Pedroia Extends Hitting Streak to 16 Games; Freddie Freeman Powers Atlanta Past Rockies

Players of the Day for Monday, July 18, 2011

American League

Dustin Pedroia

With David Ortiz and Kevin Gregg serving suspensions for a fighting incident prior to the all star break, there were no punches thrown as the Orioles and Red Sox opened a three-game series in Baltimore, but there was plenty of hitting.

The two teams combined for 28 hits; the Red Sox coming away with a 15-10 victory.

Boston Didn't have Big Papi, but they got Carl Crawford back from the DL to provide a couple of hits. Dustin Pedroia continued his hot streak, going 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. Pedroia singled and doubled, driving in three runs and scoring once.

Prior to his 16-game streak, Pedroia had an 11-game hitting streak interrupted by a 0-for-3 effort June 28 at Philadelphia. Over his past 28 games, Pedroia has raised his batting average from .258 to .295 and the Red Sox have won 13 of the 16 games in his current hitting streak.

National League

Freddie Freeman

Freddie Freeman is having one heck of a rookie season with the Atlanta Braves.

Freeman went 3-for-5 with three RBI - two of them on a 3rd inning home run - and scored twice as the Braves continued to pressure the Phillies in the NL East with a 7-4 win at Colorado.

The three ribbies gave Freeman an even 50 for the year and his home run was #14 for the Atlanta first baseman.

Atlanta's win pushed them to within 2 1/2 games of the first place Phillies, as the Cubs beat Roy Halladay, 6-1, in Chicago.

NOTABLE: The Pittsburgh Pirates survived a 90-minute delay in the 1st inning and knocked off the Reds, 2-0, to take sole possession of first place in the contentious NL Central. The Pirates lead Milwaukee and St. Louis by 1/2 game, with the Reds four games out.

Jim Thome socked his 596th home run on Sunday, a three-run blast that gave the Twins a 4-3 win over the Royals. Thome is four shy of becoming the 8th player in major league history to reach the 600 home run mark, and his shot against the Royals was his 500th as an American Leaguer, making him the 11th player to achieve that lofty plateau.

Roger Bernadina, Danny Espinosa Leading Rookies; Brett Gardner a Man on the Move

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 17, 2011

American League

Brett Gardner

With Derek Jeter in and out of the lineup now that he's gone beyond 3000 hits, Brett Gardner is getting more chances to bat leadoff for the Yankees. In Sunday's 7-3 win at Toronto, that is where Gardner was found, stroking three singles in four at-bats, scoring three times and swiping a couple of bases - his 25th and 26th of the year.

Gardner got the Yankees on the scoreboard in the 1st, leading off the game with a single, stealing second and scoring on Nick Swisher's two-out base knock.

After the Blue Jays tied the game at 1-1, Gardner got his second hit of the game and came around to score the 4th Yankee run of the 4th inning on Curtis Granderson's double.

And, just in case the Blue Jays thought about a comeback, Gardner singled in the 9th, stole second again and scored his third run of the contest in the top of the 9th.

The scrappy outfielder has been on a tear since the all star break, going 10-for-16 in the four game series with Toronto, raising his batting average to a solid .286. The Yankees split the series, 2-2, and remain 1 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East.

National League

Danny Espinosa

Looking for the NL Rookie of the Year?

Look no further than the top of the Washington lineup, where center fielder Roger Bernadina and second baseman Danny Espinosa are regularly creating havoc for opposing pitchers.

Roger Bernadina

In Sunday's 9-8 loss to Atlanta, the pair combined for five hits, five runs and four RBI. Bernadina stole second twice, giving him 15 since getting regular playing time in early May. Espinosa socked his 17th home run and his three RBI gave him 55 on the year. He leads the Nationals in home runs, RBI and runs.

While the big free agent signing of Jayson Werth hasn't panned out - Werth is batting just .213, with 10 home runs and 31 RBI - the two rookies at the top of the order presage goof times ahead for the Nats, who are sandwiched between the third place Mets and last place Marlins, at 47-48 in the ultra-competitive NL East.

Hairston Drives in Five as Mets Roll Phillies; Edwin Jackson Hurls 9-Hit Shutout

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 16, 2011

American League

Jackson: 9-Hitter

For obvious reasons, one doesn't see too many 9-hit shutouts, but that's exactly what White Sox starter Edwin Jackson threw at the Detroit Tigers in a battle for supremacy in the AL Central.

Jackson worked into and out of trouble all game long, allowing runners on base in every inning except the 1st and 5th, protecting a 2-0 lead until the Sox finally broke through for three runs in the top of the 9th for the 5-0 final score.

Despite the multiple hits and a pair of walks surrendered, Jackson needed only 101 pitches to notch his first complete game shutout of the season, getting 18 outs on ground balls and being aided by two double plays turned by the White Sox infield.

The win was the second straight for Chicago over Detroit. The White Sox have taken back first place in the division by a game over the Tigers and will be seeking the series sweep Sunday afternoon.

Hairston: 5 Ribbies

National League

Even though they're 11 games back of the front-running Phillies in the NL East, the Mets aren't intimidated by their division rivals, showing them up in both the hitting and pitching departments in an 11-3 rout.

Jonathan Niese allowed six hits and one earned run over seven innings, striking out six, while his teammates piled on Cole Hamels, rocking the Philly starter for eight hits, four walks and seven runs over 4 1/3 innings.

Scott Hairston took advantage of a rare start - playing in place of Carlos Beltran, who was held out of the game with the flu - to rack up five RBI with a pair of doubles and a three-run homer in five at-bats.

Hairston has only 89 at-bats for the year, but has managed to smack five homers and drive in 18 runs, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

Zobrist Slam Downs Red Sox; Karstens Shuts Out Astros, 4-0; Pirates Take First Place

Players of the Day for Friday, July 15, 2011

American League

Ben Zobrist

If there's one thing the Tampa Bay Rays don't want, it's to become irrelevant to the outcome of the AL East race, especially with first place Boston in town for a three game series, so, with David Price on the bump, they looked to open the second half with a home win.

Iy didn't exactly turn out as planned, but the Rays got their win, despite four Red Sox homers, offset mostly by a Ben Zobrist grand slam.

The Rays jumped all over Boston starter Andrew Miller, scoring seven runs over the course of the first three innings, all charged to Miller.

Zobrist got things started when he and Evan Longoria walked in the 1st, with Zobrist scoring on B.J. Upton's one- out single.

In the 2nd, Zobrist came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, unloading off Miller with the grand slam to left, putting the Rays up, 5-1. In the 3rd, Zobrist again got to the plate with nowhere to put him, but reliever Alfredo Aceves walked him, was Zobrist walked in his 5th RBI of the night.

Tampa would survive the four home runs (all solo shots except for Marco Scutero's 2-run blast in the 7th) for the 9-6 win, getting to within five games of the Sox, with the Yankees failing to take advantage, remaining 1 1/2 back after two consecutive losses in Toronto.

National League

Jeff Karstens

There were at least two things well known about the NL Central this season. One was that the division was likely to be a multiple-team scramble; the second was that the pirates were loaded with young talent, but that's been the case for most of the past decade of discomfort in Pittsburgh.

Normally, the Pirates would win some, lose more, and finish near or at the bottom of baseball's most competitive division. This is not a normal season, however, as the 48-43 Pirates took over first place by percentage points over the 49-44 Cardinals, thanks to Brandon Phillips' 9th inning homer, which gave the Reds a 6-5 win, and Jeff Karstens' 5-hit, complete game shutout, as the Pirates beat Houston, 4-0, the seventh win in their last nine outings.

Karstens, 8-4, locked down the punchless Astros, getting 14 of the first 15 Houston batters in order and cruised to the victory without allowing a walk, fanning two, for his fourth straight win and fifth in his last six starts.

His teammates supported his mound efforts with a run in the 1st, two more in the third and another in the 8th. It was Karstens second career shutout and his first since 2008.

The Pirates lead in the division, their first after the all star break since 1997, is tenuous. They are tied in the standings with St. Louis, with Milwaukee 1/2 game off the pace and the Reds lurking, three games back.

Pittsburgh fans better enjoy it while it's there. After their three-game series with Houston ends, the Bucs close out July with 13 straight games against the Reds, Cardinals, Braves and Phillies. If they're still even close to the lead on August 1, that will be something to shout about.