Huff Leads O's to 6th Straight; Molina Yard Work Drops Padres in 11

Tuesday's Players of the Day American League The Baltimore Orioles extended their AL-best win streak to 6 games with an 8-1 win at Texas as Aubrey Huff went 4-for-4 (a double and three singles), driving in 4 runs to take over the AL RBI lead. Frank Thomas and Joe Crede each have 10. Notes:While the Orioles are soaring, the Detroit Tigers are souring, falling to 0-7, with a 4-0 at Boston on Tuesday. Off-season pick-ups Edgar Renteria and Miguel Cabrera are batting .200 and .100 respectively. That says something about knowing the pitchers you're facing, though Placido Polanco (.115) and Ivan Rodriguez (.148) can't use the same excuse. National League After having Barry Bonds routinely bomb homers into McCovey Cove, fans of the San Francisco Giants aren't finding much to cheer about this season. Last night, however, catcher Bengie Molina gave everyone a treat, homering twice, the last one providing the winning margin in the Giants' first home win of the season, a 3-2 win over San Diego in 11 innings.

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Molina's solo shot came with one out in the bottom of the 11th, off Padres' reliever Cla Meredith. Bengie found his groove earlier, blasting a solo shot to left in the second inning. Notes: Arizona, 5 straight wins; Milwaukee, 4 straight wins. Washington, which began the season by winning its first three, have now dropped five in a row.

Laird Doubles Up on Angels; Sheets is Complete

Sunday's Players of the Day American League The Texas Rangers spanked the LA Angels, 10-4 in Anaheim on Sunday to take two of three on the road against the reigning AL West Champs. One big reason was catcher Gerald Laird who went 4-for-5, scored three three and launched two shots into the seats, driving in a total of 6 runs on the day. Laird started things going for the Rangers when he singled and scored their first run. In the top of the 4th, with Texas leading, 2-1, he took Angels' starter Jon Garland deep with a three-run homer to blow the game open. Laird singled home Hank Blalock in the 7th and blasted another two run shot in the ninth for good measure. The effort boosted his batting average from .091 to .312. Notable: Frank Thomas hit his 11th career grand slam in the fifth inning off starter Josh Beckett as the Toronto Blue Jays completed their 3-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox. National League In the current climate of specialization in major league baseball, certain pitching stats have gone from being notable to downright rare. One such stat is the complete game, and the even rarer complete game shutout. Milwaukee Brewers' ace hurler Ben Sheets gave everyone - but especially the San Francisco Giants - a taste of old school pitching, working the entire nine innings, in a 7-0 whitewash of the slumping Giants. Sheets, facing the Giants' Barry Zito, allowed just 5 hits, while striking out 8, throwing 109 pitches, of which a remarkable 78 were strikes. Sheets struck out the side in the first inning, signaling that he had quality stuff. He didn't walk any and didn't allow a baserunner past second. Thanks to a double-play that ended the 6th, Sheets got the final 11 outs in order. After hurling a 2-hit, scoreless 6 2/3 innings in Milwaukee's season opener at Chicago, he received no decision. Sunday's complete game extended his scoreless streak to 15 2/3 innings.

Braves' Johnson Slams Mets; Rodriguez Closes Out Rangers

Saturday's Players of the Day American League The Altanta Braves pounded their arch-rivals, the New York Mets, 11-5, on Saturday, thanks in no small part to the pinch-hit grand slam by regular second baseman Kelly Johnson. With the Braves already ahead 5-3, Johnson was called on with the bases full and two outs and promptly took reliever Jorge Sosa out of the yard with a bomb to right field. Johnson, not really a serious home run threat, hit sixteen homers last year in his first full year as a starter. He has been on the bench since March 31 due to a sore right knee. National League Francisco Rodriguez gave up his first hit of the season Friday night, but it didn't matter as the Angel's closer notched his third save of the season in a 2-1 win over Texas on Friday. Rodriguez allowed a ninth inning, two-out double to Hank Blalock, but got Frank Catalanatto to ground out to first to end the game.

Pierzynski Sends Tigers to 0-4 Start; Hall, Owings Share NL Limelight

Friday's Players of the Day American League In the off-season, the Detroit Tigers opened their checkbook and signed 3rd baseman Miguel Cabrera. Now that the Tigers are 0-4, fans are thinking they should have picked up some pitching or maybe a veteran catcher like A.J. Pierzynski, who stroked a two-run double in the third and broke a 5-5 tie with a three-run homer in the 7th as the Chicago White Sox caged the Tigers, 8-5. A.J. also doubled in the second inning, scoring on Carlos Quentin's home run. After his 3-5 evening, A.J. is batting a solid .529. National League The game was essentially over after Bill Hall socked a two-run homer in the first and then pounded another 3-run shot to left in the 5th inning as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the visiting San Francisco Giants, 13-4. Hall, however, wasn't finished, stroking a single to right in a 5-run Milwaukee 6th, for his 6th RBI of the game. Hall finished with a pretty good stat line: 3 hits in 5 at-bats, including the pair of dingers, 6 RBI and 2 runs. Not to be outdone, Arizona's Micah Owings worked over the Colorado Rockies for 6 2/3 innings, fanning 9 while allowing just 2 hits and 1 earned run (a Todd Helton solo homer) as the visiting Diamondbacks downed the Rockies, 8-1. Allowing just two walks, Owings recorded a WHIP of 0.60. He's off to a great start in just his second year in the majors. The only thing missing from Owings' performance was a contribution from the plate. Probably the best hitting pitcher in baseball, Owings went 1-4 at the plate. Owings is a career .328 hitter, with 4 homers and 15 RBI in just 64 at-bats.