Ryan Rayburn Goes Deep Twice as Indians Pound Phillies; Rickie Weeks Drives in Five as Brewers Blast Pirates

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 30, 2013

American League

Double-digits were the order of the day on Tuesday. Across the major leagues, five different teams scored at least 10 runs, but the Cleveland Indians topped them all, smashing seven homers in a 14-2 squashing of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ryan Raburn

Cleveland hitters made a mockery of Roy Halladay (2-3), knocking him out in 3 2/3 innings with eight runs off nine hits, three of them home runs.

Cleveland right fielder Ryan Raburn wasn't among Hallady's victimizers; he waited until the relievers came on, belting a two-run long ball in the fifth and a solo blast in the seventh. Earlier, Raburn singled and scored as the Indians plated four runs in the fourth inning.

After a slow start, Raburn's caught fire, racking four home runs in his past two games. In the series finale with Kansas City on Sunday, he went deep twice with four RBI. All of his homers and seven of his eight RBI have come in the past two games.

The Indians host the Phillies for game two of the interleague series Wednesday at 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

Rickie Weeks

Milwaukee took itssecond straight from the Pirates in a 12-8 slug-fest, sending St. Louis - a 2-1 winner over the Reds - into first place in the stifling NL Central. The Cards lead Pittsburgh and Milwaukee by 1/2 game; Cincinnati is a mere one game out.

The two teams combined for 29 hits against a total of 11 pitchers. Rickie Weeks drove in five runs, going 3-for-5 with a single, double and his second home run of the season, a three-run, eighth inning belt that advanced the Brewers' 9-8 lead to the final tally.

Earlier, Weeks walked and scored in the second inning, doubled and scored in the third and singled home a pair of runs in the fourth.

Entering the game batting an anemic .167, Weeks batted from the five hole in the order, responding with his best game of the season, his average magically levitating to a nearly-reasonable .191.

The Brewers will be seeking the home sweep and a possible look at first place in the division Wednesday afternoon at 1:10 pm EDT.

Rickie Weeks Keeps Brewers in Contention for Wild Card; Francisco Liriano's 1-Hit Effort Maintains White Sox Lead

Players of the Day for Saturday, September 15, 2012

American League

Pennant races in the American League are all now tighter than they have been all season, down to two main teams in each of the three divisions.

In the East, the Yankees scored a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays while the Orioles were losing at Oakland, 5-2, wresting a one game lead from Baltimore and putting Tampa four back.

The West is now down to a slim two games, after Oakland's win and Texas' 8-6 loss to Seattle.

Francisco Liriano

The White Sox retained their one-game bulge over Detroit as both teams registered identical 5-3 victories on the road, the Tigers topping Cleveland and the Sox knocking off Minnesota.

Chicago got a special performance out of Francisco Liriano, a starter with a world of talent who hasn't had the best of seasons, but who pitched well enough on Saturday to keep the White Sox in front.

Liriano (6-11) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, walking two and striking out nine, but was tagged by Trevor Plouffe, who launched his 22nd home run off the Chicago starter with two outs, after Liriano had plunked Justin Morneau and put him on base.

The belt made the score 4-2 in favor of Chicago. Liriano struck out the next batter to end the inning and his day on the bump. Both teams added single runs in the ninth to produce the final score.

The Sox have won two straight and will conclude their series, seeking the sweep, Sunday afternoon in Minnesota.

National League

In the National League, the division races are all runaways, but the focus is on the final playoff spot, the second wild card currently being contested by no less than six teams.

Rickie Weeks

While the Phillies made great strides earlier in the week, winning seven straight, they have lost two in a row now, and have been overtaken by Milwaukee, another team which has seemingly come out of nowhere and into contention.

After their 9-6 win over the Mets, the Brewers find themselves just 2 1/2 games behind the Cardinals and Dodgers, the two teams currently tied for the last wild card. The Braves have pretty much locked away to first wild card with a seven game lead over LA and St. Louis.

Rickie Weeks led Milwaukee's 12-hit attack, going 2-for-3 with a double and his 20th home run of the season, a fourth-inning, two run blast in a five-run Milwaukee frame, turning a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead that the Brewers would not give away.

Weeks finished with three RBI and two runs.

The Brewers host the Mets in the series' rubber game, Sunday afternoon.

Josh Reddick Helps A's Win 6th Straight; Jonathan Lucroy Drives in 7, Rickie Weeks, 5-for-5 in Brewer Loss

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 30, 2011

American League

The Oakland A's won their sixth straight, to remain one game up on Baltimore for the first wild card position, but, more surprisingly, only four back of Texas in the AL West race.

Oakland banged out 13 hits in a 12-7 win at Cleveland, sweeping the four-game series as Cleveland's tailspin continued. The Indians, once leaders in the Central division, have dropped five straight and 14 of their last 15 and are now hopelessly out of contention for any post-season play.

Josh Reddick

Leading the A's assault was Josh Reddick, acquired by the A's in an off-season deal with the Red Sox. Reddick went 3-for-5 with his 27 homer of the season, a two-run, fifth inning blast and drove in three runs.

Reddick is riding a five game hit streak, with multiple knocks in four of those games and has 69 RBI for the A's.

Oakland outscored Cleveland 30-12 in the four game series and now head home to host the Red Sox in a three game set starting Friday.


National League

Lucroy: GS, 7 RBI

Weeks: 5-for-5, 4 R

For Milwaukee, it's been a season of disappointments, so much so that even when a player has a big game the Brewers can't do enough to take advantage of it.

Such was the case in Milwaukee's 12-11 loss to the even-more-despondent Chicago Cubs, as Jonathan Lucroy delivered a monster game, going 3-for-5 with seven RBI.

Lucroy began his batting attack with a grand slam in the third inning that put the Brewers up by a 5-3 score. In the sixth, he singled in a pair of runs and singled again in the eighth, completing the Mulwaukee scoring with another RBI. That put the Brewers up, 11-9, but, the bullpen was unable to hold the lead, allowing the Cubs to plate three in the ninth for the walk-off win.

Lucroy's seven RBI were a career high. On base each time he drove in a run was Rickie Weeks, who went 5-for-5 and scored four times.