Seth Smith 4-4, Steals Home In Baltimore Win; Max Scherzer Fans 11 For Nationals

Players of the Day for Thursday, May 4, 2017

American League

Smith: 4-4, Steals Home

Now in his 10th full season, Baltimore right fielder Seth Smith has been around, with stops in Colorado, Oakland, San Diego and Seattle, but he may have won over the hearts of Baltimore fans in his first season with the Orioles by his play thus far, especially what he did Thursday night.

Down, 2-0 in the third inning, Smith - who led off the game beating out an infield single but was stranded - singled again, this time to center, and moved to third on a bunt and a fielder's choice. With two down and runners on first and third, Smith and Manny Machado executed a double steal, with Smith scoring for the Orioles.

Smith was hardly done. Down 3-1 in the fourth, Smith doubled with two aboard, tying the game at three. When Manny Machado launched his xxx homer of the season, Smith scored along with J.J. Hardy, putting the Orioles up, 6-3, a lead they would not relinquish en route to an 8-3 victory.

Smith walked in the fifth and singled again in the seventh, completing a 4-for-4 effort with two runs, two RBI a steal of home, having reached base in all five of his plate appearances.

The win left Baltimore 1/2 game behind the idle Yankees in the AL East, dropping Boston three games back in third.

The Orioles split four games with the Red Sox and return home Friday to open a three-game set with the White Sox. Game time at Camden Yards is 7:05 pm ET.

Scherzer: 11 Ks

National League

The Washington Nationals are rolling along, and, if Max Scherzer - who won the AL Cy Young award in 2013 with Detroit and again in the National League last season - starts pitching like he did against Arizona, the rest of the league will need track shoes to keep pace with the NL East leaders.

After a rough outing on April 28 against the Mets (9 hits, 5 earned runs in six innings), Scherzer found his good stuff, stifling the Diamondbacks on two hits and one run over seven innings in Thursday's 4-2 Washington win.

Fanning 11, Scherzer took over the NL strikeout lead with 51, two better than Arizona's Robbie Ray and the Mets' Jacob deGrom. Sherzer walked just one in earning his fourth win against two losses, and has allowed just 11 batters to reach on walks this season.

The victory put the Nationals 6 1/2 in front in the division, as the Phillies and Marlins both lost and the Mets were rained out in Atlanta.

Winners of three of their last four, Washington travels to Philadelphia to open a three-game series Friday at 7:05 pm ET.

Raul Ibanez Rallies Yankees; Chris Carpenter Shuts Down Nats; Seth Smith, Coco Crisp Down Tigers; Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum Lift Giants

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 10, 2012

American League

Raul Ibanez

ALDS: NY Yankees 3 Baltimore 2 - Raul Ibanez, pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez, slugged a ninth-inning solo homer to tie game three with the Baltimore Orioles and then ended the game with another solo homer to right field leading off the 12th.

Coco Crisp

The Yankees took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. Game four is slated to begin Thursday at 7:37 pm EDT in New York. Joe Saunders is scheduled to start for the Orioles against the Yankees' Phil Hughes.

ALDS: Oakland 4 Detroit 3 - The Oakland A's avoided elimination for the second straight night, coming from behind with three runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Tigers and tie the divisional series at two games apiece.

Seth Smith

The A's rocked Detroit closer, Jose Valverde, for four hits and three runs in just 2/3rds of an inning. With nobody out and runners on second and third, Seth Smith doubled into the right-center gap driving home both and tying the game. Two outs later, Coco Crisp delivered the game winner with a single to right field, scoring Smith from second.

Decisive game five commences at 9:37 pm EDT in Oakland.

Chris Carpenter

National League

NLDS: St. Louis 8 Washington 0 - St. Louis took a 2-1 lead in their divisional series with Washington, roughing up Nationals' starter, Edwin Jackson, and four relievers for 14 hits, including a three-run, second-inning homer by Cardinal shortstop Pete Kozma that put the Cardinals ahead, 4-0.

Chris Carpenter worked 5 2/3 innings on the mound, scattering seven hits without allowing a run. Carpenter walked two and struck out a pair, winning his 10th game against two losses in 16 post-season starts.

Game four goes off at 4:07 pm Thursday in Washington. The Cardinals can wrap up the series with a win. If necessary, game five will be played Friday in Washington.

Pablo Sandoval

Tim Lincecum

NLDS: San Francisco 8 Cincinnati 3 - Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI to pace the Giants offensively while Tim Lincecum came out of the bullpen to toss 4 1/3 innings of relief, holding the Reds to one run on two hits, fanning six.

Lincecum ended a two-out threat in the fourth, striking out Ryan Ludwig with runners on first and second, and worked through the eighth inning wihtout allowing a walk, throwing 42 of 55 pitches for strikes.

The win evened the series at two games apiece with the deciding game five set for 1:07 pm EDT in Cincinnati. Matt Cain gets the start for the Giants, facing the Reds' Mat Latos, the winner advancing to the seven-game league championship series.

Seth Smith Leads A's over Tigers; Chase Utley, Ryan Howard Help Phils Pound Mets, 16-1

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 20, 2012

American League

Seth Smith

If the Oakland A's make it to the playoffs (and it looks like they will), there will be plenty of players to thank, including Seth Smith, who helped the A's tie the idle Orioles for the top wild card Thursday night with a 12-4 win over Detroit.

Smith tied the game at 2-2 with his 14th homer of the season, singled and scored in the A's four-run sixth, then cleared the bases with a double in the ninth, putting his signature on the victory, going 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBI.

National League

While the Nationals and Reds each clinched playoff spots, the Phillies continue clinging to slim hopes of reaching the post-season, helping themselves with a 21-hit bombing of the Mets Thursday at Citi Field in a 16-1 rout.

Chase Utley

Ryan Howard

Having fallen well off the pace early in the year due to the absence of two of their star players, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the Phillies have been one of the better teams in the second half, getting both off the DH and into a regular playing regimen.

Utley rapped out four hits in five at-bats (a double and three singles), and drove in four runs while Howard singled in a run as the Phills put up eight in the first inning, then polished off the Mets with his 14th homer of the year, a ninth-inning grand slam as the Phils added seven more runs.

Philadelphia has won three straight, leaving them four games behind St. Louis, winners of four in a row, for the second wild card. Also chasing the Cardinals are LA, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.

Ryan Sweeney Helps A's to 6th Straight; Seth Smith Powers Rockies to 4-3 Win

Players of the Day for Tuesday, June 21, 2011

American League

The hottest team in the American League right now is Minnesota, who won their eighth straight by blasting the Giants, 9-2, but right next to them on the heat map are the Oakland A's, who took their sixth straight with a 6-2 win in New York over the up-and-down Mets.

Among the reasons for the A's recent success is Ryan Sweeney, who probably isn't getting all the playing time he deserves. Sweeney went 4-for-5 and drove in only one run, but he was right in the middle of the A's big innings, leading to their victory.

Sweeney's key RBI single in the 3rd put the A's up 4-0, and another single, in the 5th, set the stage for two more Oakland runs, effectively putting the game out of reach, at 6-1.

Batting .291, Sweeney has been used primarily in right field and he has had some key pinch-hits. While his stats aren't anything close to mind-boggling, he's only had 117 at-bats this season.

The A's, in last place in the AL West but only 5 1/2 games back, hope to keep their win streak running in New York on Wednesday and Thursday.

National League

Seth Smith crunched a pair of home runs to lead the Colorado Rockies to a second straight one-run win at Cleveland, 4-3, Tuesday night.

Smith hit his seventh home run in the 6th inning, putting the Rockies up, 3-0, but the Indians battled back to tie the game heading into the 9th. His second homer of the contest turned out to be the game-winner, as Smith led off the inning with a solo bomb to right-center off Cleveland closer, Chris Perez.

Huston Street slammed the door shut on the Indians in the bottom of the frame, earning his NL-leading 22nd save.

Batting .316, Smith has been a large part of the Rockies' winning four of their last five. In the four wins, he's gone 8-for-18, including his 3-for-4 effort on Tuesday. The Rockies remain in the hunt for the NL West title, trailing Arizona by 2 1/2 games and just two back of second place San Francisco.

INTERLEAGUE TALLY: The National Leaguers made a bit of a comeback on Tuesday, winning nine of the 13 games played. Those wins cut the AL lead to 58-49.