Matt Joyce Belts A Pair As A's Rout White Sox, 14-0; Travis d'Arnaud Leads Mets To Rare Win

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 18, 2018

Grapefruit League

d'Arnaud: 2-3, HR, 2B, 3RBI

Moored in last place with a record of 7-15, the NY Mets haven't exactly found a winning formula this Spring, so their 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles may have served as a wakeup call.

With Noah Syndergaard on the mound, catcher Travis d'Arnaud took offensive matters into his own hands, socking a second-inning solo homer and rapping out a two-run double in the fourth to give his pitcher some cushion. d'Arnaud also threw out Tim Beckham in the fourth, on an attempted steal of second base.

Syndergaard, who has been shaky in privies starts, managed to go seven innings, scattering eight hits and fanning five while allowing just one run.

The Orioles weren't done however, scoring three runs off reliever Seth Lugo in the eight, narrowing the lead to one run. The ninth wasn't without its share of suspense, either, as Robert Gsellman managed to close out the game, but not before allowing a leadoff double to Austin Hays and walking Craig Gentry with two outs before fanning Sharlan Schoop to end the game.

Cactus League

Joyce: 2-for-5, 2HR, GS

Oakland manager Bob Melvin may be trying out some distinctively different concepts with the hopeful A's this season.

In Sunday's 14-0 blowout over the visiting White Sox, Melvin inserted Matt Joyce - normally a right fielder - into the lineup as the DH, in the leadoff spot.

Why not?

Joyce responded with a leadoff solo homer to start the A's scoring, then belted a grand slam in the fifth inning, driving in five runs total.

Joyce had been struggling. Prior to his breakout game, he was just 3-23 (.130) with no homers and one RBI. Planting him in the leadoff spot apparently worked to everyone's advantage.

The A's improved to 12-9, tied for fourth place in the Cactus League with Kansas City, three games behind the streaking Brewers, winners of three straight and eight of their last 10.

Matt Joyce Homers to Put Rays into First; Ike Davis Helps Mets Sweep Phillies

Players of the Day for Wednesday, May 9, 2012

American League

Tampa Bay's Matt Joyce experienced exhilaration and pain on one swing, belting a three-run, ninth inning home run off Yankee closer David Robertson, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 game winner, evening the three game series in the Bronx at a game apiece.

Matt Joyce

Joyce delivered a line shot to the right field stands, but twisted his left ankle on the swing, falling over home plate before getting up to limp around the bases. The pain was evident on his face, and his teammates treated him with kid gloves as he made his triumphant return to the dugout.

After taping up the ankle while on the bench, Joyce returned to the outfield for the bottom of the ninth, switching from left to right, where he watched Fernando Rodney pick up his second win of the season with two innings of relief. Jeff Neimann turned in seven solid innings for the Rays, allowing only a run in the first, when Robbie Cano doubled home Derek Jeter from first.

The blown save was the first for Robertson, in his second closer appearance since replacing injured Mariano Rivera.

With the win - and Baltimore's rainout with Texas - the Rays took sole possession of first place in the AL East by 1/2 game. The Blue Jays are three back, the Yanks, 3 1/2 behind with the Red Sox mired in last place, 7 1/2 out.


National League

Ike Davis

Back in 1969, when they captured the World Series, the Mets were called "the Amazing Mets," or, simply, "the Amazin's." The current crop of New Yorkers has the kind of chemistry that could rekindle the kind of fan attention that made the Big Apple crazy back in the day.

Completing a sweep of reigning NL East champion Philadelphia with a 10-6 win, the Mets find themselves in the thick of the division battle, 1/2 game back of Washington and Atlanta, who share the lead, though the Nationals hold a slim .006 percentage edge.

It was the first sweep in Philadelphia by the Mets of a three-game series since June of 2006, the unlikely star, first baseman Ike Davis and his .167 batting average. Davis blasted a three-run homer in the 8th inning that broke open a contentious ball game, after singling and scoring the go-ahead run in the seventh. He finished 2-for-4, raising his batting average 12 points, to .179. The breakout homer could mark the low point for Davis, who batted .264 in 2010, and hit .303 in an injury-shortened 2011.

The Mets came from behind in each of the three games, taking advantage of the Phillies' struggling relief staff, sending them into last place in the division, five games out.

AL, NL Wild Card Races Tied with One Game Left

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 27, 2011

American League

Undeniably, the wild card has been good for baseball, but for the Red Sox this season, it's been less fun than most pennant races.

Boston, which led the AL wild card standings by as many as nine games at the start of September, remained in a tie with Tampa Bay after both teams won Tuesday night. The Red Sox barely hung on in the late innings to shave Baltimore, 8-7, while the Rays made a triple play that turned their team around and may have saved the season.

Lavarnway: 4 RBI

Third string catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, who spent most of his season in AAA at Pawtucket, delivered a pair of home runs for the desperate Red Sox, the first a three-run shot in the 4th inning that put the Sox up 5-1, and a solo jack in the 8th that turned out to provided the margin of victory. The Orioles dinged the beleaguered Boston relief corps for two runs in the 8th and another in the bottom of the ninth, leaving the tying run on second base as Jonathan Papelbon retired Adam Jones on a ground out to third to end the game.

Boston got all of its runs via the long ball as Jacoby Ellsbury and Marco Scutaro also homered. The Red Sox staved off defeat on the strength of 3 1/3 solid innings of relief work by Alfredo Aceves, who's been their most reliable reliever. Aceves came on in the 4th in relief of Eric Bedard, who had thrown 84 pitches and given up three runs to the O's. Aceves limited the Orioles to just one run on three hits, the run coming on Jones' 6th inning homer.

With the regular season ending Wednesday, Boston sends Jon Lester (15-9) to the mound on three days rest, knowing that Aceves will be unavailable should he falter. Baltimore will start Alfredo Simon, a hard-throwing right hander who's gone 4-9 in fifteen starts this season. Simon spent part of last season as the Orioles' closer, picking up 17 saves in 21 chances.

In Tampa, the Rays survived a bases-loaded threat in the 6th inning that might have ended their post-season hopes if not for the quick hands of Tampa's infielders. Russell Martin smashed a hot grounder at third baseman Evan Longoria, who touched third and whipped a throw to Ben Zobrist for the force at second. Zobrist gunned the ball to Sean Rodriguez at first, nipping the diving Martin for a triple play. The Yankees had already taken a 3-2 lead in the inning on Nick Swisher's RBI double and loaded the bases when starter Jeremy Hellickson intentionally walked Jorge Posada.

Joyce: 3-run HR

The triple play ignited the crown and the Rays. In the bottom of the 7th, Matt Joyce turned on a Rafael Soriano fastball and deposited it in the right field stands for a three-run homer that completed the scoring in Tampa's 5-3 win, keeping the wild card knotted with one game left to play.

The Rays host the Yankees on Wednesday night, sending David Price to the mound, who will also be working on three day's rest. The Yankees have not named a starter, though manager Joe Girardi has said that he will not use any pitchers on the post-season roster, as the Yankees have already clinched the division with the best record in the league and will face either Detroit or Texas in the opening round.

Should Boston and Tampa Bay remain tied at the end of Wednesday's activities, the Rays would host a one-game playoff Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

National League

Oswalt: 6 scoreless

St Louis has been gunning for the Atlanta Braves the entire month of September, and on Tuesday, they finally caught them. Cardinal bats caught fire in the late innings and routed the Houston Astros, 13-6, after the Phillies dusted off the Braves, 7-1. Roy Oswalt pitched six innings of shutout ball for the Phillies, allowing just three hits and a walk, striking out four.

In Houston, the Cardinals battled back from a five run deficit, scoring five times in the 4th inning, then putting the game away with four runs in the 7th, three in the 8th and one more in the top of the 9th. Nick Punto went 4-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBI and rookie Allen Craig blasted a three-run bomb in the eighth inning to seal the win. Craig was 2-for-3, scored three times and drove in four runs.

Craig: 3-run HR

The Braves have struggled all through the month of September. Atlanta has gone 8-17 in the season's final month, while the Cardinals are 17-8 over the same span.

Punto: 4-for-5

For the final regular season game, the Cardinals will start their ace, Chris Carpenter (10-9) against the Astros' Brett Myers (7-13), Myers has won his last four starts and is 6-5 lifetime against St. Louis with a 4.54 ERA. Career-wise, Carpenter is 7-5, with a 2.79 ERA, but he's 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in his last five starts at Minute Maid Field and hasn't won there since 2005.

Atlanta will throw Tim Hudson (16-10) in their season finale at home against the Phillies. Hudson has a 7-8 mark lifetime against Philadelphia with a 3.75 ERA. Joe Blanton goes up the bump for the Phillies. Blanton is 1-4 with a 5.47 ERA against the Braves lifetime and is 1-2 in ten starts this season.

The Braves' game begins at 7:10 pm EDT, while the Cardinals and Astros get underway at 8:05. If the Braves and Cardinals are tied after Wednesday, St. Louis would host a one-game playoff Thursday night.

Joyce, Cabrera Clobber KC; Loney Leads LA Past Rockies

Players of the Day from Monday, July 21, 2008 American League Miguel Cabrera went 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles and 6 RBI and rookie Matt Joyce knocked a pair of singles, a triple and a homer in six at-bats, driving in 5 and scoring three times as the Tigers humiliated the Royals, 19-4. Coupled with losses by both Minnesota and Chicago, the Tigers stalked to within 5 1/2 games of first place in the Central division, the closest they've been since early April. Minnesota trails the White Sox by 1/2 game. Notes: The Yankees, Red Sox and Rays were all winners on Monday, so nothing changed in the East standings. In the West, the Angels were beaten by Cleveland, 5-2, but the A's lost their 6th straight and fell 1/2 behind Texas, 6-1 winners over Chicago. The now-2nd-place Rangers trail the Angels by 8 1/2 games. National League The Dodgers kept pace with the Diamondbacks as James Loney drove in five runs helping Los Angeles outlast Colorado, 16-10. The game was never close, as the Dodgers scored 8 times in the first inning and made the lead 11-0 by the third. Going 3-for-6, Loney singled in a pair in the first, drove in another with a single in the 2nd, and drove in two more with a triple in the 5th inning. Notes: Tied for first place with the Dodgers in the West, Arizona knocked off the Cubs, 2-0, as Randy Johnson worked 7 strong innings, allowing just 2 hits. Chicago hurler Rich Harden allowed only one hit in his seven inning stint, but it was a solo homer by Alex Romero, and it proved to be the difference-maker. The Cubs' loss allowed Milwaukee, 6-3 victors over St. Louis, to tie the Cardinals just 2 games behind Chicago in the Central. The Brewers, winners of 6 in a row, are percentage points ahead of St. Louis with their sights clearly set on the Cubs, whom they next meet on July 28-31, in a four-game series at Milwaukee. The Mets and Phillies remained tied for the NL East lead as both had the night off in advance of their three-game set which begins Tuesday at Shea Stadium.