Super Nova?; Taveras Stars for Comeback Rockies

Players of the Day for Wednesday, March 16, 2011

American League

Ivan Nova

Maybe those die-hard Yankee fans can breathe a little easier over their starting rotation worries, now that Ivan Nova set down the Baltimore Orioles for six straight innings without allowing a hit or a walk. Nova struck out four batters en route to his first win of the exhibition season as the Yankees clobbered Baltimore, 10-0.

Technically a rookie, Nova worked 42 innings with the Yanks in 2010, but did not exceed the 50-inning limit that determines rookie status. In his late-season stint, Nova started seven games and went 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA.

The young hurler was in a perfect groove except for a hit batsman in the first inning and Alex Rodriguez' muff off an Adam Jones ground ball in the 4th. Despite the superlative effort, manager Joe Girardi hedged on whether or not Nova would be in the starting rotation when the regular season commences, saying he wasn't ready to make any decisions.

Competition for the 4th and 5th starting job are a battle between Nova and Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Sergio Mitre.

In the loss, the only Baltimore hit was by Vladimir Guerrero, who doubled off Mariano Rivera in the seventh inning, a blemish that may give the Yankee worriers something new to whine about.

National League

Willy Taveras

The Colorado Rockies rallied from a 9-2 deficit to defeat the reigning Al champion Texas Rangers, 11-10, as the Rangers' pitching collapsed in the latter stages of the game.

Colorado scored three runs in the top of the ninth to complete the comeback win. Ty Wigginton and Jason Giambi were among four hitter who homered for the Rockies, but fleet center fielder Willy Taveras was a force, going 3-for-4, driving in three runs.

An old hand in Colorado, Taveras stole 99 bases in 2007-2008 for the Rockies before spending 2009 in Cincinnati and last season with the Nationals. Injuries kept him out of all but 27 games last season, but he's tuning up well this Spring, with a .317 batting average and 5 steals in 15 games.

Choo Leads Indians Past White Sox; Reds' Taveras Goes 5-for-5

Players of the Day for Monday, May 11, 2009 American League Just one game in the AL on Monday, so the POTD comes from the Cleveland Indians, who pounded the White Sox, 9-4. The guy who got things going for the Indians was Shin-Soo Choo, who singled in a run in the first inning and knocked home two more with a single in the Indians' 4-run 4th inning. With a six-run lead, all the Sox could do was chip away, but it wasn't nearly enough. Choo, Cleveland's regular right fielder this season, is batting .278 with 17 RBI. National League Cincinnati trounced Arizona, 11-5, on Monday, putting the Reds into a second place tie with Milwaukee, 2 games behind the NL Central-leading Cardinals. The Reds have been a pleasant surprise in 2008, with an 18-14 record thus far. In Monday's mashing, the offense was led by leadoff hitter Willy Taveras, who came to the Reds in the off-season after spending a couple of years with the Rockies. Taveras went 5-for-5 (all singles), scored four runs and drove in a pair. He also stole his 8th base of the season and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. NOTES: Speaking of hitting streaks, Washington's Ryan Zimmerman extended the season's longest streak to 28 games with a pair of homers and two singles. Zimmerman's 4 RBI wasn't enough for the Nats, however, as they dropped an 11-7 decision at San Francisco.

Hamilton Reaches 100 RBI Mark; Thieving Taveras Swipes Three

Players of the Day from Friday, July 25, 2008 American League Josh Hamilton smacked his 23rd home run and drove in two runs to make him the first player in the majors to reach the 100 RBI plateau as the Rangers drubbed the A's, 14-6, at Oakland. The win gave the Rangers a 1/2 game edge over the A's for second place in the AL West, though the main beneficiaries are the LA Angels, who hold a 10 1/2 game lead over the Rangers. The Angels won their 3rd straight - and 8th of their last 9 - a 6-5 win at Baltimore. Notes: In Boston, Joba Chamberlain outdueled Josh Beckett to give the Yankees a 1-0 win over the Red Sox in the opener of their 3-game series. Tampa Bay took a 1-game lead in the AL East standings, topping Kansas City, 5-3. In Detroit, Jermaine Dye's 2-run homer in the 9th gave the White Sox a 6-5 win over the Tigers in the first of their 3-game series. With the Twins losing at Cleveland, 5-4, The Sox improved their lead to 3 1/2 games over the Twins and dropped the Tigers 6 1/2 back. Streaks: The Twins have lost 5 straight; the Yankees won their 7th in a row. National League The Colorado Rockies continue to look like they're ready for another run at the NL West title after knocking off Cincinnati, 7-2, on Friday. Leadoff hitter Willy Taveras went 3-for-4, scored a run, drove in another and stole three bases to boost his major league leading total to 45. His closest pursuers in the theft category are LA's Juan Pierre in the NL and Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury in the AL. Both have 35. The Rockies have won three straight and seven of eight since the All Star break. They remain 6 games back of the Diamondbacks and 5 behind the Dodgers. Notes: The Mets took a 2-game lead in the NL East with a 7-1 win over the Cardinals, who have lost 5 straight. The Phillies lost, 8-2, to Atlanta. In the Central, the Cubs kept their slim 1-game lead intact despite losing to Florida, 3-2, as the Brewers had their 8-game win streak halted by Houston, 3-1.

Boston Batters Indians; Rockies Go Up 2-0

Boston 10 Cleveland 3 - It was the Big Papi and Manny show Friday night at Fenway Park. And, for good measure, Josh Beckett took pretty good care of the Cleveland hitters as Boston took a 1-0 lead in the ALCS best-of-seven series. David Ortiz (left) and Manny Ramirez (right) reached base every time they stepped to the plate. Ten times in all. Ortiz singled, doubled, walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Ramirez had two singles and walked three times. Each scored twice; Ramirez drove in three runs, as did third baseman Mike Lowell. It was more than enough offense for Beckett, as he dominated from the mound, allowing just two runs on four hits over 6 innings, striking out 7. His counterpart for the Indians, C.C. Sabathia, didn't fare so well. lasting only 4 1/3, surrendering 8 runs on 7 hits and 5 walks. Sabathia threw 85 pitches, but only 44 for strikes. Game two is set for 8:00 pm Saturday night in Boston. Cleveland sends sensational Fausto Carmona to the hill, facing Boston's Curt Schilling. Colorado 3 Arizona 2, 11 innings - Willy Taveras (right) worked Arizona's Jose Valverde for a bases-loaded walk in the top of the 11th inning and Ryan Speier shut down the Diamondbacks in the bottom frame to give Colorado a commanding 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. Taveras, who hadn't played since September 9th, has started in the leadoff spot for the Rockies in both games and has been integral to their success. In Friday night's game, he doubled and scored the Rockies' go-ahead run in the 5th inning and stayed alive at the plate against the best closer in the majors to force home the winning run. Valverde, who entered the game to open the 10th, put down the Rockies 1-2-3 in that inning, but ran into trouble in the 11th, surrendering a leadoff single to Ryan Spilborghs, and then walked Brad Hawpe, Jamey Carroll and Taveras in one of his worst outings of the season.

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Game three shifts to Denver on Sunday night, where the Rockies hope to keep their incredible streak alive. The Rockies ended the season winning 13 of 14 games to reach the playoffs, beat San Diego in a one-game elimination and have won 5 straight since, extending their win streak to 8 straight and 19 of their last 20. Livan Hernadez will start for Arizona against Colorado's Josh Fogg. Arizona, which was last in the NL in team batting average (.250) and on-base percentage (.321) has scored only 3 runs in 20 total innings. The Diamondbacks are actually outhitting Colorado. Arizona is 18-73 (.247), while the Rockies are only 15-71 (.211) for the series.