Nick Hundley Drives Padres Past Phillies; Alex Rios Helps ChiSox Sweep Mariners

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 22, 2012

American League

Alex Rios

After Philip Humber's perfect game on Saturday, the series finale between the White Sox and Mariners in Seattle was almost certain to be anti-climactic, but Alex Rios did his best to provide some thrills as the Sox swept the series with a 7-4 victory.

Rios went 3-for-4 with a single, double and a triple, driving in three runs. Down 4-2 in the top of the sixth, Rios tripled to center, driving in two runs to tie the game and then scooted home with the go-ahead run on a sac fly by Kosuke Fukudome.

In the eighth, Rios singled home an insurance run and the Sox added another to complete the scoring.

The sweep was helpful to the White Sox in their pursuit of Central-division-leading Detroit, which lost, 3-2, in 10 innings to Texas on a blown call, leaving the Tigers a mere 1/2 hame ahead of Chicago.


National League

The San Diego Padres got some satisfaction winning the final two games of their home series with the Phillies by taking the final two games to earn a split.

Nick Hundley

Winning 5-1 on Saturday, the Padres worked out a 6-1 win on Sunday as Nick Hundley provided almost all of the offense with a triple, home run and a sac fly to drive in four runs, going 2-for-3 for the game.

Hundley's first inning sac fly put the Padres up 2-0, which proved to be more than enough for starter Anthony Bass (1-2) and a trio of Padre relievers.

In the third, Hundley legged out a triple, driving in Chase Headley and scored on Jim Thome's throwing error. Hundley's two-run blast in the fifth inning completed the San Diego scoring. It was his second homer of the season.

Despite winning two straight, the Padres are still languishing in last place in the NL West. After their 3-12 start, winning a pair of home games has upped their record to 5-13, just a little better than the 4-12 Cubs, the 3-12 Royals and the 4-10 Red Sox.

Chase Headley, Nick Hundley Power Padres Past Rockies; Matt Wieters Homers Twice for Orioles

Players of the Day for Monday, April 16, 2012

American League

Could this be the year that Matt Wieters lives up to his potential and becomes of the baseball's premier catchers?

Matt Wieters

With a blazing start to the 2012 campaign, this appears to be Wieters' year to shine.

The fourth-year pro capped a six-run 10th inning in Baltimore's 10-4 road win over the White Sox with a grand slam, his fourth homer of the season and his second long ball of the game.

Wieters finished 3-for-4 - his other hit a single - five RBI and a couple of runs as the Orioles took sole possession of first place in the AL East, 1/2 game ahead of the Blue Jays.

The numbers continue to improve. In 2010, Wieters hit .249, with 11 homers and 55 RBI. 2011 was better, at .262, 22 and 68. This season's .344, four homers and nine RBI has him on pace for a breakout season.


National League

With a 2-8 start, Padres' fans haven't had much to cheer about, and, even after Monday night's 7-1 win at Colorado, San Diego still trails the 9-1 Dodgers by 6 1/2 games, the largest deficit in the majors.

Nick Hundley

Chase Headley

If the Padres are going to be competitive, they'll need solid campaigns from two of their better hitters, third baseman Chase Headley and catcher Nick Hundley, who together produced six of San Diego's 14 hits, both players going 3-for-5.

Headley's hits were all doubles, and each time he arrived at second base, Hundley drove him in, with a double and two singles, collecting three RBI for the game.

San Diego's win snapped a four-game losing streak. The Padres continue their three-game series at Colorado Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home for four straight with the visiting Phillies.

Behind James Shields, Rays Sweep Red Sox as Upton Slams; Hundley, Padres Halt AZ Home Win Streak at 15

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 11, 2011

American League

BJ Upton's 5th inning grand slam capped off a three-game sweep of the Red Sox by Tampa Bay, beating Boston, 9-1, in the final game of their series and putting the Red Sox hold on the wild card lead in serious jeopardy.

Shields:15-10

With the Rays already up 4-1, Upton's bases-loaded blast - his 20th homer of the season - gave starter James Shields a more comfortable working margin that helped the right-hander win his 15th game against 10 losses, scattering seven hits and three walks over eight and a third innings. Shields struck out five, making his only big mistake of the game in the third inning, when Marco Scutaro touched him up for a solo home run.

Upton: Grand Slam

Upton's slam was part of a 4-for-4 effort at the plate for the Tampa outfielder. Upton, batting a sub-par .234, singled twice, doubled and scored three times while getting all of his RBI via the home run.

With the sweep of Boston, the Rays now trail the Red Sox in the wild card by just 3 1/2 games with 17 left to play. Boston has lost five straight while the Rays have reeled off four consecutive wins. The Yankees nipped the Angels, 6-5, to increase their lead in the AL East to 3 1/2 games. Texas pounded Oakland, 8-1, improving their AL West lead to 2 1/2 games over the Angels.

In the Central, Detroit got another quality start from Doug Fister (7 innings, 3 hits, 0 ER), beating the Twins, 2-1, as Cleveland downed the White Sox, 7-3. The Tigers lead the Sox by 10 1/2 games and the Indians by 11. Their magic number is down to just seven.

National League

Despite a 7-6 loss to San Diego that ended the Arizona Diamondback's home winning streak at 15 straight, the D-Backs have little reason for concern, holding an 8 1/2 game lead over the second place Giants in the NL West.

Nick Hundley

Arizona's loss was the result of timely hitting by the Padres early in the game, especially by Nick Hundley, who went 3-for-4 and smacked a two-run homer n the 5th inning to put the Padres up 6-0. Arizona battled back with five runs in the 6th, but the Padres had already added another run in the top half of the frame and held on for the win.

The Giants took advantage of Arizona's misfortune, beating the Dodgers, 8-1, picking up a game on the D'Backs in the process, though the lead in the division seems a bit too big for the reigning world champions to overcome. Arizona has just 15 games remaining on the schedule - the Giants, 16 - and the schedule favors the Diamondbacks in a big way.

Arizona hosts a three-game set with San Fran on September 23, 24 and 25, but the rest of their games are against second tier foes. Arizona has six games on the schedule with the Dodgers, three with the Padres and three ore against Pittsburgh.

In the Central, the Milwaukee Brewers halted their five game slide with a 3-2 home win over Philadelphia, keeping St. Louis - 6-3 winners over the Braves - locked in second place, six games back. The Brewers and Cardinals do not play each other again this season.

By taking three straight from Atlanta, however, the Cardinals have gotten back into the wild card race, trailing the Braves by a 4 1/2 games. St. Louis has won five straight, while Atlanta three straight losses have made life easy for the Phillies, as they cruise toward another NL East title with a 12 game edge. The Phillies' magic number is six.