Cardinals Down Cubs on Yaider Molina, Paul DeJong HRs; Marcus Semien Leads A's Past Rangers

Players of the Day for Saturday, September 21, 2019

Semien: 3-3, HR, 3BB

American League

The Oakland A's are serious about making the playoffs.

Winning their fourth straight and 15th in their last 18 games, the A's pounded the Rangers, 12-3, maintaining a two-game lead in the wild card race over Tampa Bay.

Oakland belted out 14 hits and worked nine walks against eight Texas hurlers. Leadoff hitter, Marcus Semien, led the assault, going 3-for-3 with two singles and a home run. He was on base six times, as he walked in his other three plate appearances.

Semien led off the A's first with a single and scored on Matt Olson's single to right. He also walked later in the inning as the A's piled seven runs on the visiting Rangers.

In the second, Semien walked, forcing in a run, then socked his 32nd homer of the year in the fifth inning, a solo shot that put the A's up 10-0. He scored twice and drove in two runs.

Over his last 15 games, as the A's have gone 12-3, Semien has been sensational, batting .371, with six homers and 15 RBI. He's driven in 90 runs this season and scored 119 runs. His totals for batting average, runs, home runs and RBI all all career highs for the seven-year veteran.

Tampa Bay kept pace with the A's winning, 5-4 over Boston. Cleveland dropped a game behind the Rays, losing, 9-4, to the visiting Phillies. Each of the three wild card contenders have seven games remaining.

National League

Molina's HR tied game.

Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong socked back-to-back 9th inning home runs off Chicago closer, Craig Kimbrel, and the Cardinals took their third straight over the Cubs at Wrigley Field with a 9-8 victory Saturday.

On the wrong end of an 8-7 score after eight innings, St. Louis struck quickly against Kimbrel and the Cubs. Molina led off the inning with his ninth homer of the season, tying the game. DeJong followed with his 28th, a towering 440-foot blast that stood up as the game-winner when Carlos Martinez got the final three outs in the bottom of the frame.

DeJong's HR won game.

The win left the Cubs stunned with their fifth straight defeat and third straight at the hands of the Cardinals. Chicago fell six games back in the NL Central, and are in danger of being eliminated not just from the division race, but from the wild card as well.

Washington, holder of the top wild card, kept a one-game lead over Milwaukee with a 10-4 win over the Marlins. The Brewers won their fifth straight, dropping the Pirates, 10-1. Chicago trails the Brewers in the wild card race by three games with seven left to play.

The Cardinals, winners of four straight, will be looking for a four-game sweep of the Cubs when the two meet in the series finale, Sunday, 2:20 pm ET.

On the verge of clinching a post-season spot after a three-year playoff absence, St. Louis plays three games in Arizona next week before returning home for a final, three-game series with the Cubs.

Cleveland's Shane Bieber Tosses One-Hitter at Jays; Paul DeJong Belts 3 HRs as Cardinals Top Pirates

Players of the Day for Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Bieber throws 1-hitter

American League

Shane Bieber took a no=hitter into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hit, complete game shutout in Cleveland's 4-0 win at Toronto.

Bieber gave up a ground rule double to Eric Sogard to open Toronto's seventh, but, other than plunking Lourdes Guriel Jr., set down the final batters without incident or hits, striking out four of the final eight Blue Jay batters.

Bieber issued just one walk, to Vlad Guerrero Jr., in the second inning. Guerrero was erased on a double play, after which Bieber set down the next 12 batters in order prior to Sogard spoiling the no-hit bid.

Throwing 68 of 102 pitches for strikes, Bieber fanned 10 and improved his record to 10-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 21 starts.

Cleveland's win, combined with Minnesota's 10-7 loss to the Yankees, boosted the Indians to within two games of the AL Central leader.

Winners of nine of their last 11, the Indians head to Kansas City on Thursday for a four-game series. First pitch for game one is slated for 8:10 pm ET.

DeJong socks 3 homers

National League

All of a sudden, the St. Louis Cardinals are contending for first place in the NL Central.

The Cardinals won their fourth straight and seventh in their last eight games with a 14-9 victory at Pittsburgh that included a nine-run second inning and three homers by shortstop, Paul DeJong.

Down 2-0 as they opened the second, DeJong knotted the score with a two-run homer and sparked a huge rally. Later in the frame, he doubled and scored as the Cardinals sent 13 batters to the plate.

DeJong socked another two-run homer in the fourth and homered again to lead off the eighth inning. He finished 4-for-4 with five RBI and four runs.

The win kept the Cardinals 1/2-game behind the Cubs in the division. Chicago was a 4-1 winner at San Francisco Wednesday. Milwaukee is also in the division mix, just two games out of first place.

St. Louis will be seeking a four-game sweep of the Pirates when they meet on field Thursday, at 12:35 pm ET.

Oscar Mercado 5-for-5 as Indians Win 6th Straight; Paul DeJong Rallies Cardinals Past Reds, 12-11

Players of the Day for Friday, July 19, 2019

Mercado: 5-for-5

American League

With a 10-5 win over visiting Kansas City, the Cleveland Indians gained another game on Central division-leading Minnesota, as the Twins dropped a 5-3 decision to Oakland Friday night.

Their sixth straight win left the Indians a mere three games off the pace, keyed by rookie center fielder, Oscar Mercado's 5-for-5 effort.

Mercado stroked four singles and a double, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs. In 51 games, the fleet 24-year-old, who hails from Tampa, Florida, is batting a brisk .299 with seven homers, 25 RBI, 35 runs and eight stolen bases. Over his last seven games, Mercado has blazed a .455 average with three homers and eight RBI.

Batting second in the order, behind perennial all-star, Francisco Lindor, Mercado has added speed, power, defense and consistency to the Indian offense.

The win came in the opener of a three-game series with the Royals. Game two is Saturday, 7:10 pm ET.

DeJong: 2-4, HR, 4 RBI

National League

No matter if the score is 1-0 or 19-6, a win is a win in baseball and that's all the St. Louis Cardinals needed Friday night to stay relevant in the wild card and Central division races.

Chalking up a 12-11 win over the Reds in the second of a four-game set at Cincinnati, the Cardinals erased an early 7-0 deficit with 10 runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh. A sore spot all season, the Cardinal bullpen nearly gave it all back, allowing the Reds two runs in each of the eighth and ninth innings.

In the middle of the fray was St. Louis shortstop, Paul DeJong, who doubled, drove in two, and scored in the sixth, then stroked a two-run homer (his 15th) in the seventh.

DeJong has been steady this season, batting .254 with 15 homers and 44 RBI. St. Louis is 6-2 since the all-star break, keeping them close in the Central division. Their win moved them past Milwaukee (a 10-7 loser at Arizona), into second place, 2 1/2 back of the Cubs. They are tied with the Phillies for the second wild card spot, a game behind the Nationals.

Game three of the series starts at 7:10 pm ET, Saturday in Cincinnati.

Marwin Gonzalez Leads Astros Closer To NL West Title; Paul DeJong Lifts Cardinals Over Atlanta

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Marwin Gonzalez

American League

Houston took another step toward capturing the AL West flag for a second straight season with a 7-0 wipeout of Seattle Tuesday night.

Marwin Gonzalez belted his 16th home run of the season, upping Houston's lead to 4-0 in the third inning with the two-run blast. In the eighth, Gonzalez walked and scored the last of the Astro runs. He also singled in the second but was left stranded.

The win left Houston with a five-game lead in the division, as Oakland lost their third straight, losing 9-7 to the Angels. The magic number for the Astros to clinch is seven. They host the Mariners on Wednesday prior to a three-game series with the Angels. If they do capture the flag, Houston will do it on the road. They close out the season with three games at Toronto and four at - ironically - Baltimore, which has the worst record in the majors, 43-108.

Elsewhere, the Yankees prevented the Red Sox from clinching the AL East with a 3-2 win at Boston. The Red Sox need one win or one Yankee loss to wrap up the division. At 103-48, the Red Sox have the best record in the majors and a 10 1/2 game lead over New York in the division. New York looks forward to hosting the single-elimination wild card game against Oakland. They have a 2 1/2 game lead over the A's in the wild card race.

Paul DeJong

National League

With the playoff race in the National League about as tight as it could get, results from Tuesday's games provided a little breathing room for St. Louis as the Cardinals exacted an 8-1 triumph at Atlanta.

The win was the second straight for the Cardinals over the Braves, led by Paul Dejong's 2-for-5 night at the plate.

DeJong socked a two-run homer in the fourth, putting the Cardinals up by a 2-1 score, and added to the St. Louis lead by singling and scoring in the eighth, as the Cardinals tacked on four runs.

The home run by DeJong was his 19th, the three RBI increased his seasonal total to 62.

While the Cardinals gained in the wild card race, they did not pick up any ground on the Cubs, who hammered Arizona, 9-1, virtually eliminating the Diamondbacks from contention. With Milwaukee's 3-1 loss to the Reds, the Cubs lead the NL Central by 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee and 5 1/2 over St. Louis.

In the West, the Dodgers dropped Colorado, 3-2, in 10 innings, opening up a 1 1/2-game lead in the division. The second place Rockies slipped 1 1/2 behind the Cardinals for the second wild card spot. Milwaukee continues to hold the first position by two games over St. Louis.

Atlanta saw its lead in the East narrowed to 5 1/2 games as the Phillies topped the Mets, 5-2. Even the Nationals were given hope, 6 1/2 back after defeating Miami, 4-2.

The Cardinals will be looking for the sweep when they take the field in Atlanta Wednesday. Game time is 12:10 pm EDT. The Braves have lost four straight.

Cardinals Dump Reds, 12-5, Behind Paul DeJong's 5 RBI; Cleveland's Cory Kluber Blanks Rays For 17th Win

Players of the Day for Friday, August 31, 2018

American League

Kluber: 7 IP, 0 ER, 8 K

Joining New York's Luis Severino as the only 17-game winners in the majors, Cory Kluber outdeuled Tampa Bay's Tyler Glasnow, blanking the Rays on two hits over seven innings as the Indians took the first of three by a 3-0 score.

Kluber and Glasnow traded goose-eggs for six innings, but the Tribe broke through in the bottom of the seventh on Edgar Encarnacion's 29th homer of the season, a 404-foot solo shot.

His job done, Kluber, who fanned eight, relaxed on the bench as Cody Allen and Brad Hand turned in hitless eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Hand picked up his seventh save for the Indians since coming over from San Diego in late July. Hand has 31 saves on the season, 24 of them with the Padres. In August, Hand was terrific, appearing in 12 games, saving six, with 19 strikeouts in 12.1 innings and a 1.46 ERA.

The win kept Cleveland's lead - the largest in the majors - at 14 games over the Twins. Minnesota dropped Texas on Friday, 10-7.

Game two of the Rays at Cleveland is Saturday, 7:10 pm EDT.

National League

DeJong: 2-for-5, HR, 5 RBI

The best quality baseball in the majors is being played in the National League Central division, where the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers each have very good prospects to make the post-season.

Over their past ten games, the Cubs and Cardinals both were 8-2, while the Brewers went 7-3. Currently, the Cubs lead the division by 3 1/2 over St. Louis and four games over Milwaukee. The Cardinals hold the top wild card position by 1/2-game over the Brewers, who themselves are 2 1/2 clear of the Dodgers and three better than the Phillies and Rockies.

On Friday, the Cardinals opened a three-game series with the Reds in St. Louis with a definitive, 12-5 victory. After the Reds scored a pair of runs in the first inning, the Cards answered with four in the second and three more in the third. When Cincinnati closed the gap with three eighth inning runs, the Cardinals again responded with five in the bottom half of the inning.

Providing sufficient pop at the plate was St. Louis shortstop, Paul DeJong, with a three-run homer (14) in the third and a two-run single in the eighth. DeJong, currently in his second season, was 2-for-5 with a career-high five RBI and two runs.

The Cardinals gained a game on the Cubs, as Chicago dropped a 2-1, 10-inning decision at Philadelphia. 28-13 since July 19, St. Louis hosts the Reds Saturday, 7:15 pm EDT.

Justin Smoak Drives In 6 As Jays Top Yankees; Paul DeJong's 2 HR Lead Cardinals Past Mets

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 1, 2018

American League

Smoak: 2HR, GS, 6 RBI

Trailing the Yankees 4-1 entering the seventh inning, Justin Smoak took matters into his own hands, socking a two-run homer in the seventh to get the Blue Jays closer, then whacking a grand slam in the eighth to give Toronto a split in the four-game series with a 7-4 come-from-behind win.

Smoak, now in his fourth season as a Blue Jay after four full seasons with Seattle, emerged in 2017 as a legitimate power puncher, socking 38 home runs and 90 RBI while upping his batting average to a career-best .280.

He's off to a fast start this season going 7-for-14 (.467) in four games. Sunday's six RBI gave him eight on the season, tops in the majors.

On Monday, the Blue Jays host the White Sox at 7:07 pm EDT. The Yankees will be at Yankee Stadium for their home opener against Tampa Bay at 1:10 pm EDT.

National League

DeJong: 2 HR, 2 RBI

Spoiling the Mets' chance to open the season with a series sweep, the St. Louis Cardinals got their first win of 2018 with a 5-1 victory over the Mets at Citi Field in New York.

Cardinal starter, Luke Weaver, allowed one run over five innings, good enough for the win as St. Louis built a lead, sterted by Paul DeJong's solo homer in the second.

After Weaver departed, the bullpen came on to hold the Mets scoreless over the final four innings. DeJong added an insurance homer in the eighth, capping off the scoring for St. Louis.

With a solid rookie season under his belt (.285, 25 HR, 65 RBI), DeJong looks like a keeper at shortstop for St. Louis.

The Cardinals improved to 1-2, while the Mets dropped to 2-1, falling into a tie for second place with Atlanta, trailing 3-0 Washington in the NL East.

Remaining at home, the Mets start a series with Philadelphia on Monday while the Cardinals head to Milwaukee for another road series.

Cory Kluber Goes Distance In Indians' 20th Straight; Paul DeJong Helps Cardinals To 4th Straight Win

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 12, 2017

American League

Kluber: 2-hit shutout

It was fitting that Cleveland's ace, Corey Kluber, would be on the mound when the Indians tied the American League record for consecutive wins.

Kluber tossed a five-hit shutout over the visiting Tigers, blanking Detroit for a 2-0 win, tying the 2002 Oakland A's of "Moneyball" fame.

Francisco Lindor led off the first inning with his 30th home run, staking Kluber to a 1-0 advantage and tacked on another run in the sixth when Carlos Santana scored off a wild pitch. Kluber fanned eight and didn't issue a walk, improving his record to 16-4, tying teammate Trevor Bauer and Boston's Chris Sale at the top of the AL win chart. Kluber's 2.44 ERA also leads the league, as does his incredible 0.87 WHIP. His 16-4 record is at 80 percent (.800), tops in the league. Boston's Drew Pomeranz is closest, at 15-5, or .750.

The win put the Indians one step closer to history and to clinching the AL Central. With 17 games left on their schedule and a 13 1/2 game lead on the Twins, Cleveland's magic number is four. They've passed the Houston Astros for the best record in the league which would give them home field advantage for the duration of their playoff run.

Cleveland will go for the AL record on Wednesday afternoon, when they host the Tigers in game three of their series, starting at 12:10 pm ET.

The 1935 Chicago Cubs (21) and 1916 New York Giants (26) are the only teams since 1900 to win at least 20 in a row and they are both National League teams.

DeJong is steady at short

National League

With their fourth straight win - a rollicking, 13-4 romp over the Reds, the St. Louis Cardinals are chasing down the Cubs in the NL Central, now just two games behind the defending National League champs.

St. Louis got fuel from rookie shortstop Paul DeJong who singled, doubled and homered in four at-bats, driving in two runs and scoring twice.

DeJong has been very steady all season, batting .292 with 22 home runs and 57 RBI.

The Cardinals were also the beneficiaries of nine walks issued by Cincinnati hurlers and also had seven extra base hits of their 14 total.

St. Louis trails Colorado by 3 1/2 games for the second wild card, mostly because the Rockies have won six straight.

The real race is in the division, however. Milwaukee is just 1/2 game behind the Cardinals in what could end up as a "win or go home" scenario for the division title.

The Cards will seek their fifth straight win when they host the Reds in game two of their three-game series at Busch Stadium, Wednesday at 8:15 pm ET.