Chris Herrmann Delivers Grand Slam in Twins 10-3 Win over Angels; Zack Cozart's 4-for-4 Lead Reds past Giants, 9-3

Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 23, 2013

American League

Chris Herrmann

Minnesota scored seven runs in the 10th inning to take their second straight on the road from the still-struggling Angels.

The scoring outburst was punctuated by rookie catcher Chris Herrmann's grand slam, leading to the 10-3 victory.

The blast was just the second of Herrmann's brief major league career. Herrmann had two singles prior to the slam, going 3-for-5 for the game. He's played in just nine games, but is batting a brisk .409, with nine hits in 22 at-bats.

The Twins will go for the sweep of the Angels Wednesday afternoon at 12:35 pm PDT.

National League

Zack Cozart

Splitting a double-header with the Giants, the Cincinnati Reds dropped another 1/2 further behind the Central division-leading Cardinals, but are still just five games out, with plenty left to play, including 10 more meetings with St. Louis, seven of which will be played at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Zack Cozart went 4-for-4 in the opener, a 9-3 win for the Reds, prior to dropping the nightcap, 5-3, an unusual situation due to the game being a make-up, in which the Reds were the home team at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

Cozart got the Reds on the board in the second inning with the first of his four hits, singling home a run and scoring later as Cincinnati plated four runs in the frame. Cozart singled and scored again in the third, belted a solo homer in the fifth and singled again in the seventh to complete his night of plate perfection.

The series wraps up Wednesday night at 7:10 pm PDT in San Francisco.

Today's Trivia: Speaking of Mike Schmidt - a three-time NL MVP, how many times did he lead the NL in home runs? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Even though Mike Schmidt hit many more homers than Brooks Robinson (548-268), the Baltimore hot-corner Hoover played for 23 years - five more than Schmidt - and amassed 2848 hits, to Schmidt's 2234.

Chris Davis Does It Again, Grand Slam Leads Oriole Victory; Todd Frazier, Zack Cozart Lead 15-0 Reds' Rout of Nats

Players of the Day for Friday, April 5, 2013

American League

Davis leads majors
in BA, HR, RBI

Welcoming in the Minnesota Twins for a three-game series, the Baltimore Orioles weren't exactly the most hospitable hosts, hammering five Twins' pitchers for 14 hits and nine earned runs in a 9-5, home-opening victory.

Five of those runs were delivered off the bat of Chris Davis, who singled and was stranded in the fourth inning, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and socked a grand slam home run in the bottom of the eighth, unknotting a 5-5 tie in a big way.

With the slam, Davis has homered in all four Baltimore games this season, tying him for the major league lead with Seattle's Michael Morse. His 2-for-5 night actually lowered his MLB-leading batting average from .636 to .600, and the five RBI gave him 16 on the season in just four games. The next-closest to him is Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist, with seven.

The Orioles won their second straight to remain tied with Boston atop the AL East at 3-1.

NOTABLE: Detroit's Prince Fielder belted his first two home runs of the season in the Tigers' 8-3 win over the Yankees, driving in five with a three-run and a two-run shot.

National League

Todd Frazier

Fresh off a sweep of the Miami Marlins, the Washington Nationals hit the road for Cincinnati, but after being whipped 15-0 by the Reds, probably feel like they should have stayed home.

Zack Cozart

Cincinnati roughed up starter, Dan Haren, for nine hits and six earned runs over four innings, and didn't let up on the parade of three Washington relievers, amassing 19 hits.

The two main catalysts came out of the six and seven spots in the order. Todd Frazier and Zack Cozart each went yard twice; Frazier was 4-for-5 with a pair of singles, a solo shot and a two-run bomb, driving in four runs and scoring three times. Cozart went 2-for-5 with a solo belt and a three-run donk and drove in another run with a sac fly for five RBI in the game.

Washington mustered only two hits in six innings off Reds' starter Homer Bailey, and had just five over nine long innings.

The win was the Reds' third straight after losing on opening day. They are a game up on the Cubs in the NL Central. Washington dropped into a 3-1 tie with the Braves for the NL East lead.