-run shot in the first with Jed Lowrie aboard.

Davis has 119 RBI on the year and is closing the gap on Boston's J.D. Martinez, who leads the majors with 124. Martinez trails Davis in the HR department, with 41.

Gurriel: 2 HR, 7 RBI

The win kept Oakland on pace with the Yankees in the wild card hunt. New York holds a 1 1/2-game edge after slipping by the Orioles, 10-8, Friday night. Oakland also kept pace in the division, as the Astros got a pair of home runs and seven RBI from Yuli Gurriel in their 11-3 stomping of the Angels.

Gurriel got Houston started with a first-inning grand slam, followed by a two-run belt in the third. In the fifth, he singled home another run, which put the Astros up, 7-0, all of the runs delivered by the Houston first baseman.

On the season, Gurriel has 12 homers, 83 RBI and a .283 batting average.

The A's host Minnesota Saturday night in game two of their three-game series. Game time is set for 9:05 pm EDT.

National League

With Matt Carpenter a regular at first base, Matt Adams doesn't get much playing time for St. Louis since being acquired from the Nationals earlier this season, but he was ready when called upon in the Cardinals' 5-3 victory over the visiting Giants.

Adams: clutch double

Pinch-hitting for reliever John Brebbia in the eighth inning with the scored tied 3-all, Adams lashed a two-out double down the left field line, plating Harrison Bader from second and Yairo Munoz all the way around from first with the go-ahead runs.

Carlos Martinez gave up a hit in the Giants' ninth but struck out two, earning his fourth save. Martinez has only recently become the Cards' closer, after a recent spate of blown save opportunities by Bud Norris.

Adams has had just nine hits in 54 at-bats (.167) since joining St. Louis, but his clutch double kept the Cardinals 1 1/2 games ahead of Colorado in the race for the second wild card. The Rockies were 6-2 winners at Arizona. St. Louis trails Milwaukee - holder of the top wild card - by three games. The teams have either eight or nine games left in the regular season and the division races are far from being decided. The Dodgers lead Colorado by 1 1/2 in the West and the Cubs hold the same margin over the Brewers in the Central.

Winners of four of their last five, the Cardinals host the Giants in game two of their their three-game series Saturday at 1:05 pm EDT.

Matt Adams Belts A Pair In Washington's Rout Of Pittsburgh; Dee Gordon Leading Seattle's Surge

Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 1, 2018

American League

Gordon: 5-for-5, 2 SB

Dee Gordon went 5-for-5 in Seattle's 6-3 win over Oakland, stroking four singles and a double for his customary leadoff spot.

Gordon also swiped a pair of bases and scored a run, on Nelson Cruz's decisive three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning.

With 12 steals thus far on the year, Gordon leads the league in the thefts, and his .339 batting average is third-best in the AL.

The swift center fielder has been instrumental in Seattle's surge into second place in the AL West. They've won six of their last seven and trail the Astros by two games after Houston fell to the Yankees, 4-0, on Tuesday. Gordon is 11-for-14 (.786) in his last three games.

A career .295 hitter, Gordon was acquired by the Mariners, from Miami, in the off-season and has added some needed punch to the top of the batting order.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled to start at 7:10 pm PDT in Seattle.

National League

Adams: 3-for-3, 2HR, 3RBI

Still under .500 and 4 1/2 games behind the Mets in the NL East, the Washington Nationals appear to be awakening, winning their third straight with a 12-4 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.

Contributing to the Nationals' rise, first baseman Matt Adams continued his assault on major league pitchers with another big effort, going 3-for-3 with a pair of solo homers and an RBI single in the rout.

Adams scored three runs, and has been on a tear since getting more playing time. In his the last four games in which Adams has started, he's 9-for-16 (.563) with three home runs, nine RBI and six runs.

At 14-16, the Nationals are closing in on the magic break-even mark, but remain in fourth place in the division, behind the Mets, Braves and Phillies.

At 7:05 pm EDT on Wednesday, the Nationals will be looking to take their third straight from Pittsburgh. Game four of the series is Thursday.

Nicholas Castellanos Leads Tigers Over Pirates, 13-10; Matt Adams Drives In Six As Nationals Crush Giants, 15-2

Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Castellanos: 4-5, HR, 4RBI

American League

Francisco Cervelli drove in six runs for the Pirates, but, in Detroit's 13-10 victory at Pittsburgh, the top of the Tiger lineup decimated Pittsburgh pitching, with the first four batters a combined 13-for-23. Miguel Cabrera had three doubles and a single in six at-bats, but Nicholas Castellanos had the most productive outing, going 4-for-5, including a two-out, two-run homer that unknotted a 6-6 tie and put the Tigers in the lead for good.

Castellanos, a proven power hitter with 26 HRs and 101 RBI last season for the Tigers, has cut down his swing a bit in order to limit his strikeouts (142 last season), and it seems to be working, as he's batting .333 (30-for-90) and has fanned only 17 times this year.

The Tigers continue to plug along in the AL Central, chasing the Indians. At 13-9, Cleveland is the only team in the division above .500, at 13-9. The Tigers are in second place after dropping the second game of their double-header against the Pirates, 8-3, three games out with a 10-12 mark.

Detroit will finish out their three-game series in Pittsburgh with game three scheduled for 12:35 pm EDT on Thursday.

National League

Max Scherzer went to the mound for the Nationals in game three of their series at San Francisco, looking to avoid being swept after the Giants won the first two games, 4-2, and 4-3. Scherzer would give Washington a solid outing, meaning that the Nats probably wouldn't need to score many runs.

Adams: 3-5, HR, 6 RBI

Matt Adams made sure they had plenty as the Nationals posted a 15-2 crusher, hammering Giants' starter, Jeff Samardzija and four relievers for 18 hits.

Off to a horribly slow start (37 AB, 2 HR, 4 RBI) after being plucked from the Braves in the off-season, Adams exploded for six RBI, with a single, double and home run in five at-bats.

Getting the Nationals off to a fast start, Adams singled in a run and scored in the first inning as Washington put up three, more than enough for the capable Scherzer, who improved to 5-1, striking out 10.

Adams scocked a three-run homer in the fourth and completed the scoring with a two-run double in the eighth.

Even with the win, the Nationals find themselves still looking up at NL East rivals. The Mets lead the division by a 1/2-game over the Phillies, with Atlanta 2 1/2 back. At 11-14, Washington is 5 1/2 out.

The Nationals get a travel day Thursday, prior to opening a series at home against the Braves on Friday, 7:05 pm EDT.

Aaron Judge Homers To Lead Yanks Over Angels; Matt Adams Powers Braves Past Nats, 11-10

Players of the Day for Monday, June 12, 2017

American League

After winning their fifth straight at home Sunday, the Yankees packed their bags and headed West, opening a three-game series with the Angels in Los Angeles on Monday.

Judge: No jet lag

Jet lag didn't seem to affect New York's best player - and maybe the best in the majors - Aaron Judge, as the rookie right fielder mashed his major-league-leading 22nd home run, breaking a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning with a two-run shot.

With the 5-3 win, the Yankees maintained their four game lead over Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox slipped by the Phillies, 6-5, in 11 innings.

Starting the day leading all three triple crown categories, Judge went 2-for-4, scored three times and drove in two runs, but Nelson Cruz drove in four as Seattle whacked Minnesota, 14-3, dropping Judge to second in RBI. Judge has 49; Cruz, 50.

The Angels dropped into a three-way tie with Texas and Seattle for second place in the West, 12 games behind the Houston Astros.

Game two of the series between the Yankees and the Angels is scheduled for Tuesday, 7:07 pm PT.

National League

Adams: powering Braves

With a 10 1/2 game lead in the NL East, the Washington Nationals probably aren't worried about being caught by other teams in the division, but maybe they should be a little concerned.

After the Mets beat the Cubs, 6-1, on Jacob deGrom's five-hit complete game, and the Braves outlasting the Nationals, 11-10, Washington lost its fourth straight game while the Mets won their fourth straight.

Meanwhile, the Nats have to deal with the Braves for two more games in Washington with a tired bullpen. Atlanta wore out Washington pitching on Monday, scoring six runs on seven hits off starter Stephen Strasberg. Though Strasberg struck out 10, he lasted just five innings. Washington's bullpen blew a 9-6 lead in the final two frames, as the Braves piled on for five runs and the win.

Leading the way was Atlanta first baseman, Matt Adams, who slugged a pair of home runs, going 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBI. After socking a three-run homer in the third, and a solo shot in the eighth, Adams walked and scored the go-ahead run in the ninth on Tyler Flowers' three-run belt.

Traded from St. Louis to Atlanta earlier this year, Adams has provided some pop to the Braves' attack, batting .270 with eight home runs and 19 RBI in 22 games.

The Braves and Nationals play game two of the series Tuesday at 7:05 pm at Nationals Park.

Chris Davis' Two Homers Powers Orioles over Yankees; Matt Adams, Adam Wainwright Lead Cardinals past A's, 7-1

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 29, 2013

American League

Chris Davis

In their 11-3 rout of the visiting New York Yankees, the Baltimore Orioles hammered out 15 hits, nine of them against start David Phelps, who gave up nine earned runs in 2 1/3 innings on the mound.

Chris Davis had but two of those hits, but they were both home runs: a three-run bomb in the first inning and a two-run jolt in the sixth. Those gave Davis 30 on the year, well ahead of his closest pursuer, which just happens to be last season's triple crown and MVP award winner, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, who has 24.

Davis also closed the gap in RBI, where Cabrera leads, 81-79. The two power-pushers are also 1-2 in batting, though Cabrera's lead is substantial, at .375, to Davis' .333.

The victory was Baltimore's second straight over the Yankees at Camden Yard and helped close the gap on first place Boston, the AL East leader by 2 1/2 games over the O's. New York fell to 5 1/2 back in third place.

The series concludes at 8:00 pm EDT on Sunday, the game nationally-televised by ESPN.

National League

Matt Adams

Rookie first baseman, Matt Adams, struck a pair of homers and drove in four runs in support of Adam Wainwright's five-hit complete game pitching as the Cardinals tamed the Oakland A's, 7-1.

Adams belted a three-run shot in the sixth inning, upping St. Louis' lead from 3-0 to 6-0, then added a solo job in the eighth for the Cardinals' last run. Adams also scored the first St. louis run of the game when he scooted home of David Descalso's sac fly in the fifth.

Wainwright: 11-5

Oakland didn't score off Wainwright (11-5) until the eighth inning. Rebounding from two straight losses, Wainwright walked two and struck out eight for his fourth complete game of the season, tops in the National League. Wainwright also lowered his ERA to 2.22, tied for fourth in the league with Arizona's Patrick Corbin.

The win kept St. Louis a game behind the Central division-leading Pirates, 2-1 winners over Milwaukee on Saturday.

The Cards and A's will settle their differences in the rubber game of the three-game series, Sunday at 1:05 pm PDT in Oakland.

Today's Trivia: The longest winning streak by a major league pitcher is 24, spanning two seasons. Who accomplished this amazing feat? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The record of 16 straight wins in a season by an AL pitcher is a four way tie between Smokey Joe Wood of Boston, and Walter Johnson of Washington AL, both in 1912, Lefty Grove of Philadelphia in 1931, and Schoolboy Rowe of the Tigers in 1934.