Burnett, Jays Dump ChiSox; Delgado Homers Lead Mets

Players of the Day from Tuesday, September 9, 2008 American League A. J. Burnett (17-10) shut down the White Sox on one hit over 7 innings, allowing just one unearned run, as the Blue Jays won their 9th straight, 3-1, over Chicago. Burnett, the AL strikeout leader with 208, struck out 7 and walked one in the first of two against Central division leader Chicago. In the second game, Marco Scutaro, Vernon Wells and Scott Rolen each homered and the Blue Jays distanced the White Sox by an 8-2 score. The Blue Jays have now won 10 straight and are becoming involved in the AL divisional and wild card races. The double kill on Chicago left the Jays 8 1/2 behind Tampa Bay in the East and 7 behind Boston for the wild card. Tampa topped Boston, 5-4, to up their division lead to 1 1/2 games. The Jays' wins were especially helpful to the Twins, who gained 1 1/2 on the White Sox and are just one game out of first place in the Central. Notes: Alex Rodriguez hit his 33rd home run and had 3 RBI to help the Yankees defeat LA, 7-1. The Angels' magic number remained at 2 as the Rangers beat Seattle, 7-3. Rodriguez has 95 RBI. Rodriguez needs 2 RBI to reach 1600 for his career and 5 to reach 100 for the 11th consecutive season. National League Carlos Delgado smacked his 34th and 35th home runs, drove in 3 runs and scored 3 times as the Mets outlasted the Nationals, 10-8. Coupled with Philly's 10-8 loss to the Marlins, the Mets improved their edge in the East to 2 1/2 games. Notes: In the Central, the Cubs and Brewers both lost, so the lead remains 4 1/2 games for Chicago. In the West, the Dodgers won for the 9th time in their last 10 outings, topping the Padres, 6-2, while the Diamondbacks were losing their second straight to the Giants and 5th straight overall, 5-4. That gave LA a 2 1/2 game lead in the division. The race in the West may well be over. LA doesn't face another contending team for the remainder of their season. Following their series wrap-up on Wednesday with the Padres, the rest of the games are against Colorado (3), San Fran (6), San Diego (3) and Pittsburgh (4).

Lester Blanks Rays, Red Sox Close; Lincecum Stymies Diamondbacks

Players of the Day from Monday, September 8, 2008 American League Jon Lester already has two complete game shutouts this season, and he almost had a third Monday, stopping the Tampa Bay Rays over 7 2/3 innings for a 3-0 Red Sox win. When he ran into some trouble in the 8th, Jonathan Papelbon came on to put the Rays away and pick up his 36th save. Lester (14-6) allowed 6 hits, two walks and fanned 9 as the Red Sox closed to within 1/2 game of the Rays and the AL East lead. Tampa Bay has lost 4 straight and is in danger of surrendering the division to the Sox. In the Central, Chicago and Toronto were rained out and the Twins were idle, so the White Sox still lead Minnesota by 2 1/2 games. Notes: The Angels moved to within 2 games of clinching the AL West with a 12-1 thumping of the now-dead Yankees. The Angles could clinch today or tomorrow, a fitting conclusion if they do it at home against New York, a team they've owned all season. National League Maybe nobody really wants to win the NL West, or maybe the talent pool is just spread so thin, no team has an outright advantage. On Monday, both of the leaders - LA and Arizona - were taken down by teams at the bottom of the division. While the Dodgers were being shut out 4-0, Tim Lincecum was cruising to his 16th win against just 3 losses as the Giants bettered the Diamondbacks, 6-2, leaving the standings unchanged, with the Dodgers up by 1 1/2 games. Lincecum is having a Cy Young-worthy season. Working 8 1/3 innings against Arizona, he allowed 7 hits and one earned run, walking 2 and striking out 9. That effort lowered his ERA to a league-leading 2.60 and boosted his strikeout total to 216, also best in the NL. Maybe Arizona's Brandon Webb isn't the only Cy Young candidate out there.

Loney Leads LA to 8th Straight; 4 More for Morneau

Players of the Day from Sunday, September 7, 2008 American League Justin Morneau drove in 4 runs with a triple and a pair of sac flies, but it wasn't enough to keep the Twins from losing to Detroit, 7-5. Morneau has driven in 4 runs in 3 of his last seven games, giving him 117, just 7 behind league leader Josh Hamilton of Texas. The loss was made more palatable by Chicago losing to the Angels, 3-2, which kept the Twins 2 1/2 games behind the White Sox in the Central. Francisco Rodriguez picked up his 55th save in that game. He is now just 2 shy of the all time single-season saves record. LA's magic number for clinching the West is now 3. Notes: Boston beat Texas, 7-2, and the Rays lost 1-0 at Toronto, shaving Tampa's lead to a mere 1 1/2 games. The Blue Jays passed the Yankees in the standings and are now 9 1/2 back as they won their 8th straight. They are having a major impact on the AL races, and will continue to do so for the remainder of the season. After taking the final two games of their series at New York, the Jays went home and swept the Twins and Jays. This week includes four games at Chicago and four more at Boston. Their season extends with 3 games at home vs. Baltimore, then Boston and NY. The close out with 3 in Baltimore. National League A two-run single in the 1st and a sac fly in the 6th inning were all James Loney needed to match Arizona's output as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks, 5-3, completing a 3-game sweep, winning their 8th in a row and extending their lead in the NL West to 1 1/2 games. While the Dodgers have been on fire, the D-Backs have been languishing in a 2-6 slump, watching their 4 1/2 game lead vanish in just over a week. Notes: The Phillies and Mets split their day-night double header, so the Mets remain two games in front in the East. In the Central, both the Cubs and Brewers were beaten on Sunday, keeping the Cubs 4 games to the good with the Cubs still staring down a season-ending stretch of 4 games at NY, followed by 3 at Milwaukee.

Zaun Slam Tops Tays; Soriano Blasts 3 HR to End Cubs Slide

Players of the Day from Saturday, September 6, 2008 American League Gregg Zaun spent a long night as catcher in the Blue Jays game with the Rays, but when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 13th, he ended it with a bang - a grand slam home run that gave Toronto a 7-4 win over first place Tampa Bay. Zaun handled all 229 pitches from 9 different hurlers in the marathon. He singled twice prior to his game-winning slam, and finished the night 3-for-5 with 4 RBI. While the Jays win didn't change the standings, as the Red Sox lost and the Yankees won, Toronto kept the pressure on the Rays, who remained 2 1/2 ahead of Boston. The Blue Jays are 10 1/2 back, but only 1/2 behind the Yankees. Finishing in third place in the tough AL East would constitute a moral victory for the Blue Jays, who have won 7 straight. Notes: The White Sox got a big win when Jim Thome swatted his 30th home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the 15th, producing a 7-6 win over the Angels and giving Chicago some breathing room in the AL Central. Minnesota lost to Detroit, 6-4, and now trail the Sox by 2 1/2. With Texas beating Boston, 13-8, the Angels' magic number remained at 5 in the West. National League The Cubs had lost 6 straight before Alfonso Soriano led Chicago to a 14-9 win at Cincinnati with three home runs and five RBI. Soriano added a single and scored another run n the 8th. His line was 5 at-bats, 4 hits, 4 runs and 5 RBI. Milwaukee dropped San Diego, 1-0, as Ben Sheets tossed a 5-hit shutout, besting the Padres' Jake Peavy in a mound duel. The Brewers remain 4 games behind the Cubs and lead the wild card race by 4 1/2 over Philadelphia. Notes: The Dodgers beat Arizona for the second straight time and won their 7th straight overall to take command in the NL West by 1/2 game over the Diamondbacks. Manny Ramirez drove in five runs as the Dodgers won 7-2, preventing Brandon Webb from winning his 20th. Webb was 19-4 on August 21, but has lost each of his last three starts, allowing 21 earned runs in his last 13 2/3 innings. The Phillies and Mets were rained out and will play a day-night double-header at Shea Sunday. The Mets hold a 2-game edge on Philadelphia. New York's closer Billy Wagner, out since August 3 with a strained right forearm, may return as early as Tuesday, though Friday or Saturday seems more probable.