Peavy Goes 8 Scoreless as Sox Sweep Twins; Fielder Scores Four as Brewers Sweep Astros

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 7, 2011

American League

Peavy: 8 scoreless

Jake Peavy evened his record at 5-5 and the Chicago White Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Twins as Chicago batters homered four times to defeat Minnesota, 7-0.

Peavy worked eight full innings, allowing just three hits while fanning six. He did not walk a batter and left the game with a big lead after throwing 108 pitches, 72 of them for strikes.

Paul Konerko connected for his 26th home run - a solo shot - and Brent Lillibridge and Alex Rios also delivered bases-empty bombs. Alexi Ramirez had a two-run homer in the 7th, his 11th of the season.

Peavy's return to form comes at the right time for the battling White Sox. With Detroit losing 4-3 to Kansas City and the Indians blowing a 3-0 lead in the 8th, losing to the Rangers, 5-3, Chicago is just 5 1/2 behind the Tigers and 1 1/2 back of the Indians.

The White Sox travel to Baltimore for a four-game set that begins Monday and then hosts Kansas City for three games. Meanwhile, the Tigers and Indians square off in Cleveland for a three-game series starting on Monday.

National League

Fielder: 4 scores

With a three game lead on the Cardinals in the NL Central, the Milwaukee Brewers won their fourth straight as they completed a three-game sweep of the decimated Houston Astros, by a 7-3 score.

Prince Fielder socked his 26th home run, and drove in two runs, giving him 85 on the year, two behind league-leading Ryan Howard's 87 ribbies.

Fielder also singled twice, going 3-for-4 and scored four times for the Brewers.

With the Reds and Pirates - losers of 10 straight - have quickly fallen out of contention, the sole concern of the Brewers for the rest of the season will be fending off the Cardinals and winning the division.

The Cardinals will get another shot at derailing the Brewers right away, as the two teams match up in St. Louis for a three game series beginning Tuesday.

STREAKS: Dan Uggla went 1-for-5, extending his hitting streak to 28 straight, but teammate Freddie Freeman has his streak stopped at 20 with an 0-for-4 effort in Atlanta's 6-5 win over the Mets.

Ellsbury Drives in Six as Boston Beats Yankees; Justin Turner's Two Homers Upend Braves

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 6, 2011

American League

Ellsbury: 6 RBI

When the Yankees and Red Sox get together in August or September, the games are usually meaningful, and this weekend's series is surely no exception.

After winning the series opener 3-2 on Friday, the Yankees approached the middle game with a one-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East and their ace, C.C. Sabathia, on the mound.

Things looked OK for the Yanks as Sabathia and John Lackey locked into a duel through the first two innings, but that was as long as the good times would last, thanks to Boston's leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury, who got Boston on the scoreboard with a 3rd inning sac fly as the Red Sox put up a 2-0 lead.

The very next inning was crucial. New York tied the game in the top of the inning, but Boston had already put up two more runs when Ellsbury stepped to the plate with two teammates aboard and promptly took Sabathia inside the Pesky Pole in right field with his 19th home run, making the score 7-2, and the outcome no longer in doubt.

Adding two more RBI with a single in the 8th, Ellsbury collected six RBI as the Red Sox cruised to a 10-4 win and a tie with the Yanks atop the division.

The teams square off Sunday night in the rubber game, with the winner taking a one-game division lead.

National League

Just a .500 club, the Mets are still entertaining hopes of catching the Atlanta Braves in the National League wild card race.

Turner: 2 homers

After losing five straight, those hopes were a little clouded when the two teams met in the second of a three game series at City Field in Queens.

The situation became even more serious when the Braves took a 5-2 lead in the third inning, but the Mets would not give in. Justin Turner had homered in the first inning, and the Mets plated another two runs when Jason Bay socked his 8th of the season in the bottom of the 3rd.

In the 4th, Josh Thole connected for a solo shot to tie the game, and Turner went long again, with a man aboard, to put the Mets back on top, 7-5.

Turner drove in his 4th RBI of the game with a ground out in the 7th inning, en route to the 11-7 victory.

The win put the Mets 8 games behind the Braves in the wild card race, with the Diamondbacks and Cardinals 3 1/2 and 4 back of Atlanta, respectively.

Turner's homers were his third and fourth of the season.

STREAKS: Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 27 games, while teammate Freddie Freeman upped his consecutive game hitting streak to 20. Uggla went 3-for-5, while Freeman had only one hit in five at-bats.

Santana's Five RBI Not Enough Against Rangers; Gallardo, Braun Lead Milwaukee Uprising

Players of the Day for Friday, August 5, 2011

American League

Carlos Santana and the Cleveland Indians built a 6-1 lead over the Rangers in just the first two innings of their game at Texas. Unfortunately for them, baseball games generally last nine innings, though in this case, the Rangers eventually emerged victorious in 11.

Santana: 5 RBI

Getting the Indians off to a flying start, Santana socked his 17th home run off Texas starter Derek Holland, a three-run shot in the first inning.

In the second, Santana cranked a double to center field, driving in two more runs as part of a three-run inning, knocking out Holland after just 1 2/3rd innings. A solo homer in the third inning by Shelley Duncan put the Indians up 7-2, but the Rangers eventually came back to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th on Michael Young's two-run homer and win it in 11, 8-7, when Elvis Andrus scored from second base on Josh Hamilton's infield single.

Santana finished 2-for-4 with five RBI, all in the first two innings of the game. The Cleveland backstop has been on a two-game tear, homering and driving in three runs in Thursday's 7-3 win over the Red Sox, but the Indians have been sliding, winning just three of their last ten games and falling four behind Detroit in the AL Central.

Texas managed to hold their one-game lead over the Angels in the West. The Angels have won seven of their last ten.

National League

Gallardo: 13 Wins

The Milwaukee Brewers won for the ninth time in their last 10 games, as Yovani Galardo allowed just one run over eight strong innings, winning his 13th against seven losses in the Brewers' 8-1 romp in Houston.

Braun: .329 BA

Gallardo allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out 6, tying Arizona's Ian Kennedy for second in the NL with 13 wins. Roy Halladay leads the league with 14 victories.

At the plate, Ryan Braun went 3-for-4 with a double and two singles, scoring twice, driving in a run and swiping his 20th base. Braun is challenging for the league batting crown with a .329 average, right behind Jose Reyes of the Mets, who leads, at .336.

The Brewers maintained their three-game bulge over St. Louis in the Central division, which has quickly become a two team affair. The slumping Pirates - losers of eight straight - have fallen eight games off the pace and Cincinnati is 8 1/2 back.

Haren, Trumbo Lead Angels Past Twins; Cliff Lee Tosses 5th Shutout of Season

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 4, 2011

American League

Mark Trumbo

Dan Haren

Continuing their relentless pursuit, the LA Angles took the rubber game of their series with Minnesota by a 7-1 score.

Dan Haren went eight innings, allowing five hits andjust one run - Jim Thome's 598th career home run - and Mark Trumbo singled, scored and homered, driving in four runs to keep the Angels one game behind Texas in the AL West.

The win was Haren's 12th, against six losses. He fanned six Twins and did not allow a walk. Trumbo's homer - a three-run shot that put the Angels up 5-0 - was his 21st of the season.

National League

Cliff Lee

The pennant race in the NL East might as well be over. Nobody's catching the Phillies.

Proving that they have the best pitching staff in the majors, again, Cliff Lee worked his mound magic to record his fifth shutout of the season, a 7-hit gem in a 3-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Lee (11-7) didn't allow a walk and struck out eight en route to improving his record to 11-7. Amazingly, almost half of his wins came via shutouts.

The Phillies lead the NL East division by 8 1/2 games over the Braves. It is the largest lead in any of baseball's six divisions and the Phillies sport the best record in baseball, at 72-39.