Francisco Lindor Lifts Indians; Reds' Brandon Finnegan Tops Phillies

Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 5, 2017

American League

Defending AL champion Cleveland won its third straight without a loss, topping the Rangers, 9-6, to complete the opening series sweep at Arlington.

Lindor: 2HR, GS, 5RBI

The bulk of the offense was carried by shortstop Francisco Lindor, who belted a pair of homers and drove in five runs with a solo shot in the sixth inning of Cole Hamels and a grand slam in the ninth off Sam Dyson, which brought the Indians back from a 6-5 deficit, to victory.

Lindor got to the plate in the ninth with the bases chucked, after Carlos Santana had walked in the first run of the frame for the Indians. The third year shortstop lifted a ball into the right field stands and circled the bases, his teammates awaiting him at the dish with congratulations.

Lindor has played all of his major league games with the Indians, batting .313 as a rookie in 2015 and .301 with 263 total bases last season, making the all-star team.

After a day off Thursday, Cleveland will look to extend their winning streak when they open an interleague series in Arizona on Friday.

Finnegan: 1 hit over 7

National League

After a full season as a starter for the Cincinnati Reds in 2016, Brandon Finnegan figures to fit right in with the Reds for the rest of the 2017 campaign.

In his first start of the season, Finnegan was on fire, allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings as the Reds evened their record at 1-1 by blanking the Phillies, 2-0.

Finnegan got off to a somewhat shaky start, walking Howie Kendrick and allowing a single to Maikel Franco. But, as it turned out, that was it for the punchless Phillies. Finnegan set down the next 18 batters in order before exiting after completing the seventh inning, fanning nine and throwing just 88 pitches.

The 23-year-old lefty was 10-11 with a 3.98 ERA in 2016.

The Reds and Phillies will complete their three-game series in Cincinnati with the rubber game Thursday afternoon. Game time is 12:35 pm ET.

Danny Espinosa Lifts Angels Over A's; Calyton Richard Goes Eight Shutout Innings For Padres

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 4, 2017

American League

Espinosa: 3-run blast

Danny Espinosa socked a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning, leading the LA Angels to a 7-6 triumph over the Oakland A's.

Not known primarily as a power hitter, second baseman Espinosa knocked 24 ball out of parks last season, a career high, and got his stroke aligned with his first of the new season, which was also his only hit in eight at-bats thus far in 2017.

The 383-fott drive to right center drove in teammates Jefry Marte and Andrelton Simmons, bringing the Angels back from a 6-4 deficit. Cam Bedrosian came in to toss a perfect inning in the bottom of the ninth, earning his first save of the season.

Richard: 8 Scoreless

Notable in the game was the first start for Matt Carpenter, who returned to the mound for the first time since being struck in the head by a line drive, suffering a fractured skull, seven months earlier. Carpenter was effective, allowing two earned runs on four hits over five innings.

The win tied the four-game series at 1-1. The two teams take to the field at the Oakland Coliseum for game three Wednesday night at 7:05 pm PT.

National League

After being hammered and humiliated in their season opener, 14-3, by the Dodgers on Monday, Clayton Richard and the San Diego Padres said, "not so fast" to the home-standing Dodgers, blanking them 4-0, to even their record and the series at 1-1.

Richard tossed eight innings of shutout ball, allowing five hits and two walks, fanning five. Efficient in his pitch selection, Richard threw 68 of 99 pitches for strikes and recorded first pitch strikes on 19 of the 27 batters he faced.

A spot starter and long reliever for most of his career, Richard became part of the Padres' starting rotation this season and is off to a great start. The win took his career record above the break-even line, giving him 54 victories against 53 losses.

The Padres and Dodgers play game three of their four-game series Wednesday night in Los Angeles with first pitch slated for 7:10 pm PT.

Joc Pederson's Grand Slam Leads Dodgers; Dallas Keuchel Wins Houston Opener

Players of the Day for Monday, April 3, 2017

American League

The AL West is the place to be this season, as the division looks like a battle-to-the-end throw-down between Texas, Houston, and Seattle.

Keuchel: 7 scoreless

Two of those contenders hooked up on opening day in Houston as the Astros hosted the Mariners in the first of a four-game series, featuring an aces match-up between Seattle's Felix Hernandez and Houston's Dallas Keuchel.

In 2010, Hernandez won the AL Cy Young Award; the same was captured by Keuchel in 2015, making the opening day mound meeting something special.

Houton turned out to have the better of it, getting to King Felix for two runs over five innings on a pair of solo homers by George Springer in the first inning and Carlos Correa in the fourth.

Meanwhile, Keuchel was cruising along, allowing just two hits and no runs over seven innings, as the Astros prevailed over the Mariners, 3-0.

After a leadoff single by Segura, Keuchel set down ten straight, getting into a bit of trouble in the fourth, when he gave up his only other hit, to Robinson Cano, and walked two to load the bases. A grounder by Leonys Martin ended the threat, and, except for plunking Kyle Seager to lead off the seventh, Keuchel was perfect the rest of the way, fanning three.

The Astros and Mariners renew rivalries again on Tuesday. Gane two of the four-game set is scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.

Pedereson: Slammin'

National League

In Los Angeles, center field has been generally patrolled by one Joc Pederson the last two seasons. In 2015, Pederson had 101 hits, among them, 26 homers. Last season, he racked up 100 hits (while bringing his strikeout total down to 130, from 170 in 2015) with 25 dingers.

In the Dodgers' opening game of the 2017 season, Pederson got just one hit, but, as suspected, it was a home run, a thrid inning grand slam that put the Dodgers up 5-0 en route to a 14-3 slaughter of the hopeless San Diego Padres.

Played at Dodger Stadium before a crowd of 53,701, the Dodgers showed why they are considered the front-runner in the National League West, while the Padres put on a display that has many believing them to be baseball's worst team.

Pederson, who batted .246 last season, drove in the Dodgers' first run with a sac fly in the first inning, but appears to be making strides toward increasing his home run and RBI total (five on the day) and possibly reducing the number of strikeouts, though he did whiff once in three at-bats on Monday.

The Dodgers and Padres hook up again Tuesday night in the second game of their four-game series.

Madison Bumgarner Goes Yard Twice As Giants Fall to D'Backs; Rays' Evan Longoria Victimizes Yankees Again

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 2, 2017

American League

Evan Longoria

The NY Yankees may have been the best team in Spring Training, but it certainly didn't translate well into games that actually count.

In MLB's first regular season game, the Yankees got whipped by a team that's always been trouble for them, and, by a player that's been a thorn in the collective Yankee sides since he came onto the scene in 2008, third baseman, Evan Longoria.

In the first inning, Longoria knocked in leadoff DH (seriously, who but Tampa uses the DH as their leadoff guy?) Corey Dickerson with a Sac fly, and, as Yankee ace Masahiro Tanaka struggled along, socked a two-run line-shot homer into the left field corner of Tropicana Field, putting the Rays ahead 5-2. Tampa had scored two earlier runs in the first on Logan Morrison's two-run double, and Morrison added a solo shot in the third to make it 6-2 helping the Rays cruise to the 7-2 blowout.

Tampa Bay starter, Chris Archer, yielded two runs on seven hits over seven innings. The Rays and Yankees resume their three-game series on Tuesday, at 7:10 pm ET.

National League

Madison Bumgarner hit the record books hard on Sunday, but his imprimatur will be for his efforts at the plate, not for his prowess on the mound.

Bumgarner Homers Twice

Bumgarner pitched well enough to win but didn't, leaving the game after giving up three runs in the sixth inning, which tied the game at 3-3. Prior to his departure, however, MadBum, as some call him, socked a fifth-inning solo homer to put the Giants briefly ahead, 2-0, and came back to bat in the top of the seventh and did it again, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to stroke two homers on opening day.

The last Giant pitcher to even hit a homer on opening day was Johnny Antonelli, in 1956.

While his exploits at the plate will forever be recorded in the annals of baseball history, the 11 strikeouts he recorded in San Francisco's 6-5 loss at Arizona won't likely receive much notice.

The Giants and Diamondbacks resume their four-game series on Tuesday night.