Cabrera, Boesch Power Tigers Past Yankees; Garcia Tosses First Shutout of Season

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 3, 2011

American League

Brennan Boesch

Miguel Cabrera

Avoiding a sweep in their season-opening series with the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers pounded out 14 hits in a 10-7 win at Yankee Stadium.

Obviously enjoying the surroundings were the two power hitters in the Tiger batting order, #3 hitter Brennan Boesch and behind him Miguel Cabrera.

Boesch went 4-for-4 with a home run, three singles, a sac flay, four runs and four RBI. Cabrera had a pair of homers and a single in five at-bats, also drove in four runs and scored twice. The two accounted for half of the Tigers' hits and 7 of their 10 RBI.

Cabrera is hitting a brisk .455, though he's overshadowed by Boesch's ridiculous .625 average.

National League

Jaime Garcia

Opening weekend in the majors was witness to a good deal of slugging, but pitching came at quite the premium. There was no lack of starters being shelled and relievers took their lumps as well.

One pitcher who came through unscathed was St. Louis' Jaime Garcia, who threw the first complete game shutout of the season in a 2-0 win over San Diego.

After scoring a 13-8 season as a rookie with the Cards, Garcia is off to a spectacular start, allowing just four hits - all singles - and two walks in his 2011 debut, fanning nine Padres along the way.

Garcia struck out the side in the second and induced 12 outs on ground balls. With Adam Wainwright gone for the season, the Cardinals are encouraged to see Garcia step up early in the season. The Cardinals won their first game of 2011 after dropping two straight at home to the Padres.

Beltre Blast Bombs Bosox; Matt Cain, Freddy Sanchez Get First Win for Giants

Players of the Day for Saturday, April 2, 2011

American League

Adrian Beltre

Adrian Beltre capped a six-run 4th inning with a grand slam homer, leading the Texas Rangers to a thorough, 12-5 throttling of the Boston Red Sox.

Beltre joined the Rangers after spending the 2010 season with the Red Sox.

The blast was Beltre's only hit, but it was the biggest of the Rangers' 15-hit attack. all nine players in the lineup registered at least one hit. Nine Ranger hits went for extra bases, including four home runs.

The Rangers have taken the first two games of the series from Boston and will look to complete the season-opening sweep on Sunday.

National League

Matt Cain

Matt Cain started the 2011 season the same way he ended the 2010 season, holding the opposing team scoreless.

Freddy Sanchez

Cain tossed six shutout innings in his first start for the Giants, en route to a 10-0 laugher and the defending world champions' first win of the season after two losses to their most intense rival.

During last year's playoffs and World Series, Cain had thrown 21 1/3 innings without surrendering an earned run. On Saturday, he allowed five hits, issued no walks and fanned three.

Freddy Sanchez provided a nice dose of offense, going 3-for-4, with a single, double and home run. Sanchez drove in three runs and scored twice as the Giants beat up Dodger starter Ted Lilly and three relievers.

Carlos Quentin, 3-for-5, 5 RBI in 15-10 Win; Neil Walker Hits Grand Slam as Pirates Win Opener

Players of the Day for Friday, April 2, 2011

American League

Carlos Quentin

As the White Sox and Indians renewed their AL Central rivalry with an old-fashioned, opening day slug-fest, Carlos Quentin wasted little time letting the Sox know who's boss in the division.

Quentin went 3-for-4, with all of his hits coming in the first four innings of Chicago's 15-10 triumph.

After Paul Konerko opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with an RBI single, Quentin followed with the same, then smacked a two-run homer in the 3rd, and doubled in two more in Chicago's 8-run 4th, putting the Sox up, 14-0.

Mark Beuhrle allowed four runs over six innings, and the Chicago bullpen gave up another six runs, but it still wasn't enough to catch the White Sox.

National League

Neil Walker

The Pittsburgh Pirates have spent the better part of the last two decades in the NL Central cellar, but this season has fielded a starting lineup that may be their best in years. Whether management decides to keep them all together for the duration of the season is another story. The Pirates have a history of trading away their best players before August.

In their opening day, 6-3 win over the Cubs, second baseman Neil Walker brought the Pirates back from a 2-run deficit with a grand slam homer in the 4th inning, and scored again after doubling in the 7th, when Andrew McCutchen also homered.

Walker finished his 2011 debut going 2-for-4 with 4 RBI and a pair of runs, getting the Pirates off to a solid start.

Walker showed tremendous potential in 134 games last season for Pittsburgh, batting .290 with 13 homers and 70 RBI.

Teixeira Blasts Verlander, Tigers; Walk-off Homer by Hernandez Lifts Reds

 Players of the Day for Opening Day, Thursday, March 31, 2011

American League

Mark Teixeira

For a player who usually starts out slowly, Mark Teixeira's third inning, three-run home run off Detroit's Justin Verlander was an unusually good omen and set the stage for an opening day home win for the NY Yankees.

Teixeira struggled through the first few months of 2010 before catching fire and finishing with 33 bombs and 108 RBI last year. The homer was his only hit of the day, but it put the Yanks up 3-1 before the Tigers came back to it it with single runs in the 4th and 5th innings.

New York countered with two runs in the 7th and another in the 8th for the 6-3 final score.

National League

The Cincinnati Reds opened their 2011 campaign with a bang, courtesy of a bottom-of-the-ninth, three-run, walk-off home run by Ramon Hernandez.

Ramon Hernandez

Completing a comeback from a 6-2, 7th inning deficit, Hernandez completed the decimation of Milwaukee closer John Axford, who had already allowed a run in the inning. On top of Joey Votto's solo blast in the 7th, the Reds got just what they needed in their final at bat for the 7-6 opening day win.

Hernandez had earlier collected three singles off various Milwaukee hurlers, and got the big hit when it counted, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and the game winner.

Last season, when the Reds won the NL Central division, they had 45 comeback wins. Looks like they're ready to terrorize opposing bullpens again this year.