Phillies Tie Atlanta For 1st Place As Odubel Herrera Leads 17-5 Win; Evan Gattis Powers Houston Past White Sox

Players of the Day for Friday, July 6, 2018

American League

Gattis: 3-4, HR, 4 RBI

With an 11-4 win over the visiting White Sox, Houston extended their lead in the AL West to 2 1/2 over hard-charging Seattle, 7-1 losers to Colorado. Despite winning eight of their last 10, the Astros have had the Mariners breathing down their backs for the better part of the past two weeks. The Mariners recent record is 9-2, including Friday's loss.

Houston seems to have a different star every night, a trademark of the reigning world champs. In Friday's win, that star was Evan Gattis, who singled, doubled, and homered in four at-bats, driving in four runs. His big blow was his 18th homer, a 422-foot, eighth inning, three-run bomb that blew the game wide open.

Gattis has driven in 61 runs this season, tying him for third in the AL with Cleveland's Edwin Encarnacion.

With the physique of a power slugger at 6'4, 270, Gattis is well on his way to a career year after missing half of last season with injuries. He's already surpassed last season's numbers (12 HR, 55 RBI). He's heating up with the weather, already having socked three homers in July and driven in seven runs.

The Astros have taken the first two of their four-game series with Chicago. Game three is scheduled for 4:10 pm EDT on Saturday.

National League

Herrera: 2-for-6, HR, 4RBI

Wihtout a doubt, the team that's been the biggest positive surprise of 2018 has to be the Philadelphia Phillies.

After ending the 2017 season in last place, 31 games behind Washington in the NL East with a 66-96 mark, not much was expected from the youthful Phils this season, but they've thus far exceeded all expectations.

With a 17-5 win at Pittsburgh Friday night, the Phillies tied Atlanta for first place in the division, winning their fifth straight and eighth of their last nine outings.

While the Phillies have been tearing it up, Atlanta has dropped four in a row, including Friday's 5-4 defeat at Milwaukee.

The Phillies took it to six Pittsburgh pitchers, taking the first game from the slumping swashbucklers with 18 hits. Scott Kingery went 4-for-5, Ryan Hoskins was 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI, and Odubel Herrera singled and homered in six at-bats with four RBI, the crucial blow his three-run dinger in the third inning that gave Philly a 5-1 lead.

Pittsburgh battled back to within 5-4, but the Phillies scored two in the sixth, seven in the seventh, and three more in the ninth inning to make it a complete blowout.

Herrera, who has been a solid contributor since 2015, is having a breakout season. With 15 homers, he's already equalled his person high mark from 2016 and his 51 RBI is just five short of his best, in 2017. And, he's done all this in just 83 games.

The Phillies will be looking to extend their winning streak when they play game two of their three-game series in Pittsburgh, Saturday at 4:05 pm EDT.

Matt Davidson Delivers Again For White Sox With 2 HRs; Odubel Herrera Socks A Pair As Phillies Top Braves

Players of the Day for Friday, April 27, 2018

Davidson: 2HR, 3RBI

American League

Matt Davidson was at it again, blasting a pair of home runs - including a two-run belt which plated the go-ahead runs in the 11th inning - as the White Sox took their second straight at Kansas City, 7-4.

The second-year slugger launched a 440-foot bases-empty bomb in the fourth inning, putting the Sox up, 3-2, and capped off the night with the game-winner.

Friday night marked the second straight game in which Davidson has gone yard twice, helping produce back-to-back wins for the White Sox. He's now tied for third in the AL with nine. LA's Mike Trout and Yankee Didi Gregorius lead the league with 10 apiece.

Game three of the series in Kansas City starts Saturday at 2:15 pm EDT.

National League

Prospects for a win didn't look very good for the Phillies after starting pitcher, Aaron Nola gave up three runs to Atlanta in the top of the first inning, but that was before Odubel Herrera got to the plate in the bottom of the frame.

Herrera: 2HR, 4RBI

With two aboard, Herrera unloaded off Atlanta hurler, Julio Teheran, restarting the game with his second home run of the season.

The Phillies, hosting the opener of a three-game series with the Braves, took the lead for good in the sixth, when Herrera socked his second of the game, a solo shot that led to the eventual 7-3 Philadelphia victory.

Herrera is off to an exceptional start to the season, batting .348, good for second in the NL. The youthful Phillies have been the biggest surprise of the season, riding Herrera's hot bat and the overall exuberance of the team and fans to a 16-9 mark, remaining 1/2-game behind the Mets in the NL East after NY topped San Diego, 5-1, later in the evening. The loss dropped the third place Braves 2 1/2 games off the pace.

Game two of the series is slated for a 6:05 pm EDT start.

Ryon Healy Homers Twice, Drives In 5 As A's Top Jays; Odubel Herrera Leads Phillies Over Braves

Players of the Day for Monday, June 5, 2017

Healy: 2HR, 5 RBI

American League

In Oakland, there isn't much to be happy about, such as the NFL Raiders being set to move to Las Vegas in 2020, and the area's baseball team, the Oakland A's, in last place in the AL West.

Whatever the mood in the second city by the bay, the baseball season is long, and only a third finished as of this date, so the A's trudge onward. Opening a three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays, the A's came up 5-3 winners with all of their runs driven in by second-year DH Ryon Healy.

Socking a pair of home runs off Toronto starter, A.J. Happ (0-4, 5.33), Healy offers some degree of hope in the future success of the A's, being that he's only 25 and has already equaled his home run total from last season (13) in fewer games (56 vs. 72) and will surpass his RBI total from 2016 shortly, as he drove in 37 last year and has driven in 33 this year.

Healy whacked a three-run shot in the second and followed up in his next at-bat with a two-run belt. Done and done. Oakland pitching did the rest, with starter Sean Manaea (5-3, 3.81) allowing two earned over six innings and a trio of A's relievers giving up just two hits and one run (Justin Smoak's 15th home run, a solo shot in the eighth) over the final three frames.

The A's host Toronto in game two of the series on Tuesday. Game time is 7:05 pm PT.

Herrera: 2 doubles, HR

National League

At 20-35, the Phillies have the worst record in the majors, but every now and then they upset another team by actually beating them. It's not that the Phillies are a bad team - though they might be - it's just that after trading away or releasing all of the good players that made them a contender in the 2000s, they've not made the effort to rebuild.

But, they do possibly have the nucleus of a future team in the two, three and four batters in their current lineup, Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr, and Tommy Joseph.

Each member of that trio socked home runs in Philly's 11-4 victory at Atlanta, were a combined 9-for-14 and combined to drive in eight of the Phillies' 11 runs.

Herrera had the best at-bats, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a two-run homer, the round-tripper coming in a five-run fourth inning that put Philadelphia ahead, 9-0. Herrera, 25, had his two doubles prior to that, scoring both times, in the first and third innings.

Having been the starting center fielder for Philly the past two seasons, Herrera's position is pretty solid, with a .283 career batting average, 28 homers, 112 RBI and 45 steals. Altherr is a 26-year-old right fielder with a .295 average, nine home runs and 31 RBI. First baseman Tommy Jospeh, in his second year, is 25, and has 10 long balls and 28 RBI with a .245 average.

So, while the Phillies may not be going anywhere in particular this season, the future surrounding the middle of their batting order has a high degree of upside.

The win was in the opener of a four-game series in Atlanta. Game two is scheduled for Tuesday, 7:35 pm ET.