Cueto Blanks Pirates; Guillen Homer Fuels Royal Rally

Players of the Day for Sunday, May 3, 2009 American League The Kansas City Royals are desperately trying to hang in the AL Central race. With their come-from-behind 7-5 win over Minnesota on Sunday the Royals maintained their 1/2 game lead over Detroit in the division. Down 4-0 in the top of the 7th, Jose Guillen's 3-run homer - his third of the season - brought the Royals to within a run. They added two more in the inning to take the lead, then Guillen drove in another run in the 8th, giving KC a 6-4 lead. The veteran outfielder finished with 4 RBI. National League Everybody's chasing the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, but maybe even more surprising is the early success of the Cincinnati Reds, who remained tied for second in the division with the Cubs at 13-11, 3 1/2 behind St. Louis, with a 5-0 win at Pittsburgh Sunday. One reason the Reds are up in the standings is the emergence of Johnny Cueto as a solid starter. In Sunday's win, Cueto was nearly untouchable, allowing no runs on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 9 over 8 innings. In just his second season, Cueto (2-1) is off to a solid start, having allowed just 2 earned runs over his last 26 2/3 innings on the mound. His ERA has come down to 1.65; his WHIP is a very respectable 1.04.

Blaylock Drives Rangers; Marquis, Spilborghs Star for Rockies

Players of the Day for Saturday, May 2, 2009 American League Hank Blalock whacked a three-run homer in the third inning and doubled home another run in the 4th as the Texas Rangers got all of their runs in a 3-run 3rd and 6-run 4th inning, holding off the White Sox for a 9-6 win. Blalock delivered with his 7th home run of the season and his 4 RBI gave him 18. The win helped the Rangers (11-12) hold onto second place in the wide-open AL West, where they trail the Mariners by 2 1/2 games. The Angels and A's are just one game behind Texas. National League Jason Marquis (left) worked every out and Ryan Spilborghs (right) provided most of the offense as the Colorado Rockies cruised to a 5-1 win at San Francisco. Marquis (4-1) had his best outing of the season, with a complete-game decision in which he allowed just 5 hits and a walk. The sole San Francisco run came on the only extra-base hit of the game - Pedro Sandolval's second-inning solo homer. Marquis struck out 4, got 14 gournd outs and 9 by fly balls. When the Rockies were batting, Ryan Spilborghs was doing most of the damage from the leadoff spot, hitting a solo homer in his first at-bat, drawing a walk and scoring in the third, belting a two-run homer in the fifth inning and singling and stealing second in the 9th, going 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs.

Slam Dance: Longoria, Theriot Blast Off

Players of the Day for Friday, May 1, 2009 American League Four-run homers were the order of the day in both leagues on Friday's menu. In Tampa, Evan Longoria launched a 5th inning, bases-loaded round-tripper in a 6-run Rays' uprising, highlighting a 6-2 beat down of the Boston Red Sox. It was the second straight win over Boston, who came into Tampa riding an 11-game win streak, but Longoria and his teammates have made sure to slow Boston's momentum. The grand slam was Longoria's only hit in three at-bats, but it extended his recent hitting and RBI streak to five straight games. The Tampa third baseman has driven in 12 runs over that span and is hitting .364 for the year. He has 7 homers and his 28 RBI leads the AL. National League The Cubs usually get their long balls from Alfonso Soriano or Aramis Ramirez, but with the bases stuffed in the 6th inning Friday night, light-hitting shortstop, Ryan Theriot steeped to the plate and promptly belted his first home run of the season and just the 8th of his 5-year major league career. His bomb - his only hit in 5 at-bats - turned a 5-2 Florida lead into a 6-5 Cubs advantage. Chicago added a pair of runs in the 7th and Florida got one in the 9th for an 8-6 Chicago victory. The win evened Chicago's record at 11-11, 5 games back in the NL Central. For the Marlins, the loss was their 8th in their last 11 games. Despite that horrible run, they remain 2 games to the good over Philadelphia in the NL East.

Garza, Longoria Bury BoSox; Cantu Continues Hot Streak

Players of the Day for Thursday, April 30, 2009 American League Matt Garza (left) took a perfect game into the seventh inning and worked into the 8th, one-hitting the Red Sox as his Tampa Bay teammates piled up the runs in a 13-0 Rays victory. Garza (2-2) allowed an infield single by Jacoby Ellsbury to lead off the 7th. Other than that dribbler, he was lights out, later giving up a walk, but striking out ten in a dominating performance. Garza threw 108 pitches, of which 75 went for strikes. Leading the 18-hit Tampa attack was third baseman Evan Longoria (right), who opened the scoring with a first-inning, bases-loaded double off Boston starter Josh Beckett, and later singled and smacked a solo home run, driving in 4 runs and scoring three times. National League Jorge Cantu continued his hot hitting as the Florida Marlins topped the Cubs, 8-2, in 10 innings. Cantu got the Marlins on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the 7th inning, and doubled home three more as Florida struck for 6 runs in the top of the 10th. Over the last three games, Cantu has been on fire, going 6-for-10, stroking four home runs while piling up 10 RBI.