Kendrys Morales Sets Royals Record in Romp over Tigers; Yunel Escobar Helps Nationals Keep Pressure on Mets

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 20, 2015

American League


Break open the Kansas City record book, because Kendrys Morales socked three home runs and tripled, sliding George Brett to the side with a team record 15 total bases as the Royals hammered the Tigers, 10-3.

Escobar: 4-for-4, 4 RBI

Morales: 3B, 3HR, 15 TB

KC amassed 19 hits in the romp, with Morales going 4-for-4, with five runs and three RBI. All of his homers - one each in the third, fourth and eighth innings - were of the solo variety. His triple came in the sixth inning, Morales scoring on a wild pitch from Tiger reliever, Jose Valdez.

Morales is a big reason the Royals are looking good heading down the homestretch. The big slugger, acquired from Seattle in the off-season, is batting .293 with 41 doubles, 21 home runs, and, with 105 RBI, is approaching his career-best in that category. He drove in 108 in 2009, then with the LA Angels.

The victory put the Royals within an arm's length of clinching the AL Central pennant outright, their magic number down to just three. They have an 11-game lead over second-place Minnesota with just 13 games left on the regular season schedule.

After a day off on Monday, KC opens a six-game homestead Tuesday, beginning with a three-game series against Seattle, follow by three with the Indians, so it's almost certain that the hometown fans will be on hand to engage in the clinching celebration.

National League

With their 13-3 triumph over Miami, taking the series three games to one, the Washington Nationals tied the Giants for third place n the wild card standings, though that's an unlikely scenario for proceeding to the playoffs since the Cubs have the second spot virtually locked up with a nine-game lead and just 13 games to play.

What the Nationals are making more interesting is the race in the NL East, where, thanks to the Yankees taking two of three from the Mets over the weekend, they've closed to within six games of the division leaders.

Yunel Escobar provided more than enough offense all by himself on Sunday, going 4-for-4, with three singles and a double, three runs and four RBI.

Stephen Strasberg (10-7) took the win with seven innings of work, allowing two runs (one earned) and striking out 10.

If the Nationals are going to make a race of it, they'll have to pick up three games before their regular season-ending three-game series at Citi Field with the Mets. They should have ample opportunity, unless the Mets go on an extended winning streak, as the Nats face Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, plus a make-up date with the Red, before heading to New York on October 2nd.

The Nationals open a three-game home series with the Orioles on Monday. Game time is 7:05 pm EDT.

Ian Kinsler 5-for-5 as Tigers Cool Off Cubs; Yunel Escobar Leads Nationals to 15-6 Win at Colorado

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 18, 2015

American League

Escobar: HR, 4R, 4RBI

Kinsler: HR, 5-for-5

Detroit may have given up on the post-season, but that doesn't mean the players stop playing.

Case in point: Ian Kinsler went 5-for-5 in the Tigers' 10-8 win over the red-hot Cubs Tuesday night.

Kinsler got off right away, belting his seventh homer of the season - a solo shot - in the top of the first inning. The Tiger second baseman added a double and three singles, scoring three times and driving in a pair of runs.

Upping his average to .304, Kindler is 10th in the league in batting for average. Only 10 American League players have batting averages over .300.

The game was the first of a two-game interrelate series which concludes Wednesday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Game time is slated for 8:05 pm EDT.

National League

Yunel Escobar helped carry the Washington Nationals to a 15-6 win over Colorado with a 3-for-4 night at the plate.

Escobar got the Nationals on the scoreboard in the top of the first with his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot.

He added a pair of singles and also walked twice, enabling him to score four times. Escobar drove in four runs as the Nationals belted out 15 hits against a battered Colorado pitching staff. The Rockies used six pitchers in the loss, their eighth in the past ten games. Escobar finished the game with a .305 batting average.

The win kept Washington within 4 1/2 games of the NL East-leading Mets, who took a 5-3 decision in Baltimore over the Orioles.

Colorado hosts Washington in the second of their three-game series Wednesday night at 8:40 pm EDT.

Yunel Escobar Torches Indians as Tampa Takes Series; Domonic Brown Powers Phillies Past Brewers

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 2, 2013

American League

As tight as the AL East race has been, it doesn't seem to have bothered the first place Red Sox, who traveled to New York for a weekend series with the Yankees sporting a two-game lead on their ageless rivals. The Red Sox left on Sunday, having taken two of three, sending the Yankees back into a tie for third with Tampa Bay, three out, while Baltimore improved to second place, 2 1/2 back.

Yunel Escobar

All the action wrapped up a little earlier than expected, the Red Sox taking a 2-0 decision in six innings, the game called for rain. Clay Buckholz earned his eighth win without a loss with a two-hit, abbreviated shutout.

Earlier in the day, the Orioles finished off the Tigers, also taking two of three, with a 4-2 win, and Tampa Bay crushed Cleveland, 11-3, in another 2-1 series win for the AL East, leaving Cleveland 1/2 game behind Detroit in the Central.

The Rays were led by Evan Longoria's and Yunel Escobar's two-run homers. Escobar had one of his best days of the season at the plate, going 3-for-5 with the two RBI and a couple of runs scored. Traded from Toronto to the Rays during the off-season, Escobar was 6-for-12 in the Cleveland series.

Tampa touched up five different Cleveland pitchers for a total of 14 hits. The Rays have a day off Monday before opening a series at Detroit on Tuesday.

National League

Domonic Brown

Not exactly tearing up the league, the Philadelphia Phillies, following a 6-10 start to the season, have played better than .500 ball since and have climbed back into the NL East race, a game behind second place Washington, but still 7 1/2 behind division-leading Atlanta.

Part of their recent success has been the emergence of Domonic Brown, who's been absolutely tearing it up, homering eight times in his last nine games, including a three-run, first-inning blast that propelled the Phillies to a 7-5 win over visiting Milwaukee.

With the win, the Phillies avoided being swept, Brown adding a run-scoring triple in the second and a single later in the game to go 3-for-3 with four RBI.

Brown, who had just 12 home runs in three partial seasons - all with Philly - has 16 this year, along with 40 RBI. With 16 hits in his last 37 at-bats, nine of those hits have been homers.

The 27-30 Phillies hope to gain more ground as the open a three-game series with Miami on Monday at 7:05 pm EDT. The Marlins are in the division basement, but just completed a three-game sweep of the Mets.

Today's Trivia: Who holds the single-season batting average record for the World Series? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Barry Bonds holds the career World Series mark of .700 on-base percentage, in 30 plate appearances.

A.J. Ellis' Grand Slam Lifts Dodgers over Rockies; Yunel Escobar Wrecks Yankees in 8-5 Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 29, 2012

American League

Wednesday at Yankee Stadium featured the Yunel Escobar show, as the Toronto shortstop - one of the most underrated players n the league - put on a hitting display that propelled the Blue Jays to an 8-5 win in the rubber game of their three-game series with the Yankees.

Escobar went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs with a homer and three doubles, scoring twice.

Yunel Escobar

In the third inning, Escobar doubled in a run to put the Jays up 3-2, but that lead was quickly erased when Curtis Ganderson doubled home a pair in the bottom half of the inning. His sixth inning, two-run homer turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead and Escobar finished off the Yanks with a two-run double in the ninth after the Jays had assumed a 6-5 lead.

The loss left the Yankees with a 3 1/2 game lead over the Orioles, who dropped an 8-1 decision to the White Sox, but, Tampa Bay picked up a game on both, beating Texas, 8-4, finishing the day four games behind New York.

Plagued by injuries to key players, the Blue Jays are hopelessly out of playoff contention, but still possess enough good hitting and pitching to play a spoiler's role in the AL East down the stretch.

The Yankees have Thursday off, but then open a three-game series with the Orioles on Friday at Yankee Stadium in what should be a telling Labor Day weekend set of games. New York leads the season series with the O's, 6-5.


National League

After plating six runs in the third inning, the LA Dodgers thought they had their game in Colorado in the bag.

A.J. Ellis

But, as far too many pitchers can attest, no lead is safe in the mile-high city, where balls carry far and deep into the Rocky Mountain air.

A.J. Ellis socked a grand slam in the top of the eighth for LA, after the Rockies had put a solitary run on the board in the seventh. Just about everyone in attendance thought it was just icing on the Dodger cake-walk.

As it turns out, the Rockies piled up seven runs in the bottom of the inning and got the tying run to the plate, making Ellis the hero of the day with the big fly that sealed the 10-8 Dodger win. He ended the day 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.

Despite playing in parts of four seasons prior to 2012, Ellis is still technically a rookie. He's batting .283 in 105 games this season with 11 home runs.

LA's win negated being swept by the Rockies in their three-game series and left the Dodgers 3 1/2 back of the Giants in the NL West. Los Angeles also is 1 1/2 beind St. Louis for the second wild card, after the Pirates dominated the Cardinals in a 5-0 win, shutting out St. Louis over the final two games of the three-game set in Pittsburgh. The Pirates trail St. Louis in the wild card race by one game.

The Dodgers return home to host a four game series with fading Arizona over the holiday weekend, beginning Thursday, then welcome the Padres into town for three games before heading off to a critical showdown with the Giants, September 7, 8 and 9. LA needs to string together some wins, as time is running short if they intend to either catch the Giants or reach the playoffs via the wild card route.

Yunel Escobar Smacks 2-Run Shot in 10th; Yovani Gallardo 2-Hits Braves

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 5, 2010

American League

Yunel Escbar

This season's version of the AL East may not be all about the Yankees and the Red Sox. Even the reigning champion Tampa Bay Rays may not be part of the mix come September, partly because they let slip away their best player, Carl Crawford, but also because they've lost other players like Carlos Pena (free agency to the Cubs) and Evan Longoria (injured earlier this week).

The Baltimore Orioles have come out of the running, winning their first four games, but in hot pursuit are the Blue Jays, improving to 3-1 on the season with a 10-inning, 7-6 win over the A's.

Blessed with a solid, though unspectacular pitching staff, the Jays have a wealth of talent scattered through their lineup. One such player is shortstop Yunel Escobar, who came over to the Jays from Atlanta last season and perked up right away, raising his batting average by 37 points (from .238 to .275).

This season, Escobar is batting a brisk .375, and was the star of Tuesday's victory, going 3-for-5, scoring three times, including on his walk-off, two run homer in the 10th inning, to cap Toronto's comeback win.

After battling to a 5-all tie in regulation, the A's took a 6-5 lead on Josh Willingham's solo shot in the top of the 10th, but Escobar ended the game with his first home run of the season, a two-run blast to right off A's reliever Grant Balfour, bringing home Rajai Davis, who had singled to lead off the frame.

National League

Yovani Gallardo

Loaded with power hitters, the Milwaukee Brewers found out that pitching is important as Yovani Gallardo tossed a two-hit, complete game shutout over the Braves for Milwaukee's first win of the season.

Matched up against Derek Lowe, Gallardo proved best - not only on the mound, but at the plate, as he singled and came around to score the game's only run on Ryan Bruan's two-on, two-out single in the third inning.

Gallardo limited the Braves to just two hits and a pair of walks over nine innings for the 1-0 win. He didn't allow anyone past first base, getting help from his teammates, who turned double plays in the first and fourth innings. Gallardo, who had 200 Ks last season, struck out just two batters over the nine innings.

After Dan Uggla singled to lead off the 8th, catcher George Kottaras threw him out attempting to steal second, ending Atlanta's final threat.

In 2010, Gallardo was 14-7 with two shutouts. He's 1-0 after two starts this season with a shutout and an ERA of 1.20

Rajai Davis and Yunel Escobar Lead Jays over O's; Brandon Phillips Ready for Reds

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 27, 2011

American League

Yunel Escobar

Rajai Davis

Rajai Davis went 5-for-5 and Yunel Escobar smacked a two-run homer, doubled in two more runs and added another ribbie on a ground out.

Toronto wasn't expected to have a lot of big bats in their lineup, but they managed to string together 20 hits for a 9-5 win over Baltimore.

Davis had more than his share, with two singles, two doubles and a triple. And when he wasn't hitting, he was running, scoring three times and managing to squeeze a stolen base into his schedule.

As Spring training winds to a close, the Blue Jays are a respectable 15-12 in the Grapefruit League and feeling pretty confident heading into what surely will be an AL East campaign full of the usual twists and turns.

National League

Brandon Phillips

A key element in the emergence of the Reds as a powerhouse in the NL Central last season, Brandon Phillips is eventually going to find a sweet spot in the lineup. Phillips batted third in Sunday's 9-6 win over Arizona, but he's equally suited to bat second or leadoff, the spot he held down most of last year.

Phillips singled and homered in three at-bats, driving in three runs and scoring twice. It was just his first home run of the exhibition season, but that's not an issue, as he's batting .341 over 17 games this Spring.

In 2010, Phillips had his usual solid season, batting .275 in 155 games, with 18 home runs, 59 RBI and an even 100 runs.

Paul Maholm Shuts Out Astros, 9-0; Yunel Escobar Slams for Toronto

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 18, 2010 American League As has been their style in recent years, the Toronto Blue Jays fell out of the AL East race as soon as the calendar turned from Spring to Summer, and are now 11 1/2 games out, in 4th place and fading. That the Jays can't compete in the heady division is no shame, though. The top three teams - Yankees, Rays and Red Sox - have the best combined record for any 1-2-3 teams in any division and the Yanks and Rays respectively have the two best records in the majors. Toronto battles on, winning Sunday's series finale in Baltimore with a 10-1 win and a sweep of the three games in Charm City. The Blue Jays lead the majors in home runs (140) by a healthy margin (Boston is second, with 122), and they had one on Sunday, but it came off the bat of the player least likely to send one over the fence, shortstop Yunel Escobar. The shot was not only his first of the year, but it happened with the bases loaded and put the Jays up by a 5-1 count in the second inning, essentially ending the contest right there. It's not like the 6'2", 200 lb. Escobar can't hit homers. He had 14 in 2009 after going yard 10 times in 2008 with the Braves. He was traded just days ago to the Blue Jays for their own starting shortstop, Alex Gonzalez in a five-player deal. In three games with the Jays, Escobar is batting .462, has 5 RBI and now, a homer, something he failed to do in 75 games with Atlanta this year. National League At 32-59, Pittsburgh has the worst record in the National League, but over their past two games - both wins against the Astros - you wouldn't know it. On Saturday, they out-slugged Houston, 12-9, and on Sunday, took the series, 2-1 with a 9-0 win on 19 hits and the arm of Paul Maholm (6-7). Every batter except Maholm had at least one hit, led by Ronnie Cedeno, who went 4-for-4 with three doubles. Paul Maholm tossed his first complete game since 2008 and first shutout since 2007, allowing three hits and no walks. He struck out just one batter, Angel Sanchez, who, oddly enough, had two hits off Maholm. The lefty needed just 102 pitches (70 strikes) to mow down the feckless Astros.

Sean Rodriguez Leads Rays Past Yanks; Escobar's 3 Doubles Lift Braves

Players of the Day for Friday, March 5, 2010 American League When the Yankees and Rays got together for an exhibition game in Tampa on Friday, there were two players on the field named Rodriguez. One was the well-known A-Rod; the other was an Angels cast-off, Sean Rodriguez, who is not related to his more famous namesake, but is playing like him (in fact, better than him). A-Rod went 0-for-2 as the Yankees dropped a 12-7 decision to the Rays, much of the carnage - a lot of it against Joba Chamberlain (1 1/3, 3 hits, 3 walks, 5 earned runs) - leveled by the Rays was courtesy of that other Rodriguez guy, Sean, who is listed as a second baseman, but played left field and is batting .833 with 17 total bases in three games this season with 3 homers and 5 RBI. All he did on Friday was double, triple and homer, drive in two runs and score twice. He fell a single short of hitting for the cycle. If he keeps hitting well, Rodriguez, who was acquired to back up Ben Zobrist at second, might just end up taking the position for himself or playing right field with some time as a DH. Spending most of last year in triple-A, the 24-year-old smacked 30 homers and drove in 98 runs. National League In three seasons with the Braves, Yunel Escobar has established himself as a steady hitter and a capable fielder. Coming into 2010, he's carting along a .301 lifetime batting average after hitting .299 with 14 homers and 76 RBI in 2009. In his first game this Spring, he was hitless, then had one hit against the Mets on Wednesday, but really hit his stride after a day off. On Friday, as the Braves were whipping the Nationals, 11-8, Escobar stepped up three times and scorched three doubles, driving in a pair of runs and scoring two. He appears ready for the regular season, one in which he may produce all-star numbers. MLB Preview: Toronto Blue Jays Roy Halladay is gone and so are any hopes of competing in the rugged AL East. The Blue Jays wouldn't pay one of the best pitchers in the game what he desired, so off to Philly he went. Instead, the Jays have pretty much mortgaged their future on center fielder Vernon Wells, who appears to be vastly overpaid after batting .260 with 16 homers and 60 RBI in 2009. His hefty contract is certain to keep him in a Blue Jay uniform for a good number of seasons and keep the Toronto franchise scraping along the bottom of the American League. Some hopeful signs emerged from left fielder Adam Lind (.305, 35, 114 in 2009), but besides him and first baseman Lyle Overbay, there's a serious power shortage North of the border. The Jays finished 2009 with a record of 75-87, 28 games behind the first-place Yankees, and the front office hasn't made enough moves to signal that they're ready to tangle with anybody in the division. Finishing at .500 in 2010 would be a major accomplishment what with all the trades and defections. Not only are the Jays one of the weakest-hitting squads in either league, their pitching staff is manned by a bunch of no-name guys like Ricky Romero, David Purcey, Scott Richmond and Brad Mills. Let's revise that previous statement: staying out of last place would be a major achievement in 2010. Expect the Blue jays to lose at least 95 games this season. Las Vegas has them as 125-1 to win the World Series, and that seems like a bit short. Making them 500-1 might be closer to their true odds, but it still won't produce more than 70 wins this season. Get ready for major attendance shortfalls in Toronto and calls to move the team to the Carolinas.

Cards Clinch Central; Span Lights Up KC; Escobar, Braves Keep Winning

Players of the Day for Saturday, September 26, 2009 American League The Minnesota Twins continued their heated pursuit of Detroit in the AL Central on Saturday with an 11-6 win at Kansas City, the 11th Twins' win in their last 12 games. Minnesota trails Detroit by 2 games in the division thanks to inspired play from a bevy of young, talented players, such as leadoff hitter and center fielder Denard Span. A second-year player, Span broke open a 2-2 game with a bases-loaded triple in the 3rd inning and was just getting warmed up. He eventually finished his day 4-for-5, with 6 RBI and a run scored. The 6 ribbies are a career best for Span, a .311 hitter this season, who's scored 88 runs and swiped 22 bases. The Twins finish off their series with Kansas City tonight before heading to Detroit for a crucial four-game series that will decide the division. National League The hottest team in the National League over the past three weeks has been the Atlanta Braves, now just 2 1/2 games behind the Colorado Rockies in the wild card race and 5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East. Atlanta won for the 13th time in their last 15 games on Saturday, knocking of the Nats, 11-5 for their 5th straight win. The Braves gained a game in both races as the Rockies and Phillies were losers on the day. Leading the way for the Braves was Yunel Escobar, the slick-fielding shortstop, who singled home the first two runs of the game in the first inning and added an RBI double in the 9th as the Braves erupted for five runs to put the game away. Escobar, a 26-year-old, from Havana, Cuba, is batting a respectable .299 with 14 home runs and 74 RBI. The Braves should manage to keep the wild card race interesting until the final games of the season. After they finish their series with the Nationals on Sunday, they head back to Atlanta for a 7-game stand to close out the season. Three games with the Marlins precede four with the last-place Nationals. NOTES: The St. Louis Cardinals clinched the Central Division with a 6-3 win over Colorado and can now play spoiler as they face the Rockies once more on Sunday. The Cardinals are the first in the majors to clinch a division title, their first since 2006, when they went on to win the World Series. Adam Wainwright took the win, his 19th of the season. He and the Yankees' C.C. Sabathia, who beat the Red Sox, 3-0, each have 19 winas and are the only pitchers with a chance to win 20. Sabathia's effort - 1 hit, 2 walks and 8 Ks over 7 innings - was good enough to put the Yankees within 1 game of clinching the AL East pennant and 100 wins for the season, tops in the majors. The Yanks can do both against their most hated rivals, the Red Sox, tonight in the Bronx. The game was originally scheduled for the afternoon, but was switched to an 8:00 pm start and a national broadcast on ESPN when it appeared to be a game which would draw great interest. The Yankees haven't won their division since 2006.

Escobar Powers Braves past Reds; Lowell's Late-Inning Heroics Lift Red Sox

Apologies for the delay in today's post. There was a major outage in Time Warner's system, and I did not have access much of the day. Players of the Day for Saturday, April 25, 2009 American League The game took 4 hours and 21 minutes to play. There were 28 hits and 27 runs scored off of 12 pitchers. When it was all over, the Red Sox had outslugged the Yankees, 16-11, and were one game away from a three-game sweep of their arch-rivals. Striking the key blows for Boston was Mike Lowell, who turned a 10-9, 7th-inning Yankee advantage into a 12-10 Boston lead with a three run homer just inside the foul pole and over the Green Monster in left field. An inning later, Lowell again delivered, this time with a bases-loaded double, plating three more runs. In five at-bats, those were Lowell's only two hits, but they were good for 6 RBI, giving him 22 and the AL lead, by one, over Tampa's Carlos Pena. National League Atlanta shortstop Yunel Escobar singled, doubled and homered in four at-bats, driving in four runs and scoring three times as the Braves dealt the Reds their second straight home loss, by a 10-2 score. In his third year with the Braves, Escobar is looking to have a breakout season, after hitting 10 homer and driving in 60 runs in 2008. Batting second in the order may not give him too many RBI opportunities, but the Braves are also counting on him to improve on the 71 runs he scored in 136 games last year.

Blake Breaks Out Big Stick; Escobar Beaches Marlins

Players of the Day from Monday, June 2, 2008 American League Casey Blake had the game of his life in just three innings. Blake hit two-run homers in the 2nd and 3rd innings, then stroked a bases-loaded double in the 4th, driving in a total of 7 runs as Cleveland outlasted the Rangers in a 13-9 slugfest on Monday. Blake a .236 hitter, isn't known for outstanding power, but he came up at the right times for the Tribe, still desperately chasing the White Sox and Twins in the AL Central. The Sox are 4 1/2 ahead of Cleveland, with the Twins just 1/2-game off the lead.

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Notes: While the Indians won the game at Arlington, Texas, they couldn't stop three of the hottest hitters in the league. Second baseman Ian Kinsler extended his hitting streak to 17 games. His double-play partner, shortstop Michael Young, has an 18-game streak going. Josh Hamilton, looking like a lock for AL MVP, hit his 16th home run, drove in a pair of runs to give him 65 and went 2-for-4 to raise his batting average to .331. Hamilton is truly on a triple crown pace, as all of his numbers lead the league. National League On the Atlanta Braves, game-winning, home run heroics are usually the province of Mark Teixeira, Jeff Francoeur or Chipper Jones, but 2nd-year shortstop Yunel Escobar took matters into his own hands, rapping a 10th inning, 2-run blast to give the Braves a 7-5, extra-inning win over division rival Florida. Escobar, a native of Havana, Cuba, singled twice earlier in the game, scored a run in the 3rd and drove in another in the 8th, going 3-for-5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI overall, raising his batting average to .301 in the process. Notes: The Braves' win increased Philly's cushion over the Marlins to 1 1/2 games, as the Phillies beat the Reds, 5-4. Atlanta is 3 1/2 back... It's June, and Chipper Jones is still batting over .400. He went 2-for-4 on Monday to lift his average to .407... the Cubs have gotten red-hot, winning 8 straight and increasing their lead over St. Louis to 3 1/2 games. That's the same margin by which the D-Backs lead the Dodgers in the West.