Max Scherzer Throttles Mets in 3-0 Tiger Win; Carlos Beltran, Shelby Miller Lead Cardinals to 1st Place in Central with 6-2 Win over Braves

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 24, 2013

American League

If there's any debate about who should receive the AL Cy Young award this season, Max Scherzer did a pretty good job of making his case in Detroit's 3-0 victory over the Mets on Saturday.

Scherzer: 19-1

Scherzer improved to 19-1, going six innings without surrendering a run, walking four, but fanning 11.

Having to work exceptionally hard for the win, Scherzer threw 118 pitches (76 for strikes) but also doubled in the first run for the Tigers in the second inning, his first RBI since 2009.

After Ike Davis singled to lead off the second for the Mets, Scherzer struck out the next three batters to end the inning, then fanned four of the next five, prior to walking Davis with two outs in the fourth, recording eight straight outs, seven of them via the K.

Scherzer allowed just three hits before turning the ball over to a trio of Tiger relievers, who set the Mets down in order through the final three innings.

As for the Cy Young talk, Scherzer's 19 wins are five better than any other pitcher in the league, he's struck out 198 batters, second in the league, and his 2.73 ERA is fifth-best in the AL. With the Tigers leading the AL Central by six games with just 33 games left in the regular season, Scherzer may get five, maybe six starts and is likely to be the only pitcher in the majors to win 20 games this year. Adam Wainwright and Jordan Zimmrmann - both National Leaguers - have 15.

Scherzer's last defeat was a 7-1 loss to Texas, on July 13. He's since won six of his seven starts.

The Tigers and Mets wrap up their three-game series in New York at 1:10 pm EDT Sunday. Detroit leads, two games to none.

National League

Shelby Miller

Carlos Beltran belted his 23rd home run of the season and Shelby Miller allowed just one earned run over seven innings, as the Cardinals tied the Pirates for first place in the NL Central with a 6-2 win over NL East-leading Atlanta.

Carlos Beltran

Freddie Freeman touched off a long ball in the first inning off Miller, but Matt Carpenter quickly tied the game, leading off the bottom of the first with one of his own. After Freeman's bomb, Miller was virtually untouchable, the rookie allowing just two more hits before heading for the showers after seven, walking none while fanning six for his 12th win against eight losses.

Beltran's homer came in the third and gave the Cards the lead for good. The Cardinals tallied three more in the seventh and Beltran delivered another run with the second of two singles in the eighth, finishing the day 3-for-5 with a .311 average on a six-game hitting streak.

Later in the evening, Pittsburgh dropped a 6-3 decision in San Francisco, dropping them into a tie with the Cardinals, who have taken three straight from the Braves.

St. Louis will be looking for the sweep when they face the Braves on Sunday at 2:15 pm at Busch Stadium.

Today's Trivia: Since Denny McLain won 31 games in 1968, what pitcher had the most wins in a single season? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Don Mattingly led the AL in total bases in 1985 with 370, and again in 1986, with 388.

Jon Lester Tosses One-Hitter for Boston; Yankees' Lyle Overbay Drives in Five; St. Louis Rookie Shelby Miller Hurls Cards to One-Hit Win

Players of the Day for Friday, May 10, 2013

American League

Lester: 1-hitter

The battle for the AL East has intensified to a point that the three teams tied for the division lead - Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles - all produced victories Friday, two of those games featuring individual performances worth of player of the day recognition.

Overbay: HR, 5RBI

Maicer Izturis was the only Toronto hitter to touch up Boston starter, Jon Lester, his fourth-inning, no-doubt double breaking up the Red Sox lefty's bid for a perfect game. Lester (5-0) struck out five, didn't walk any and threw 79 of 118 pitches for the complete game, 5-0 shutout.

The Yankees, in the midst of a Midwest swing, kept pace by bludgeoning the Royals, 11-6, their third straight win. The Bombers cranked out 16 hits, four of them coming off the bat of first baseman Lyle Overbay, who was 4-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, a single and five RBI.

Baltimore remained in the three-way tie by defeating the Twins in 10 innings, 9-6, getting RBI singles from Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones in the top of the extra frame. Jim Johnson gave up a hit in the bottom of the inning, but still recorded his league-leading 14th save.

All three series continue on Saturday.

National League

Shelby Miller

St. Louis starter, Shelby Miller, didn't get off to a very auspicious start in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over the Rockies, giving up a scratch single to leadoff hitter, Eric Young Jr. - who then stole second base - but Miller was unfazed, getting Dexter Fowler on a pop fly, and then striking out Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, both looking at called third strikes.

As it was, Young's single would be the only hit of the night for Colorado, as Miller set down 27 straight, registering the second one-hitter of the day.

The hard-throwing rookie hurler fanned a career-high 13 without allowing a walk, getting Tulowitzki three times and striking out both Colorado pinch hitters sent to the plate in the sixth and ninth innings. Miller improved to 5-2, lowering his ERA to 1.58 with his magnificent outing.

St. Louis, winners of eight of their last 10, retained their three-game Central division lead over Cincinnati with the win.

The Rockies will attempt to put more bats on balls in game two of the three-game series, Saturday at 2:15 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: In 1964, Dean Chance threw 11 shutouts for the LA Angels. Four years later, which pitcher topped him, with 13 shutouts in 1968, a total which nobody since has come close to matching?

Answer to yesterday's question: 41-year-old Andy Pettitte is the active player wins leader with 248.

Justin Masterson Goes Distance in 1-0 Tribe Win over White Sox; Rookie Shelby Miller Leads Cardinals with 7 Scoreless

Players of the Day for Friday, April 12, 2013

American League

Justin Masterson

Cleveland's Justin Masterson became the first MLB pitcher to record three wins, twirling a five hit shutout of the visiting White Sox for a 1-0 victory.

The 6'6" right-hander went the distance for the first time this season, blanking Chicago on five hits, with one walk and seven Ks.

Masterson has allowed just 10 hits and one earned run in 22 innings, holding hitters to a combined .141 batting average, while earning all but one of Cleveland's early season wins (4-5).

In his sixth major league season, Masterson has thrown five complete games. The win over the White Sox was his second career shutout.

Th eonly run of the game came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, when Nick Swisher singled home Michael Bourn, who had doubled off Chicago reliever, Jesse Crain.

National League

Shelby Miller

St. Louis opened up a one-game lead in the Central division, as the Reds lost at Pittsburgh, 6-5, while the Cardinals were dispatching the Brewers, 2-0.

Milwaukee's leadoff hitter, Norichika Aoki, started the game with a single off Cardinals' rookie starter, Shelby Miller, but that turned out to be the only hit the Brewers would get until the ninth inning, as Miller set down 21 of the next 22 batters for seven shutout innings, his only mistake the plunking of Alex Gonzalez with one out in the second.

Trevor Rosenthal worked a hitless eighth, and Mitchell Boggs finished up with his second save of the season, giving up an uneventful single to Jean Segura in the ninth.

Miller threw 113 pitches, 87 of them for strikes as he improved to 2-0. He struck out eight without giving up a walk.

The Cardinals and Brewers go at it again on Saturday at 4:15 pm EDT in St. Louis.