Miguel Sano Homers In Minnesota Win; Cubs Slug Brewers, 11-4, Behind Kyle Schwarber HRs

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 28, 2019

American League

Sano: 3-4, HR, 3 RBI

At least temporarily, the Minnesota Twins stopped the bleeding in the AL Central race, putting the Indians two games back after thumping the White Sox, 11-1, while Kansas City cooled off the Indians, 9-6.

After Jorge Polanco ripped a two-run homer in the opening frame, Miguel Sano launched his 18th of the year with two aboard, sending White Sox starter, Dylan Covey, to the showers without recording a single out.

Sano also singled twice and scored a run on Jonathan Schoop's two-run shot in the fifth.

Sano, who has played in just 58 games this season due to an early injury, has been beating the rawhide senseless his last seven games, batting .333 (9-for-27) with four homers and 11 RBI.

The Twins have been watching their once-sizable lead in the division diminish as the Indians reeled off 12 wins in 14 games, but got one back on Sunday.

Minnesota may be able to pad its lead in coming days. The Twins will be traveling Monday and arrive in Miami for three games with the Marlins. After that, it's back home for three with the Royals. After three with the Braves, the Indians come to Minneapolis for four games, starting August 8.

National League

Schwarber: 2 HR, 7 RBI

It doesn't get any tighter than the NL Central, which, after Sunday's results, have the Cubs and Cardinals deadlocked for the division lead, with the Brewers one game back.

Avoiding a sweep, Chicago got all over the Brewers in the finale of their three-game series in Milwaukee, or rather, Kyle Schwarber got all over the Brewers, bashing a grand slam and a three-run homer in three at-bats, accounting for seven of the Cubs runs in an 11-4 rout.

Schwarzer also singled, walked twice and scored four times. The Brewers simply did not have an answer for the lumbering, 6'0", 235-pound left fielder.

Coupled with St. Louis losing at home to the Astros, 6-2, the division is up for grabs.

The Cubs travel to St. Louis for a three-game series with the Cardinals on Tuesday, then it's back to the Windy City for a rematch with the Brewers, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Milwaukee heads to Oakland on Tuesday for a three-game meeting with the A's.

Patrick Corbin 1-Hits Dodgers In Arizona Win; Miguel Sano 3-for-5, 2 RBI To Lead Twins

Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 4, 2018

American League

Sano: 3-for-5, 2 RBI

The Twins remained tied for first place in the AL Central with the White Sox as they dumped the Pirates, 7-3, in Pittsburgh.

Both the Sox and Twins have yet to see their home stadiums; both are 3-2 on the road.

Minnesota got a home run from Brian Dozier for the third straight game, and Miguel Sano singled twice and doubled in five at-bats, driving in two runs, scoring twice.

Known primarily as a power hitter, Sano showed great patience and skill at the plate, scoring a tying run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly, and tying the game again in the sixth with an RBI single before adding an insurance run with another run-scoring single in the seventh.

Sano has homered twice already this season. Last year, he smacked 28 home runs and drove in 77 runs in 114 games.

The Twins head home on Thursday to host Seattle at 4:10 pm EDT.

Corbin: 7 1/3 IP, 1H, 12K

National League

Humming along like a well-oiled machine, the Arizona Diamondbacks won their fifth game in six outings, downing the visiting Dodgers, 3-0, as starter Patrick Corbin became the first pitcher in the National League to win two games.

Corbin didn't allow a hit until Matt Kemp's two-out double in the fifth inning broke up his bid for a perfect game. In the eighth, Corbin walked Kemp with one out and was done, manager Torey Lovullo pulling the starter after he threw 62 of 98 pitches for strikes, allowed one hit, one walk, struck out 12, and blanked the Dodgers throughout.

Archie Bradley finished the inning without incident and Brad Boxberger picked up his second save of the season walking two and fanning two without allowing a hit in the ninth.

The win left the Diamondbacks two games up on Colorado and the Giants, with Los Angeles 3 1/2 back after the three-game sweep by Arizona.

The Dodgers get a day off before opening a weekend series at San Francisco on Friday. Arizona heads to St. Louis for a three-game series starting on Thursday.

Ervin Santana, Miguel Sano Lead Twins To 1st Place; Brandon Drury Powers Arizona Past Pirates, 11-4

Santana: 6-1

Players of the Day for Friday, May 12, 2017

American League

The Twins are in first place.

Yes, you read that right. After winning at Cleveland, 1-0, in the opener of a three-game series by Lake Erie, the Twins hold a one game edge over the reigning AL champions in the Central division.

Ervin Santana notched his sixth win against one loss, hurling seven innings of two-hit shutout ball at the Tribe. Santana clearly didn't have his nastiest stuff, throwing just 56 of 99 pitches for strikes, walking five and fanning four, but, looking like an elite pitcher, he worked out of self-made jams, worked the lineup and managed masterfully.

Sano: HR sinks Indians

His six wins tied him with Houston's Dallas Keuchel for the AL lead and with LA's Clayton Kershaw for the major league lead. Santana's effort was backed by Miguel Sano's 10th home run of the year, a first-inning solo shot off Cleveland starter, Josh Tomlin, who also pitched a whale of a game (six hits, seven Ks), but was tagged with the loss.

Minnesota's top slugger, Sano registered his 30th RBI, second in the AL to Seattle's Nelson Cruz (31).

Taylor Rogers and Matt Belisle got the Twins through the eighth and Brandon Kintzler pitched a perfect ninth inning preserving the win with his ninth save. The win was the 10th on the road for the Twins, against just four road losses.

The teams resume heir battle for the top spot in the division Saturday, 4:10 pm ET, at Progressive Field.

National League

At the start of the season, some baseball experts were saying that the Giants and Dodgers would fight it out in the NL West.

Drury: 3-5, 3-run HR

Well, while it's still early, the Giants are in last place, 10 games behind Colorado. The Dodgers evened their series with the Rockies at 1-1 Friday with a 6-2 win and are 1 1/2 games back, but, the Arizona Diamondbacks are lurking, just two games off the pace after swamping the Pirates, 11-4.

The win was Arizona's third straight and second straight in the four-game series with visiting Pittsburgh. Banging out 16 hits, the Diamondbacks scored all of their runs in the second and third innings, hammering Pittsburgh starter, Tyler Glasnow, for seven runs on seven hits and pasting reliever, Josh Lindblom, for four runs in the third.

Going 3-for-5 was second baseman Brandon Drury, whose three-run homer capped the big third inning assault. He also doubled and singled in the game.

Following his first full season as a starter in 2016, Drury has become an integral part of the Arizona attack. Last season, he was solid, with a .282 batting average, 16 homers and 53 RBI. This year, in 32 games, he's batting .325, with three homers and 14 RBI.

The Diamondbacks are second in runs (182) and fifth in batting (.261) in the National League. Their 44 home runs and 172 RBI are among the leaders in the majors.

Arizona seeks its fourth straight win when they host the Pirates in game three, Saturday, 8:10 pm ET.

Anthony Rendon 6-for-6, 3 HR, 10RBI As Nationals Crush Mets; Miguel Sano Drives In Five For Twins

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 30, 2017

American League

Sano's 25 RBI Leads AL

Despite a 5.06 ERA, pitcher Phil Hughes improved to 4-1 on the season, getting all the run support he needed from third baseman Miguel Sano, who wnet 3-for-5, including a three-run homer, driving in five runs, giving him the AL lead in RBI with 25. Minnesota handed the Royals their ninth straight defeat, 7-5. Hughes gave up four runs in 5 2/3rds innings.

Sano's home run was his seventh of the season, helping to boost his batting average to .313 while keeping the Twins relevant in the division, led by Cleveland. The White Sox are 1/2 game behind the Indians, with Minnesota 1 1/2 back and Detroit two behind. Kansas City has fallen 6 1/2 off the plate, as Minnesota swept the two games in Kansas City (Saturday's game was rained out).

Winners of four of their last five, the 12-11 Twins open a six-game homestand with three against the Athletics starting on Tuesday. Minnesota is just 5-7 at home.

National League

Rendon: 3 HR, 10 RBI

Heading into the final game of the three-game series against the Mets, Anthony Rendon had hit no home runs and had driven in just five runs in 22 games, but, by the time the Nationals were done romping over the Mets, 23-5, the Washington third baseman had established a new franchise record with 10 RBI, going 6-for-6 with six runs, two singles, a double, and three home runs.

Rendon drove in two with a single in the first, socked a solo homer in the third, stroked a three-run bomb in the fourth, doubled in three more in the fourth, singled and scored in the seventh, and crushed another solo homer in the eighth. It was the kind of game players call a good week.

Matt Weiters homered twice and drove in four runs. Bryce Harper hit his eighth home run and scored four times as the Nationals cranked out 23 hits against five Mets' hurlers.

The win avoided a sweep by the Mets and kept the Nationals well in front in the NL East, with a five game lead over the Phillies and Marlins. Washington has the best record in the majors, at 17-8 (.680). The Mets remain in last place in the division, 6 1/2 out.

Following a day off Monday, Washington will open a three-game series against the visiting, 16-11, Arizona Diamondbacks.