Fielder Blasts a Pair in Comeback Win; Miguel Olivo Produces Win for Mariners

Players of the Day for Wednesday, June 8, 2011

American League

Miguel Olivo

The Seattle Mariners avoided being swept at Chicago by the White Sox with a 10-inning, 7-4 victory in the thind and final game of the series.

Winning the game could have been easier were it not for Carlos Quentin, who crushed a couple of home runs and drove in three runs to keep the Sox in the contest, but Seattle catcher Miguel Olivo rose to the occasion with a solo homer in the 8th and a two-run double in the top of the 10th inning, later scoring the final Seattle run, producing the final tally.

The victory kept Settle on pace with the front-running Rangers in the West. They are 2 1/2 back at 32-30. The scuffling White Sox remain six back of Cleveland, at 30-34, with Detroit ahead of them, only 1 1/2 behind the Indians.

National League

Fresh Prince
of Milwaukee

It looked like the Brewers were about to lose their second straight home game to the Mets when Ronnie Paulino blasted a grand slam in the top of the 8th, but Prince Fielder was having none of that.

Fielder, who socked a two-run homer in the 4th inning to give Milwaukee a 2-1 edge, followed Ryan Braun's two-run double in the bottom of the 8th with his second two-run shot of the game, a booming drive to left center which tied the game at 6-6.

Fielder's blast set up the dramatic finish in the 10th, as Nyger Morgan doubled home Craig Counsell from second base with the game-winner and a comeback 7-6, 10-inning victory.

The win was important for the Brewers to keep in touch with the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who are just 1 1/2 ahead after losing to Houston, 4-1, Wednesday. Milwaukee will host a three-game weekend series with the Cardinals beginning Friday, an early showdown in the Central division.

JETER 3000 WATCH: Another loss to the Red Sox, this one by an 11-6 score, saw Jeter collect his 2989th base hit, a 5th inning RBI double. The Yankee captain also scored later in the inning, but it was not enough to prevent the Yankees losing their second straight home game to the Red Sox.

Jeter's two-bagger was the 476th of his career, second in Yankee history to the great Lou Gehrig, who knocked 534 doubles in many fewer at-bats (about 1500) than Jeter. Gehrig is also the career team leader in triples, with an amazing 163. Ballparks, particularly Yankee Stadium, were much more spacious back in Gehrig's time, which partially accounts for the high number of three-base hits. Even Babe Ruth legged out 106 triples during his tenure as a Yankee. By comparison, Jeter has 62 triples, tied for 16th on the Yankees' all-time list with Phil Rizutto and Birdie Cree, who played from 1908-1915.

Kansas City Stars; Howard's 40 Homers

Players of the Day for Friday, September 18, 2009 American League It's been a while since the Kansas City Royals have played October baseball, and it's going to be at least another year before the lowly Royals get a taste of post-season fun, but they've been doing some damage to other teams in their division lately, Heading into the final two weeks of the season, the goals for the Royals seem to be: a. Avoid losing 100 games (87 currently), b. get out of last place (only a game behind Cleveland), and, c. damage the reputations of as many AL Central teams as possible. On that last count, the Royals seem to be up to the task this September. Since the 8th of the month, they've gone 8-2, including taking 2 of 3 from Cleveland and 5 of 6 from division-leading Detroit. On Friday, they made the White Sox their latest victim, pounding the former division contender into pretender status with an 11-0 whitewash. Leading the charge was starting pitcher Luke Hochevar (left), who hurled the second complete-game and first shutout of his major league career. Hochevar, though only 7-10 with a 5.79 ERA, nevertheless had the stuff to down the White Sox on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 5. Besides handling his young battery-mate behind the plate, catcher Miguel Olivo (right) mashed White Sox pitching for 6 RBI, on a bases-loaded walk, two 2-run homers and a sac fly. A .251 hitter, Olivo went 2-for-4, upping his home run and RBI totals for the year to 23 and 64, respectively, both career highs. National League Ryan Howard blasted his 39th and 40th home runs, putting him in the 40+ homer club for the 4th straight year (out of five that he's been in the bigs), as the Phillies topped the Braves, 9-4, abruptly ending their 7-game win streak and dropping them into third place in the NL East and 4th place in the wild card. Howard went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. Howard's heroics kept the big man in the hunt for both the home run and RBI title, though a guy named Pujols will probably be taking home most of the iron this fall. Howard trails Pujols by 7 in the dinger category (Mark Reynolds has 42) and his 121 RBI trail only Prince Fielder (126) and Pujols (127). The power struggle won't end with the regular season, however, as both the Phillies and Cardinals are fast approaching clinching their respective divisions. Philly's magic number is down to 8, while the Crds reduced theirs to 6 with a wolk-off homer by Matt Holliday getting them past the Cubs, 3-2. NOTES: It's nice to clinch at home, but the Cardinals will almost certainly make their NL Central crown official on the road. Following their three-game series with the Cubs which ends Sunday in St. Louis, the Cardinals don't return home until October 2nd, for a season-ending three-game set with the Brewers. Prior dates include three games each in Houston, Colorado and Cincinnati. The Phillies also will probably do their celebrating on the road, as they don't return to the City of Brotherly Love until the 28th of this month. Currently in Atlanta, their next stop is Florida for three with the Marlins and then a 4-game stop in Milwaukee. Their magic number is 8. As for pennant races, the closest one is in the AL Central, as the Tigers seem to be struggling to get to the wire after leading the division for most of the season. Detroit has dropped 8 of their last 11, the latest Friday night in Minnesota, where the Twins dumped them, 3-0, closing the gap to just 3 games. Minnesota can get closer as the two teams play Saturday and Sunday in the Metrodome. The Tigers may get a little bit road-weary this week. Following the Minnesota series, they have three games each in Cleveland and Chicago this week. When they return home on the 28th, waiting for them will be the pesky Twins again, for a 4-game series, and if that's not enough, the Tigers close out at home with a three-game series with Chicago, currently 6 1/2 back. Boston is cementing their lead in the wild card - now at 7 games - mostly thanks to the Rangers, who have dropped five in a row. The NL wild card is much more interesting, with the Giants now just 2 1/2 behind the Rockies and the Marlins and Braves trailing by 4 and 4 1/2.