Red Sox Eliminate Yankees Behind Rick Porcello

Players of the Day for Tuesday, October 9, 2018

American League

Red Sox 4 Yankees 3

Porcello: Game 4 winner

Despite a shaky inning, Craig Kimbrel induced a game-ending ground ball from Gleyber Torres, sending the Boston Red Sox on to the AL championship series.

Kimbrel got the final out of the game in the bottom of the ninth, but not before he had walked two, given up a single, hit a batsmen with the bases loaded and surrendered a sac fly, leaving the tying run on second and the winning run on first base with two outs.

Remarkably, Kimbrel earned his second save of the series, nearly ruining the fine effort put in by starting pitcher, Rick Porcello.

Last appearing in a relief role in game one, Porcello worked five innings as the Red Sox built their lead, finally giving up a run in the bottom of the fifth, when Brett Gardner drove in Gary Sanchez from third with a sac fly.

Otherwise, Porcello was tough as nails, allowing four hits, no walks, striking out one. The victory was his first in post-season play after losing three games in 11 appearances with Detroit and Boston.

Porcello was 17-7 during the regular season, a stalwart hurler in the best season ever for the Red Sox franchise. Boston won 108 games, taking the AL East by eight games.

The Red Sox will host games one and two of the championship best-of-seven series with Houston, champions of the AL West. The Astros were 103-59 and eliminated the Cleveland Indians in three games.

Game one is scheduled for Saturday, October 13, at 8:09 pm ET.

National League

There were no National League games on Tuesday. The NL championship series begins Friday in Milwaukee with the Brewers hosting the Dodgers. Game time is 8:09 pm ET.

Eric Thames Blasts Game-Winner For Brewers; Rick Porcello Tosses One-Hitter For Red Sox

Players of the Day for Friday, August 3, 2018

Porcello stymies Yankee

American League

Boston drubbed the Yankees, 15-7, in the opener of their four games at Fenway Park on Thursday, and on Friday, they came back for another win, as Rick Porcello tossed a one-hit, complete game, 4-1 win.

Facing one batter more than the minimum, Porcello was, for the most part, untouchable. The sole hit for New York came in the top of the third. Miguel Andujar connected for a solo home run, cutting into Boston's 4-0 lead, but it proved to be all the Yankees' could muster off the Boston righty, as Porcello retired the next 21 straight batters.

Nothing short of brilliant, Porcello fanned nine and needed just 86 pitches for his 10 career complete game.

Porcello tied the Yankees' Luis Severino for the AL lead in wins, with 14. Severino suffered the loss, his third straight, dropping his record to 14-5. Porcello improved to 14-5.

The victory pushed the Red Sox lead in the AL East to 7 1/2 games. The Yankees have lost three straight but remain the wild card leader, with a 4 1/2-game lead over Oakland.

Game three of the series is scheduled to begin play Saturday, 4:10 pm EDT at Fenway Park.

Thames: Game-winning HR

National League

Eric Thames' three-run homer with two down in the bottom of the ninth propelled the Brewers to a 5-3 victory over the Rockies, Friday night in Milwaukee.

Thames, who spent three years playing professional baseball in Korea, had just one hit on the night, but made it count in the most crucial of situations.

With the Rockies ahead, 3-2, Colorado closer Wade Davis got two outs in the ninth before walking Jesus Aguilar and Travis Shaw, putting the ever-dangerous Thames at the plate. Orlando Arcia had been inserted for Aguilar as a pinch runner, but he never needed his speed, trotting home in front of Shaw on Thames' 404-foot rip into the right field stands.

From late April though early June Thames was on the DL and he's still not completely on his game, with 14 homers and a mere 34 RBI in under 200 at-bats. He's recently back from a 10-day stint on the DL. Since rejoining the Brewers on July 24, he's hit two homers and driven in six runs.

Both teams are vying either for their respective division titles or a wild card spot. The Brewers trail the Cubs by a game in the NL Central and hold the top position in the wild card hunt. Colorado has lost three straight and trail the Dodgers and Diamondbacks by two games in the West.

The teams will get together again in Milwaukee for game two of the series, Saturday, 7:10 pm EDT.

Rick Porcello's 3-Hit Shutout, Victor Martinez Grand Slam Lead Tigers past Rays; Travis Ishikawa Powers Giants over Cubs; Giants Win Protest

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 20, 2014

American League

There was nothing but good news for the Tigers on Wednesday, as they clubbed the Rays, 6-0, while their two main rivals were going down to defeat.

Porcello: 3-hitter

Rick Porcello put down 23 straight batters, eventually finishing with a three-hit shutout, his 14th win against eight losess. Porcello gave up a double to Ben Zobrist with one down in the first inning, but didn't allow a hit or a walk until James Loney led off the eighth inning for the Rays with a single. Desmond Jennings' single in the ninth was the only other hit the Rays could muster.

Martinez: GS, 5RBI

Porcello struck out four, didn't allow any bases on balls and threw 76 of 104 pitches for strikes.

Meanwhile, Victor Martinez was taking care of the offense for the Tigers, going 2-for-5 with five RBI on a run-scoring double in the first and a grand slam homer in the seventh inning. It was home run #25 for Martinez, who has amassed 79 RBI thus far in the season.

The win put the Tigers into sole possession of the second wild card spot, as Seattle lost to the Phillies, 4-3, but they also gained on the Royals - 5-2 losers at Colorado - and are just one game behind Kansas City in the AL Central race.

Detroit faces Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field Thursday at 1:10 pm EDT in the finale of their three-game series.

Winners of five of their last seven, the Tigers still appear on track for the AL Central crown. They host Kansas City for three games September 8, 9 and 10, and play at KC on September 19, 20 and 21.

National League

Travis Ishikawa

The Giants topped the Cubs, 8-3, Wednesday and had a loss erased as MLB upheld San Francisco's protest of Tuesday's rain-shortened, 2-0, Cubs victory.

Wednesday's win was powered by the pitching of Jake Peavy, who held the Cubs to two runs over seven innings, and Travis Ishikawa, who went 3-for-5 with a single, two doubles, three RBI and a run scored.

Ishikawa doubled home a pair of runs in the first inning and another in the third, scoring on Andrew Susac's two-run homer. With a four-run lead after one, Peavy relaxed and managed the Chicago hitters, though he did allow 10 hits.

In a rare move, Major League Baseball upheld the Giants' protest over the handling of the tarp in Tuesday's game, agreeing that the Cubs' ground crew did not get the tarp on the infield in time to prevent serious water buildup, leading to the game being called after 4 1/2 innings and awarding the Cubs the win.

The MLB ruling calls for the game to be continued on Thursday, starting at 5:05 pm EDT, prior to game three of the series at Wrigley Field, at 8:05 pm EDT.

With the corrected standings, the Giants trial the Dodgers by three games in the West division, but lead the Braves by 1 1/2 and the Pirates by 2 1/2 in the race for the second wild card.

Rick Porcello Throws Seven Scoreless as Tigers Maintain Central Lead; Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey Spark Giants over Braves

Players of the Day for Friday, June 14, 2013

American League

Rick Porcello

While the Indians and Royals each won their third straight, the Detroit Tigers stayed 4 1/2 clear of Cleveland and five up on KC with a 4-0 win over Minnesota in the opener of a three-game series at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Rick Porcello (4-3) fanned four of the first five batters he faced en route to seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, striking out five.

The Twins never got a runner past second base as Porcello and a trio of relievers kept them in check the entire nine innings. Porcello finished strong, setting down the last eight batters he faced in order. Porcello threw 63 of 94 pitches for strikes, getting first strikes on 16 of the 23 batters he opposed.

Detroit - winners of six of their last eight games - scored all of its runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Prince Fielder's two-run double which opened the scoring. Fielder has 54 RBI, fourth-best in the AL.

Game two of the three-game series is set for 7:15 pm EDT, Saturday night.

National League

Bumgarner:
7 Scoreless

Posey: 3 Doubles

San Francisco took the first of a three-game set at NL East leader, Atlanta, off a solid pitching performance by Madison Bumgarner, who improved to 6-4 with seven innings of scoreless ball in the 6-0 Giants' win.

Bumgarner struck out ten, issued just one walk and allowed two hits over his seven innings, throwing 69 of 108 pitches for strikes. The Giants built a lead with single runs in each of the first three innings, adding another in the fifth and two more in the seventh.

Buster Posey doubled three times in five at-bats, scoring in the third and fifth innings and driving in a run in the seventh, raising his average to a stout .313.

The win left the Giants 1 1/2 behind Arizona in the NL West. Colorado is 2 1/2 out, with San Diego four back, in the most contentious race in the majors.

Atlanta's loss was their fourth straight, but no teams in the division seem capable of taking advantage. The Braves continue to lead the East by 5 1/2 over Washington and 6 1/2 over the Phillies. The loss was just the eighth in 29 home games for the Braves.

San Francisco will look to upend the Braves again on Saturday, in a 4:05 pm EDT afternoon start.

Today's Trivia: As of today, who is the current active NL leader in batting average? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: On October 4, 1986, Minnesota's Greg Gagne hit inside-the-park homers in consecutive at-bats at the Metrodome, in a 7-3 win over the White Sox.