Sonny Gray, Nate Freiman Lead A's Past Astros, 5-0; Matt Carpenter 4-for-5 as Cardinals Top Pirates in 12, 6-5

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 15, 2013

American League

Gray: 1st MLB Win

By no means are the A's going to allow Texas to run away from them in the AL West.

Nate Freiman

Sonny Gray threw eight scoreless innings to earn his first major league win and Nate Freiman went 4-for-4 at the plate as the A's topped the Astros, 5-0, cutting the Rangers' lead in the division to 1 1/2 games.

Gray (1-1) fanned nine, walked one and allowed just four hits, handing the ball over to reliever Dan Otero after throwing 118 pitches. Otero had an eventful ninth, giving up a hit and walking a batter, but allowed no runs.

Freiman doubled home a pair of runs in the first and stroked a two-run homer in the third inning, staking Gray to a healthy lead. He added a pair of singles later in the game and finished with four of the A's five RBI.

The A's win avoided a sweep by the Astros in the three-game series. Oakland 's home stand continues on Friday when they host the Cleveland Indians at 7:10 pm PDT.

National League

Matt Carpenter went 4-for-5 and scored the game winner when matt Holliday singled to center in the bottom of the 12th as the Cardinals won the finale of their series with Pittsburgh, 6-5.

Matt Carpenter

St. Louis won two of three at home to cut Pittsburgh's lead in the NL Central to two games. Cincinnati won their fifth straight, beating Milwaukee, 2-1, drawing to within 2 1/2 of the division lead.

Carpenter doubled, tripled, singled twice, scored two runs and drove in one, raising his batting average to .315, fifth-best in the National League.

St. Louis travels to Chicago to open a three-game series with the Cubs on Friday; the Pirates, losers of five of their last six, look to right the ship when they host the Diamondbacks for three games, beginning Friday.

Today's Trivia: In their legendary careers, who hit more doubles, Babe Ruth or Lou Gerhig? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The NL single-season stolen base leader from 2005 through 2007 was Jose Reyes.

Nate Freiman Lifts A's to Sweep of Astros; Martin Prado Powers Daimondbacks over Padres, 6-5

Players of the Day for Sunday, May 26, 2013

American League

Oakland completed its three-game sweep of the Astros with a 6-2 win in Houston, creeping to within 4 1/2 games of NL West leader, Texas.

Nate Freiman

The A's scored five of their runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by rookie Nate Freiman's double, which sent two Oakland players across the plate.

In the sixth, Freiman added the finishing touch for the A's with his second major league home run, a 425-foot blast to center. Bartolo Colon surrendered nine hits over seven innings, but kept the Astros off the scoreboard, fanning nine. Houston's two runs in the eighth inning were of no consequence.

Winners of eight of their last nine, the A's picked up a game on the Rangers, 4-3 losers in 13 innings at Seattle.

Next stop for the A's is back to the Bay area, where they host the Giants for two games, Monday and Tuesday, before a pair of games across the Bay.

National League

Martin Prado

The NL West continues to be the most-hotly-contested division in baseball, with the Giants, Diamondbacks and Rockies all intent on grabbing an early edge, though none have been particularly successful at establishing themselves as the team to beat.

With San Francisco taking two of three from the Rockies with a 7-3 win and Arizona topping San Diego, 6-5, Sunday, the race is as undecided as ever.

At the end of the day, the Diamondbacks and Giants are deadlocked on top, with the Rockies a game out.

Arizona's win was one of six major league games decided by one run on Sunday, the decisive blow coming off the bat of Martin Prado, who doubled home Jason Kubel in the seventh, giving the D'Backs a 6-4 lead. The Padres countered with a run in the eighth, but that was all she wrote.

Prado finished the day 4-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of singles. He scored once and drove in one, boosting his batting average from .242 to .257. Prado terrorized San Diego pitching, going 8-for-12 in the series, which Arizona took, two games to one.

With interleague play beginning in earnest on Monday, the Diamondbacks play two at home with the Rangers and then head to Arlington, Texas, for a pair of games.

Today's Trivia: From 1992 to 2002, the NL Cy Young Award was hoarded by two pitchers, each of whom won the award four consecutive times. Can you name them?

Yesterday's Answer: White Sox hero, Frank Thomas, was the last AL player to win consecutive MVP awards, in 1993 and 1994.