Dodgers' Rich Hill Loses Game, No-Hitter In 10th; Eric Hosmer Leads Royals 3rd Straight Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 23, 2017

American League

Hosmer: 3-4, HR, 4 RBI

Kansas City continues to play well enough to be in contention in both the AL Central and the wild card races. With their 6-4 victory over the visiting Rockies they picked up a game on Cleveland (losers to Boston, 6-1) and are tied with the LA Angels, 1/2 game behind division foe Minnesota for the second wild card spot.

The Royals third straight win was in doubt for much of the nine innings, the Rockies up 4-2 after six. In the seventh, Eric Hosmer got the Royals closer, singling home Whit Merrifield, and in the bottom of the ninth, still down a run, Hosmer came to the plate with the tying and winning runs on base, delivering a walk-off home run, taking the second of the three-game series with Colorado.

Hosmer's homer was his 21st of the season and his third hit of the game. Having a solid season, Hosmer is batting .319 and has driven in 73 runs. He's second in the AL in batting, though leader, Jose Altuve, has a safe advantage, at .358.

The loss was Colorado's fourth straight, endangering their playoff potential. Though they are just 1/2 game behind Arizona for the first wild card, their hold on the second spot has been slipping all through August, as the Brewers, Cardinals and Marlins are in the hunt, three, four and 5 1/2 games back, respectively.

The Royals will be seeking their fourth straight win and a sweep of the series in game three, Thursday, 2:15 pm ET.

National League

Hill's No-Hit Bid Spoiled

Taking the first two games of their four-game series in Pittsburgh, the LA Dodgers were looking good in game three, with starter, Rich Hill, cruising through eight innings with a perfect game. The problem, however, was that the Dodgers couldn't conjure up a run off Pittsburgh hurler, Trevor Williams, who had blanked the NL West leaders for eight full innings on seven hits.

Hill's perfect game disappeared in the ninth, when Mercer safe at first on error by third baseman Forsythe, but the Pirates couldn't break through, as Hill stiffened, getting the next three batters in order, taking a no-hitter into the 10th.

It was that extra inning that finally did Hill in, as Josh Harrison led off the frame with his 17th home run, a walk-off solo shot, ruining the night for Hill and the Dodgers, while sending nearly 20,000 Pirate fans home happy and with hope for the playoffs with the 1-0 victory.

Hill still is credited with a nine-inning no-hitter, but also suffers the loss. The 33-year-old is 9-5 with a 3.32 ERA. The Dodgers are in no danger, having the best record in baseball, at 89-36, and a 21-game lead over Arizona in the NL West. Pittsburgh is eight down in the NL Central and 7 1/2 out of the second wild card.

The series concludes Thursday. Game time is 4:05 pm ET.

Ricky Nolasco Shuts Out Mariners In 4-0 Angels' Win; Rich Hill, Chris Taylor Lead Dodgers Past Padres

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 1, 2017

American League

In his 12 seasons as a major leaguer, Ricky Nolasco has been around, playing for no less than five different teams, but the last time he's finished with a winning record was when he went coastal in 2013, logging a 13-11 record playing for the Marlins (5-8) and Dodgers (8-3).

Nolasco: CG Shutout

At 4-9, Nolasco may or may not finish over .500 this season, though his last two outings argue that he's headed in the right direction. On June 26, Nolasco threw five scoreless innings against the Dodgers in a 4-0 win. On Saturday, he upped his scoreless inning string to 14 with a complete game shutout, as the Angels moved a game over .500 (43-42) with another 4-0 win, this time over the visiting Mariners.

Scattering a mere three hits over the nine frames, Nolasco needed struck out seven and didn't issue a walk. All the Mariners could muster in terms of offense were three harmless singles, one each in the second, fifth and eighth innings. Only one runner even made it to second base. Nolasco is 112-112 in his MLB career.

The win didn't help the Angels in the West division standings as the Astros rallied for a 7-6 win over the Yankees, but the Angels are only a game out of the second wild card slot behind the Yankees (+2), Rays, and Twins.

Being early July, it's probably premature to be looking at wild card standings, though in the case of the AL West, Houston's 13 1/2 game lead does appear insurmountable. Nolasco and his Angels may be prudent to keep trudging forward, especially with Mike Trout due to return shortly from the 10-day disabled list.

Hill: 7 IP, 0 ER, 11 K

Evening the series at a game apiece, the Angels and Mariners play the rubber game Sunday, at 12:37 PT.

National League

Taylor: Grand Slam

Opening the month of July as hot as they ended June, the LA Dodgers won their third straight with a 8-0 whitewash of San Diego.

While his teammates were building a healthy lead, Dodger starter Rich Hill was blanking the hapless Padres over seven innings.

Hill struck out 11, walked one, allowed four hits, throwing 69 of 92 pitches for strikes. After Chris Taylor swatted a grand slam in the top of the seventh, Hill returned for one more frame and then headed to the bench. Taylor finished 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.

With the huge lead, Brock Stewart worked a hitless eighth and ninth innings for the win, which kept the Dodgers 3 1/2 ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West. Hill improved to 5-4, dropping his ERA to 4.00.

LA will be seeking the three-game sweep of the Padres when they return to Petco Park Sunday, 1:40 pm PT.

Hill is King on the Mound; A-Rod is A+

Thursday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League Alex Rodriguez (right) might as well form a league of his own. He's making all the other players in the American League look bad. Rodriguez capped a 6-inning ninth inning with his 10th home run of the season, a 2-out, 3-run, walk-off blast to center field, giving the Yankees an 8-6 win over Cleveland and a sweep of the 3-game series at Yankee Stadium. The Yanks trailed 6-2 entering their last at-bat, but reliever Joe Borowski only managed to get two outs while giving up 5 hits, a walk and 6 earned runs. A-Rod notched three more RBI to boost his total to 26, tops in the majors. The Yankees are in Fenway Park this weekend for a 3-game tilt with the Red Sox. Johan Santana improved to 3-1 as the Twins almost gave this one away, winning 6-5 at Seattle. Santana pitched 7 strong innings, allowing just 1 earned run on 4 hits and a walk,while striking out 7. Pat Neshek allowed a 3-run 9th inning homer by Raul Ibanez to cut the lead to 1, but Joe Nathan came in to get the final out and his 5th save. Santana's 7 Ks gave him 32 on the season, best in the majors. Arizona's Brandon Webb leads the National League with 28. Other AL Scores Boston 5 Toronto 3 - Manny Ramirez hits 1st home run. Chi White Sox 6 Texas 4 - Sammy Sosa, 4th HR; Jim Thome, 5 BB. National League Chicago's Rich Hill (right) turned in another strong performance last night, blanking the Atlanta Braves on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7 batters over 8 innings. Hill's pitching was backed by solo home runs from Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez, plus a run-scoring double off the bat of Mark DeRosa for the 3-0 road win. Ryan Dempster pitched a scoreless 9th for his 3rd save. Hill ran his scoreless streak to 16 innings and has allowed just one earned run in three starts this season. The only run came on a 6th inning solo homer by Milwaukee's Corey Hart. Since then, it's been all zeroes and Hill's ERA has continued to plummet to a major league-leading 0.41. Xavier Nady delivered a 2-run homer, a double and stroked a run-scoring single in the 8th inning to help the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-5 home win over Pittsburgh and maintain a 1/2 game lead over Houston in the contentious NL Central.

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Houston's Luke Scott cracked a 7th inning solo home run and followed that up with a game-winning, bases-loaded clearing 7th inning double to lead the Astros to an 8-6 road win over Cincinnati. Carlos Beltran went 4-6, drove in 2 and scored twice in the Mets 11-3 win at Florida. The win put New York into first place in the NL East, a half game beyond the Atlanta Braves. The Mets have won 3 straight and head to Atlanta for a pivotal 3-game series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Other NL Scores LA Dodgers 8 Colorado 1 - Jeff Kent, 3-4, 2 RBI. San Francisco 6 St. Louis 2 - Cards' 4th straight loss, last in NL Central. San Diego 11 Arizona 6 Philadelphia 4 Washington 2