Cabrera Evens Series for Tigers; Ryan Braun Gives Brewers 2-0 Edge; Theriot, Cards Get Even with Phillies

Players of the Day for Sunday, October 2, 2011

American League Divisional Series

Tigers 5 Yankees 3

Miguel Cabrera's two-run, first inning homer backed the pitching of Max Scherzer, who blanked the Yankees on four hits over six innings as the Tigers evened the five-game series at a game apiece.

Miguel Cabrera

Carbrera singled in the sixth, driving in Austin Jackson, who had reached on a Derek Jeter throwing error to lead off the inning. The Detroit slugged singled again in the eight and stole second, but did not score. Cabrera, Detroit's most productive hitter during the regular season, proved his playoff value by going 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Scherzer: 6 socreless

Detroit's relievers nearly gave the game away. Joaquin Benoit allowed a run in the 8th and closer Jose Valverde, who came on in anon-save situation in the 9th, gave up a leadoff home run to Nick Swisher, a triple to Jorge Posada and a walk to Russell Martin before retiring Andruw Jones on a sac fly that plated Posada with the third Yankee score. Valverde struck out Jeter, walked Curtis Granderson and got Robinson Cano, Saturday's hero, to ground meekly to second to end the threat and the game.

Game three is slated for Monday at 8:37 pm EDT in Detroit. Game one starters, Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia, will be on the mound after rain limited them to few pitches on Friday. Verlander worked only one inning, Sabathia, two, so both aces should be fresh.

National League Divisional Series

Brewers 9 Diamondbacks 4

Ryan Braun

Milwaukee's bats proved better than Arizona's pitching as the Brewers took their second straight at home, establishing a 2-0 lead in the series.

Ryan Braun singled, doubled and socked a first-inning, two-run homer, driving in three runs and scoring twice. In the 3rd, he doubled and scored as the Brewers began piling on the runs.

The game was tied 4-4 in the 6th, but Milwaukee batted around in the inning, scoring five runs, finalized by Braun's third hit of the night, a run-scoring single.

Game three will be played in Arizona on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 9:37 pm EDT.

Cardinals 5 Phillies 4

After getting beaten up in game one, the Cardinals sent their ace, Chris Carpenter to the mound in an attempt to cool off the hot Philly bats.

Ryan Theriot

It didn't seem to be going so well after the Phillies scored three runs in the first and added another in the second. Carpenter lasted only three innings, allowing four runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out only two batters.

But that was it for the Phillies, as a parade of six Cardinal relievers blanked them over the next six innings. Meanwhile, St. Louis was able to generate some offense of their own off Philly starter Cliff Lee, dinging him for three runs in the 4th, another in the 6th and finally knocking him out with no outs in the top of the 7th.

It was one of Lee's worst post-season starts ever. He gave up 12 hits and allowed five runs over six innings, walking two while striking out nine.

Second baseman Ryan Theriot, batting seventh in the lineup, was the game's hitting hero. Theriot got the Cards on the board with a double in the 4th inning and later scored the Cards' third run. In the 6th, Theriot's two-out double turned into a run when he scored on Jon Jay's single to left.

Albert Pujols provided the game's winning run in the next inning, driving in Allen Craig with a single after Craig led off the inning with a triple. When Lance Berkman singled and Pujols took third, that was all for Lee, though the Philly relief staff held the Cardinals scoreless after that.

Game three is Tuesday in St. Louis at 5:07 pm EDT.

Robert Andino Ruins Red Sox in 7-5 Oriole Win; Kershaw Wins 20th; Pujols, Berkman, Theriot Keep Cards Close

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 20, 2011

American League

Some things just aren't meant to be. Others are. For the Boston Red Sox, reaching the playoffs by winning the AL wild card seems to be a quest doomed to failure as they lost for the sixth time in eight games, this one another late inning bullpen meltdown against the bottom-feeding Baltimore Orioles, who defeated the Red Sox, 7-5, even as Boston's closest pursuer, Tampa Bay, was losing to the Yankees, 5-0.

Robert Andino

For Baltimore's Robert Andino, until this year a part-time utility infielder since 2004, his moment to shine was Tuesday night in Boston. After singling and scoring Baltimore's first run in the third inning, Andino singled and was stranded in the 4th inning and flied out to end the 6th. But, in the 8th inning, the scrappy second baseman approached the plate with the bases full of his teammates and Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon on the mound. Andino delivered a game-changing, two-out double to right field, plating all three runs and putting the O's up by two runs. Andino promptly stole third, but was stranded there when J.J. Hardy popped out to end the inning.

Nova: 16-4

Orioles' relievers put down the Red Sox calmly in the 8th and 9th, securing the win, keeping Boston just two games ahead of Tampa Bay in the wild card race. The Orioles and Red Sox square off again on Wednesday to complete the series, then, after a day off Thursday, the Sox head down to the Bronx for a three game series with the Yankees before returning to Baltimore for the final three game series of the regular season.

Granderson: 119 RBI

The Yankee win over Tampa Bay was doubly good, as they increased their lead in the AL East to six games over Boston and eight over the Rays. Their magic number dropped to three as rookie sensation Ivan Nova improved to 16-4 with 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball, giving up six hits, walking three and striking out three. Curtis Granderson increased his major league best RBI total to 119 with four RBI, three of them coming on a bases-loaded double in the second inning. The Yankees host the Rays in a double-header Wednesday.

In the West, Texas won its third straight, 7-2, at Oakland, while the second place Angels kept pace, outslugging Toronto, 10-6. The Rangers lead the Angles by five games with eight games left for both teams, who meet in the final three game series for both teams, at Anaheim, September 26-28. The Rangers' magic number is four.

National League

Kershaw: 20 Wins

LA's Clayton Kershaw joined Arizona's Ian Kennedy as the NL's second 20 game winner with a 2-1 win over the Giants, halting San Fran's winning streak at eight and keeping the Giants 5 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the desperate NL West race.

Lance Berkman

Kershaw scattered six hits over 7 1/3 innings, the only run coming with one out in the 7th on a home run by the Giants' Chris Stewart. Kershaw battled Tim Lincecum, who took the loss, falling to 13-13 on the year. After allowing Stewart's home run, reliever Kenley Jansen came on and struck out the next two batters to end the 8th inning and Javy Guerra closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning.

Kershaw now is tied for the NL lead with 20 wins and also leads the league in strikeouts (242) and ERA (2.27), the same as Detroit hurler, Justin Verlander, in the AL who leads all three categories with 24 wins, 244 Ks and a 2.29 ERA. The dual pitching triple crowns would be a first if they hold up for the remainder of the season. There have been 19 pitching triple crowns in the majors and seventeen of those pitchers have reached the Hall of Fame. Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter Johnston and Sandy Koufax each accomplished the feat three times, but never have two pitchers done it in the same season in opposing leagues.

Ryan Theriot

Albert Pujols

The loss by the Giants kept them in the chase for the NL West title, though time and games are dwindling fast. The Diamondbacks lost to Pittsburgh, 5-3, keeping the magic number at three. San Francisco plays three games at Arizona this weekend, beginning Friday.

In the wild card race, the Atlanta Braves held onto their slim 2 1/2 game lead with a 4-0 shutout over the Marlins, but the St. Louis Cardinals are not going away, as they opened a three-game home series with the Mets with an 11-6 victory. Alberrt Pujols went 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI (97) and scored the tying run in the 7th inning on Ryan Theriot's pinch-hit, bases-loaded ground rule double. Lance Berkman - 2-for-5, 1 run, 2 RBI - came home right behind Pujols, putting the Cardinals up 7-6. The Cards eventually scored six times in the frame, sealing the win.

Milwaukee kept cruising toward the NL Central crown with a 5-1 win over the Cubs. The Brewers lead St. Louis by 5 1/2 games, their magic number just three.

Price 4-Hits Blue Jays; Theriot Goes 5-for-6 as Cubs Sweep Brewers

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 25, 2010 American League For the Tampa Bay Rays, the wait for David Price to mature into a quality starter was a short one. Just two years into his major league career (he only pitched 14 innings in 2007 before his World Series heroics), Price is off to a 3-1 start and the Rays have a tight grip on first place in the AL East, 1 1/2 in front of the world champion Yankees. Price had all the goods on Sunday, hurling his first complete game shutout, a 4-hit, 9 K, 6-0 gem over the Toronto Blue Jays in front of the home crowd in Tampa. The 6'6" Nashville native needed just 109 pitches to shut down the Jays, throwing 76 strikes and walking just one batter. After some early struggles, Price settled in, get 12 straight outs from the 3rd inning into the 7th and finishing with a perfect 9th. The win dropped his ERA down to 2.20, along with a 1.05 WHIP. The 6-0 score could have been worse, were it not for the arm of Jose Molina, who threw out 4 runners at second, including the speedy Carl Crawford, twice. Molina's four throw-outs were the most in a single game since 2002. National League Though they are just 9-10, the Cubs find themselves in second place in the NL Central, 2 1/2 back of the Cardinals, the only team in the division with a winning record. Chicago completed a three-game sweep of division-rival Milwaukee, taking the series-ender by a 12-2 score, scoring in each of the first five innings and adding one more run in the 7th. Brewers infielders got to know leadoff hitter, Ryan Theriot, very well, as he went 5-for-6, with 4 singles and a double, scored twice and drove in three runs. Theriot also stole his 5th base of the season, swiping second in the 2nd inning. By the time Theriot and his teammates were through wearing out Milwaukee's pitchers, the game was completely in the hands of the Cubs. Making matters worse for Milwaukee was that they were swept on their home turf, and the scores were embarrassing: 8-1, 5-1 and 12-2. Theriot has had multiple hits in each of his last five games, going 14-for-25 (.560) over that span. Oddly enough, the Brewers had just beaten up on Pittsburgh, 8-0 and 20-0, prior to their series with Chicago.

Slam Dance: Longoria, Theriot Blast Off

Players of the Day for Friday, May 1, 2009 American League Four-run homers were the order of the day in both leagues on Friday's menu. In Tampa, Evan Longoria launched a 5th inning, bases-loaded round-tripper in a 6-run Rays' uprising, highlighting a 6-2 beat down of the Boston Red Sox. It was the second straight win over Boston, who came into Tampa riding an 11-game win streak, but Longoria and his teammates have made sure to slow Boston's momentum. The grand slam was Longoria's only hit in three at-bats, but it extended his recent hitting and RBI streak to five straight games. The Tampa third baseman has driven in 12 runs over that span and is hitting .364 for the year. He has 7 homers and his 28 RBI leads the AL. National League The Cubs usually get their long balls from Alfonso Soriano or Aramis Ramirez, but with the bases stuffed in the 6th inning Friday night, light-hitting shortstop, Ryan Theriot steeped to the plate and promptly belted his first home run of the season and just the 8th of his 5-year major league career. His bomb - his only hit in 5 at-bats - turned a 5-2 Florida lead into a 6-5 Cubs advantage. Chicago added a pair of runs in the 7th and Florida got one in the 9th for an 8-6 Chicago victory. The win evened Chicago's record at 11-11, 5 games back in the NL Central. For the Marlins, the loss was their 8th in their last 11 games. Despite that horrible run, they remain 2 games to the good over Philadelphia in the NL East.