Rios, Pierzynski Key White Sox Win; Sanchez Drives in 6 for Marlins

Players of the Day for Friday, June 11, 2010 American League Maybe playing against National Leaguers will wake up the White Sox. In their first of fifteen straight interleague games, the Sox showed some sock, as Alex Rios (left) and A.J. Pierzynski (right) led a 16-hit White Sox attack against their crosstown rivals, the Cubs. The pair accounted for half of all the team's hits. Rios singeld three times, smacked a two-run homer, stole a base and scored three times, going 4-for-4, raising his batting average to .322. Rios is having possibly the best all-around season of any major leaguer with 13 homers, 31 RBI, 42 runs, 19 stolen bases and a .967 OPS. Pierzynski had a pair of singles, a double, a solo home run and three RBI for the White Sox, who beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 10-5, for their third straight win. The Sox trail the Twins by 8 1/2 games in the AL Central, and are four games behind second-place Detroit. National League The Florida Marlins may be just 1/2 game out of last place in the NL East, but they're also only 4 1/2 games out of first. With the Phillies suffering from a severe power shortage over the past three weeks, the door to the post-season has been left wide open in the division. Currently led by the Braves, all five teams in the division have aims on the top slot. The last-place Nationals and Marlins are the only teams in the division sub-.500, though just barely. At 30-31, Florida won their second straight, putting on a power display against their in-state foes at Tampa Bay, pounding out a season-high 14 runs in their first of three at Tampa, 14-9. Driving in six of those 14 runs was rookie first baseman Gaby Sanchez, with two singles, two homers and a sac fly in five at-bats. Sanchez accounted for his 6th and 7th long balls of the season, a three-run poke in the 4th inning and a two-run bomb in the 7th. Sanchez is batting .282, with 7 homers and 28 RBI. Teammate Chris Coghlan, who batted in the leadoff spot, just ahead of Sanchez, went 4-for-4, with two singles and two doubles. He crossed the plate 4 times on the day.

Jon Niese Tosses 1-Hitter at Padres; Josh Hamilton Heating Up

Players of the Day for Thursday, June 10, 2010 American League With the Angels and A's breathing down their backs, the Texas Rangers can't afford any rest as the leaders in the AL West, so it's probably as good a time as ever for Josh Hamilton to heat up at the plate. Hamilton has hit safely in 19 of his last 21 games, raising his batting average from .268 to .307. He's currently on a 7-game hitting streak, in which he's hammered four homers and driven in 13 runs. In Thursday's 12-3 win over Seattle, the Rangers' outfielder got going early with his 13th home run of the year, a 2-run blast, in the opening inning. Hamilton singled and scored in the 6th as the Rangers put the finishing touches on their third straight rout of the Mariners (they beat them 12-2 on Wednesday and 7-1 on Tuesday). The Rangers hold a 1 1/2 game lead in the division over the Angels, with the A's lurking just another 1/2 game back. Texas embarks upon a 9-game road trip against NL teams on Friday, with three games each at Milwaukee, Florida and Houston. National League A leadoff double in the 3rd inning by Chris Denofria was the only hit the Padres could produce against Mets' starter Jon Niese, who picked up his third win of the season against two losses with an outstanding 1-hitter which moved the Mets into a tie for second place in the NL East with the Phillies, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves. It was the 10th start of the season for the rookie Niese, who had been scuffling along until Thursday's thriller. Even with that win under his belt, Niese is still carrying a 3.61 ERA and a WHIP of 1.43. Without surrendering a walk, Niese came close to pitching another perfect game, which seems to be all the rage in what many baseball analysts are calling the "year of the pitcher." The Mets got on the board early, with a run in the second and two more in the third off San Diego's Jon Garland, and that was all Niese needed, going the distance for his first career complete game and shutout for the 3-0 win. Tossing 76 of 108 pitches for strikes, Niese was in command throughout, retiring the first six batters he faced and the last 21 in order, fanning 6 in the process.

Masterson 2-Hits Red Sox; Cincy Takes Back First; Houston Out of NL Central Cellar

Players of the Day for Wednesday, June 9, 2010 American League On a day in which the Indians scored 11 runs, Tampa Bay, 10; Texas, 12; and the White Sox, 15, the best performance in the American League didn't go to anyone belting from the left or right side of the plate, but to 25-year-old Cleveland starter Justin Masterson, who tossed the first complete game shutout of his brief (3 seasons) career, knocking down the Boston batting order on two hits, walking two and striking out six in Cleveland's 11-0 victory. Masterson didn't allow a hit after J.D. Drew's one-out single in the 5th inning, giving up just the two walks after that and aided by a couple of Indian double plays. Hitting his spots consistently, Masterson threw 75 of 110 pitches for strikes, earning just his second win of the season, against five losses. Cleveland offered plenty of support, including Travis Hafner's grand slam in an 8-run 8th inning. It was the most the Indians have scored since outslugging the Yankees, 13-11 on May 29. The win snapped a three-game losing streak, though the Indians remain in last place, 12 1/2 off the pace in the AL Central. National League The Reds beat the Giants, 6-3, and took back first place in the NL Central when the Dodgers topped St. Louis, 4-3, later in the evening. Cincinnati got a big game out of leadoff hitter Orlando Cabrera (left), who had a single and doubled 3 times in 5 at-bats, scoring runs in the 1st, 3rd and 5th innings, the last of which gave the Reds the lead for good. Prior to Wednesday's win, Cabrera and the Reds had lost two straight to the Giants, and look to even the series in the finale Thursday afternoon. They lead St. Louis by one game in the division. Elsewhere in the division, the Houston Astros emerged from last place when Carlos Lee (right) whacked a 10th-inning grand slam to top the Rockies, 6-2. The blast was Lee's 9th homer of the season, and his 4th in his last 8 games, a span in which he has driven in 12 runs. The homer was his only hit of the game, extending his hitting streak to ten games. Lee's power surge is one of the reasons the Astros have won seven of their last nine and are now a 1/2 game better than the Pirates, who fell to Washington, 7-5, and into last place.

Stephen Strasburg Magnificent in Majors Debut; Pena, Neimann Lead 1st-Place Rays

Players of the Day for Tuesday, June 8, 2010 American League With the Yankees and Red Sox right behind them, there will be no rest maintaining a lead in the AL East for the Tampa Bay Rays, so they have to get their best from both the pitching staff and their regular players. That's exactly what they got in Tuesday's 9-0 win over Toronto - also in the AL East mix - as starter Jeff Niemann (left) went the distance with a 2-hit shutout and Carlos Pena (right) broke out of his season-long slump just long enough to blast two homers - one a grand slam - and drive in five of the Rays' ten runs. Facing a Toronto team that leads the majors in home runs, Niemann was undaunted, tossing a no-hitter until Mike McCoy singled with one out in the 6th inning. Niemann gave up another single to Adam Lind, leading off the 7th, but finished strong, retiring the last nine batters in order. The win was his first complete game shutout of the season, a trick he turned twice in 2009. Neimann is 6-0, with a 2.48 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. At the plate, Carlos Pena did his damage with two swings of the bat. After belting a solo homer in the 4th inning, he finished off a 7-run Rays' 5th with a towering grand slam to right field. The homers were his 10th and 11th of the season, and, despite batting just .187, Pena's five RBI gave him 39 on the year. Tampa Bay's win kept them 2 games ahead of the Yankees and 4 up on Boston. Toronto dropped 5 1/2 off the pace, but will look to draw closer in the final two games of the series in Tampa. National League Having spent the first two months of the season laboring in the minor leagues, Stephen Strasburg has been the recipient of more press and hype than any rookie of recent vintage. In his first major league start, he lived up to all of it, turning in a stunning, dominating performance as the Washington Nationals downed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2. The 6'4" righty from San Diego overmatched the Pirate batters with 100 MPH fastballs and wicked, unhittable curves. Strasburg gave up four hits and two earned runs over 7 complete innings, but he struck out 14 - including the last 7 he faced - without issuing a single walk. Lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 7th with the Nats holding a 4-2 lead, Strasburg wowed the sellout crowd in the nation's capitol. The Nats' bullpen, which has been among the best in the majors at closing out opponents, kept the lead safe as Ty Clippard gave up a lonely single in the 8th for his 13th hold and Matt Capps worked a perfect 9th for his major league-leading 19th save. Both runs came on Delwyn Young's 4th inning homer, giving Pittsburgh a temporary 2-1 lead. With Strasburg solidifying the rotation and Clippard and Capps providing stellar back-end relief, the Nationals may be a force with which to reckon as the season progresses. Still under .500 (28-31), the Nats trail NL East leader Atlanta by six games, but there's still plenty of baseball to be played. In the currently wide-open division, any team that can string together wins has a chance to stay close or establish a lead into September.