Tigers Sweep White Sox with 18-2 win; Marcum, Braun Lead Brewers Past Houston

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 4, 2011

American League

Miguel Cabrera

There were some big scores put up by some of the leading teams in the American League on Sunday - like Cleveland's 9-6 win at Kansas City, the Yankees' 9-3 win over Toronto, and the 11-4 beating Texas put on Boston - but none were more impressive than Detroit's 24-hit, 18-2 slaughter of the Chicago White Sox.

Alex Avila

While Matt Scherzer was picking up his 14th win against eight losses, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out six over seven innings, the Tigers were galloping around the bases, scoring multiple runs in four different innings. The big bats belonged to Miguel Cabrera, Alex Avila and rookie Andy Dirks, who only came on as a pinch-hitter in the 6th inning, smacking a two-run single, and later socked a two-run bomb in the 8th inning, going 2--for-2 with a home run and four RBI.

Cabrera went 2-for-4, with a 4th inning double that plated two runs and a 6th inning homer with Dirks aboard. The home run was Cabrera's 26th of the season. He had four RBI to up his total to 92.

Andy Dirks

Avila, who caught the whole game, was 4-for-6, with a pair of ribbies and two runs.

The Tigers swept the weekend series from the White Sox, winning the first two games, 8-1 and 9-8, sending Chicago back down to third place in the AL Central, 8 1/2 games back, while increasing their lead over second-place Cleveland to 6 1/2 games.

Milestones: Toronto's Jose Bautista hit his 40th home run of the season to lead the majors. Adrian Beltre collected his 2000th hit in the Rangers' win over Boston.

Ryan Braun

National League

It was a little different story over in the NL, where Shaun Marcum walked one and allowed just one hit over seven innings as the Brewers continued to demolish the competition with a 4-0 win over Houston.

Shaun Marcum

Marcum (12-5) struck out eight and had a no-hitter spoiled by Houston center fielder Jordan Schafer, who singled with one out in the 6th inning.

Ryan Braun provided the bulk of the offense with a solo homer in the 1st, a bases-loaded walk in the 4th and a run-scoring single in the 7th inning. He went 3-for-3 with three RBI. Braun is having an MVP-like year, batting .325 with 26 home runs and 94 RBI.

The win dropped Milwaukee's magic number for clinching the division to 13. They have a 9 1/2-game lead on St. Louis.

Marcum 1-Hits A's; Tejada Boosts Padres' Post-Season Hopes

Players of the Day for Monday, August 16, 2010 American League It may be too late this year, but the rest of the AL should be wary of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays have a heck of a team, leading the majors in home runs with 183. Even their top power hitter, Jose Bautista, who leads the majors with 37, does it in unconventional ways. On Monday in Oakland, Bautista hit what appeared at first to be an inside-the-park job, but was later ruled a conventional homer. Bautista already has one inside-the-park homer this season; he did it on July 7 against the Twins. But the Jays aren't just about hitting homers. Their pitching staff is loaded with live, young arms, like that of Shaun Marcum, who tossed a 1-hitter in Toronto's 3-1 win, the lone Oakland hit being a 7th inning leadoff homer by Conor Jackson. Marcum retired the final nine batters in order following Jackson's spoiler, for his first complete game in the majors. He walked one and hit a batter, throwing 103 pitches, 73 of which were strikes. While Marcum improved to 11-6, the Blue Jays are still stuck in 4th place in the AL East, nine games behind co-leaders New York and Tampa Bay, but their 63-55 record shows that they have some things working in the right direction. Of course, playing in the same division as the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays makes contending for a division title difficult. National League Just before the trading deadline, the Padres snatched up Miguel Tejada from the Orioles, knowing they were getting a solid veteran with excellent bat skills. Turns out that Tejada may be the best pickup of the season, as the slick-fielding shortstop has settled into the #2 spot in the batting order and has begun hitting the ball all over the place. In his last three games, Tejada is 9-for-14 (.643) after going 4-for-5 in the Padres' 9-5 triumph at Chicago. Tejada doubled and singled three times, drove in a pair of runs and scored twice as the Padres extended their NL West lead to 4 games over the idle Giants. At 70-47, the Padres have the best record in the National League and appear to be on their way to the playoffs. Tejada and Ryan Ludwick, acquired from the Cardinals at the same time, have bolstered the lineup, so now San Diego has multiple ways of winning games, either with their bats or with their stellar pitching staff, which leads the majors with a 3.23 ERA and has allowed the fewest hits in either league, 916. San Diego only has to put away the Giants, as Colorado and Los Angels are respectively 9 and 11 games back, seemingly out of contention.