Hairston Drives in Five as Mets Roll Phillies; Edwin Jackson Hurls 9-Hit Shutout

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 16, 2011

American League

Jackson: 9-Hitter

For obvious reasons, one doesn't see too many 9-hit shutouts, but that's exactly what White Sox starter Edwin Jackson threw at the Detroit Tigers in a battle for supremacy in the AL Central.

Jackson worked into and out of trouble all game long, allowing runners on base in every inning except the 1st and 5th, protecting a 2-0 lead until the Sox finally broke through for three runs in the top of the 9th for the 5-0 final score.

Despite the multiple hits and a pair of walks surrendered, Jackson needed only 101 pitches to notch his first complete game shutout of the season, getting 18 outs on ground balls and being aided by two double plays turned by the White Sox infield.

The win was the second straight for Chicago over Detroit. The White Sox have taken back first place in the division by a game over the Tigers and will be seeking the series sweep Sunday afternoon.

Hairston: 5 Ribbies

National League

Even though they're 11 games back of the front-running Phillies in the NL East, the Mets aren't intimidated by their division rivals, showing them up in both the hitting and pitching departments in an 11-3 rout.

Jonathan Niese allowed six hits and one earned run over seven innings, striking out six, while his teammates piled on Cole Hamels, rocking the Philly starter for eight hits, four walks and seven runs over 4 1/3 innings.

Scott Hairston took advantage of a rare start - playing in place of Carlos Beltran, who was held out of the game with the flu - to rack up five RBI with a pair of doubles and a three-run homer in five at-bats.

Hairston has only 89 at-bats for the year, but has managed to smack five homers and drive in 18 runs, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

Hairston Socks a Pair as Mets Win; Danks One-Hits Dodgers Over Five

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 13, 2011

American League

John Danks

Riding five solid innings from starting pitcher John Danks, the Chicago White Sox beat up the LA Dodgers, 6-1, in Cactus League play.

Danks earned his first victory of the Spring, allowing one harmless hit over five scoreless innings, walking three and fanning a pair of batters.

Following a 2010 campaign in which he went 15-11, his third straight winning season for the Sox, Danks is tuning up well and expected to be a solid starter in the coming season. He needs more work on his control, having walked 8 batters in just 10 1/3 innings, but he's kept runners on base from scoring for the most part, registering an ERA of 1.74 in three games.

National League

For the NY Mets, keeping outfielders healthy has been an issue the past few years, which is one of the reasons they fetched Scott Hairston away from San Diego in the off-season.

Scott Hairston

Despite batting just .210, Hairston played in 108 games for the Padres last season, but his performance was so far below his previous seasons, the Mets saw some promise and make the deal.

Mets' brass must have been high-fiving in their skybox on Sunday as Hairston, playing right field, singled, socked a pair of solo homers and scored three times in four at-bats, helping the Mets to a 13-3 feast courtesy of some unusually accommodating St. Louis pitchers.

Hairston is 11-for-27 (.407) in ten Spring games.