Jeter, Granderson Power Yankees to 18-7 Win; McGehee Blasts Three Homers in Milwaukee Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 3, 2011

American League

Handing the White Sox their fifth straight loss while winning their sixth in a row, the New York Yankees jumped all over Chicago early and cruised to a ridiculous 18-7 win.

Granderson: 5 RBI

The top of the order did most of the harm to White Sox pitchers, rocking White Sox starter Gavin Floyd for nine hits and 10 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Jeter passes Brock

Derek Jeter had five hits in six at-bats - four singles and a double - scored four runs and drove in two, while Curtis Granderson, batting right behind the captain, went 4-for-6 with two singes, a double, his league-leading 9th triple, five RBI and two runs.

Jeter passed Lou Brock for 23rd place in hits all-time. Jeter's five hits gives him 3027. Brock retired in 1979 with 3023 career hits.

The diminutive Granderson is keeping pace in the RBI department with teammate Mark Teixeira, who had three RBI himself and leads the team with 85 ribbies to Granderson's 84.

While the Yanks continue to press the issue in the AL East, it has not been easy, as the Red Sox have won four of their last five, including two straight against Cleveland, and continue to hold a one game lead in the division over New York.

Following the completion of their series with the White Sox and Indians, the Yankees and Red Sox meet up for a three-game set in Boston, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which could go a long way toward determining the AL East representative in the playoffs.

National League

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to be heard from come the post-season.

Bouncing back from an 8-7, 11-inning loss to the second place Cardinals on Tuesday, Milwaukee rocked St. Louis 10-5, taking two out of three in the mid-week series and extending their NL Central lead to 3 1/2 games.

McGehee: 3 Bombs

Most of the offense was supplied by Casey McGehee, who has been suffering the throes of a season-long slump. McGehee, who socked 23 homers in 2010, entered yesterday's game with only five long balls in the 2011 season.

Perhaps in an effort to make up for lost time, the Milwaukee third baseman belted three homers and drove in four runs, driving the Brewers to the easy win.

Teixeira Sets Switch-Hit Homer Mark; Soriano, Ramirez Lead 6-Homer Assault on Pirates

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 2, 2011

American League

Mark Teixeira

Mark Teixeira homered from both sides of the plate for the second time this season and for the 12th time as a major leaguer, breaking a record held by himself, Eddie Murray and Chili Davis as the Yankees beat the White Sox for the second straight day, 6-0, in a rain-shortened game that lasted just long enough for "Big Tex" to get swings from both sides of the plate.

In the 4th inning, Teixeira unloaded a right-handed, two-run blast off starter John Danks for his 30th of the season and belted his 31st, batting left-handed in the top of the 7th, he victimized reliever Jason Frasor for number 31.

His three RBI gave Teixeira 82 on the season. He trails Boston's Adrian Gonzalez (90) for the AL RBI lead.

The Yankees scored another run in the 7th to make the score 6-0, just before relentless rain came to Chicago and the game was made official. Phil Hughes worked all six innings for the Yankees, allowing just three hits, fanning four without issuing any bases on balls.

The win kept the Yankees within one game of top-dog Boston in the AL East. The two teams meet in a weekend series beginning Friday at Fenway.

National League

Aramis Ramirez

The Pittsburgh Pirates were the darlings of baseball just a few weeks ago, rising to the top of the scrambled NL Central after decades of frustration.

Pittsburgh's Cinderella story looks like it may not have a fairy tale ending as the Priates have slumped of late, losing 10 of their last 13 games and five straight, including their second straight loss to the Cubs, 11-6, on Tuesday.

Alfonso Soriano

Their loss kept them 5 1/2 games behind first-place Milwaukee in the division, as the Brewers dropped a 10 inning decision to the Cardinals, 6-5.

While the Cubs have been out of the division race since June, they managed to bang six homers off the Pittsburgh pitching staff, including two solo shots - numbers 18 and 19 - by Alfonso Soriano and a two-run blast from Aramis Ramirez, his 20th.

Ramirez also drove in two runs with a single in the first inning to give him 67 RBI on the year.

TIGHT RACES: As the season quietly turned to August, pennant races have heated up in all but one division, the NL East, where the Phillies hold an imposing 8-game lead over Atlanta, the largest bulge, by far, in any divisional race.

In the NL Central, the Brewers hold a 2 1/2 game lead over the Cardinals, with Pittsburgh still lurking, 5 1/2 out, and the Reds 6 1/2 down. The NL West is now a shoot-out between Arizona and San Francisco. Each team holds a share of first place with identical 61-49 records. Arizona knocked off the Giants for the second straight day, beating them 6-1, and will be looking to sweep the series on Wednesday.

In the American League, all three races are tight. Boston leads the Yankees by one game in the East, while the Tigers cling to a three-game lead over the Indians in the Central, with the White Sox 5 1/2 back and Minnesota running out of time, eight games down.

The Al West has turned into another showdown between the Angels and Rangers, with Texas holding a one-game edge in the division. The two teams meet up in LA for a four-game series, August 15-18.

Cabrera Powers Indians Past Red Sox; Stanton Bombs Mets with Slam in 10th

Players of the Day for Monday, August 1, 2011

American League

Cabrera: Two Homers

The Cleveland Indians opened a crucial four-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Monday at Fenway Park, coming away with a 9-6 victory which moved them 1/2 game closer to the Central-division-leading Tigers, who are now two games in front.

Asdrubal Cabrera continued his season of all-around excellence by picking up the Indians when needed most. In the 6th, with Boston clinging to a 3-2 lead, Cabrera socked a two-run homer to right, putting the Indians up by a run.

Coming to the plate again in the 8th inning with a man aboard and the game tied at 5-all, Cabrera knocked his second long ball of the evening, putting Cleveland ahead for good. The versatile shortstop finished the night 3-for-5, with 3 runs, four RBI and a pair of home runs, his 18th and 19th of the season. Cabrera is batting .293 with 65 RBI.

Boston's loss allowed the Yankees to creep to within one game in the AL East, with a weekend series with New York looming.

National League

Normally, it's Gaby Sanchez who does most of the damage whenever the Marlins and Mets get together, and the all star definitely did his part with a sac fly in the 1st inning and an RBI single in the third.

Grand Slam Stanton

The work of Sanchez would not be enough on this night, however, as the Mets rallied to tie the game in the 9th inning on Lucas Duda's two-run blast, sending the game to an extra frame.

That's when Mike Stanton made his presence felt, bombing reliever Jason Isringhausen with a grand slam in the top of the 10th for a 7-3 Florida triumph.

Stanton, who had singled earlier, ended up with a 2-for-5 night with a homer and four RBI. The second-year outfielder is having a sensational season, with 25 home runs and 67 RBI.

The Marlins closed to within one game of the third place Mets, though both squads are struggling to catch the second place Braves in the division, as Atlanta currently holds the keys to the wild card.

Florida is 54-55, and trails the Braves by 8 1/2 games. The Mets are one game better, at 55-54.

Verlander Out-duels Weaver with 1-Hitter; Cueto Hurls Shutout as Reds Sweep Giants

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 31, 2011

American League

Verlander: 1 Hit over 8

Justin Verlander became the second pitcher in the majors - along with the Yankees' C.C. Sabathia - to reach 15 wins this season, out-pitching LA's Jered Weaver (14-5) in a 3-2 Tiger win.

Verlander (15-5), who threw a no-hitter earlier in the year, set down the first 11 Angels in order before giving up a walk to Bobby Abreu, and then retired the next eight batters before walking Abreu again in the 7th inning.

Verlander got the final two outs of the 7th, then ran into problems in the 8th, throwing wildly on Erick Aybar's dribbler, sending the LA shortstop to second base with no outs. After Aybar went to third on Matt Trumbo's ground out and scored on Peter Borjous' fielder's choice, Maicer Izturis finally broke through for a single with two out in the 8th to break up the no-hit bid with Borjous racing around from first to score the Angels' second run.

Finishing up the 8th by striking out Torii Hunter with his 111th pitch, Verlander took a seat to watch Jose Valverde earn his 28th save, walking Abreu for the third time in the game, but getting through the 9th without surrendering a hit.

Verlander allowed the one hit to Izturis and both runs were unearned. He struck out eight, increasing his AL-best strikeout total to 178, topping Sabathia's 156.

The Tigers opened up a 2 1/2 game lead on the Indians, who lost to KC, 5-3, while the Angels remained two games behind the Rangers in the West, as Texas dropped a 7-3 decision to Toronto.

National League

After dropping a four-game series at home to the lowly Mets, it appeared as though the Cincinnati Reds were about to fall completely out of the NL Central race.

Cueto: 3-hit Shutout

That was, until the Giants came to town.

The defending Central division champion Reds completed a three-game sweep of the reigning world champion Giants with a 9-0 whitewash, courtesy of dependable Johnny Cueto, who allowed just three hits - to the first three batters in the Giants' order, though not in the same inning - walked one and struck out six for the complete-game, 9-0, shutout victory.

The blowout came after came on the heels of Friday's nail-biting 4-3 win and Saturday's relaxed 7-2 drilling. Despite picking up Carlos Beltran to bolster their offense, the Giants still have trouble scoring runs and crafty Cueto - on top of his game - made the task all but impossible.

Joey Votto cracked his 17th home run of the season and drove in four runs for the Reds, who remained 6 1/2 behind Milwaukee in the Central but picked up ground on second place St. Louis and third place Pittsburgh, as well as gaining on Atlanta in the wild card race.

The win was Cueto's seventh against four losses, his third complete game of the year and first shutout this season.