Players of the Day for Sunday, June 6, 2010
American League
After losing two straight to the Rangers and with the Yankees breathing down their backs, the Tampa Bay Rays knew they needed to do something to break out in their series finale against the AL West leaders, so manager Joe Madden, who had made the unusual move to bat catcher
John Jaso in the leadoff spot on Saturday, decided to keep him there, but play him as DH, saving some of his energy in the white-hot Texas sun.
With temperatures well into the 90s, the strategy paid off, as Jaso responded by going 3-for-5, with 5 RBI, a homer, two runs and a stolen base, all leading to a
9-5 Rays win.
Jaso got the Rays started in the 2nd inning, belting a two-run homer, his 3rd home run of the season to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. Clinging to a 5-4 lead in the 7th, Jaso drove in two more with a clutch single, plating two more runs and capped off the day with a double in the 8th, driving home another run.
Getting more playing time as both a catcher and in the DH role, Jaso, a rookie, is batting .307 and has 24 RBI in just 111 at-bats.
Tampa's win kept them two games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, while the Rangers saw their lead over the Angels shrink to 1/2 game, as LA won their fifth straight, beating Seattle, 9-4
National League
After spending the beginning of the season on the DL, San Francisco's
Freddy Sanchez is back playing second base, batting in the 2-hole and providing some much-needed clutch hitting for the Giants.
Splitting the first two games of their series in Pittsburgh with the suddenly-feisty Pirates, the Giants felt secure with Tim Lincecum on the mound, but the two-time Cy Young award winner lasted only 7 innings, allowing three runs before being lifted with the score knotted at 3-3.
The Giants scored a pair in the top of the 9th, but Pittsburgh re-tied the game on Delwyn Young's pinch-hit, two-run blast. Sanchez, who had singled twice and scored a pair of runs earlier in the contest, came to the plate in the top of the 10th inning with Andres Torres on second and none out. When Torres advanced to third on Octavio Dotel's wild pitch, Sanchez knew his job was to get the run home, and he did so with a high drive to center field. The sac fly proved to be the game-winner, as the Giants' relief staff closed out the Pirates in the bottom of the 10th for the
6-5, extra-inning road win.
Sanchez has played in just 17 games since coming off the DL on May 19, but he's hit safely in 14 of those contests and is sporting a 10-game hitting streak along with his .371 batting average.
With the Rays, Blue Jays and Yankees taking a day off, the Boston Red sox took advantage of the opportunity to tighen up the race in the AL East by topping the Cleveland Indians, 4-1, pulling into sole possession of third place, 4 games behind the Rays, but just 1/2 game ahead of Toronto.
The Sox amassed only eight hits and four runs off a quartet of Cleveland hurlers, but it was more than enough, as Daisuke Matsuzaka turned in a solid performance, tossing eight scoreless innings at the Indians, allowing just 4 hits and a pair of harmless walks while fanning five. By the time Dice-K was done, all there was left to do was hand the ball over to Daniel Bard, who mopped up what remained of the Indians, but not before Austin Kearns spanked a solo homer in the 9th for the sole Cleveland run.
Matsuzaka, who spent all of April on the disabled list, improved to 5-2, lowering his ERA to 4.59, though he's given up just six earned runs over his last four starts (3 wins, 1 loss), a span of 29 1/3 innings.
National League
While the San Diego Padres were taking care of Philly, 3-1, they may have been looking over their shoulders at the fast-charging Dodgers, winners of 7 of their last 9, who welcomed the St. Louis Cardinals to the West coast with a 12-4 demonstration of the art of hitting.
Every position player in the lineup had at least one hit, as LA wrecked a pair of Cardinal hurlers for 14 hits, getting exactly 7 hits, 3 walks and 6 runs off both starter Blake Hawksworth and long reliever P.J. Walters, both of whom worked four innings.
Going 2-for-5 with a three-run homer and five RBI was second baseman Blake DeWitt, who also drove in runs with a single and a sac fly. The home run was the first of the season for DeWitt, and the five RBI a career high. DeWitt has had two hits in each of his last three games.
The win kept Los Angeles just 1/2 game behind the Padres, who have held first place in the NL West longer than anyone could have imagined at the start of the season.
