Yankees Closer To Hosting Wild Card As Giancarlo Stanton Belts Two HRs; Cubs' Jon Lester Blanks Pirates Over Six

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 27, 2018

American League

Stanton smacks a pair of HRs

The New York Yankees took another step closer to hosting the single-elimination wild card game against the Oakland Athletics with a 12-1 rout of Tampa Bay, taking three of four at Tropicana Field from the Rays.

Giancarlo Stanton could not be kept off the base paths. The Yankee outfielder, acquired in the off-season from Miami, walked twice and scored three times, twice on solo homers, his 36th and 37th of the season.

Stanton, who's numbers haven't been quite up to his usual eye-popping figures, is still having a very solid season, batting .262 with 97 RBI. Last season, Stanton had 59 homers and 132 RBI with the Marlins.

The win left the Yankees two games up on the idle A's, with three left to play. The Yankees need any combination of two wins or two A's losses to wrap up the top wild card spot. That may be hard to come by, as the Yankees open a season-ending three-game series at Boston, while the A's wrap things up with three games in LA with the Angels.

National League

Lester: 6 scoreless

The Cubs got a big effort at an opportune time from starter Jon Lester, who blanked the Pirates for six innings in the finale of their four-game series, leading to a 3-0 Chicago win at wrigley Field.

After the Pirates took the first two games of the series, the red-hot Brewers began breathing down Chicago's neck, closing to within a half game of the division leaders. Taking the third and fourth game of the series, the Cubs improved their lead to one game over the Brewers, who were idle on Thursday.

Lester improved to 18-6 on the year, pitching in and out of trouble most of his six innings. Lester walked four, struck out three, but allowed only three hits. Pittsburgh threatened, with runners on base in each of the first four innings, but failed to get anybody across home plate. Lester finished up by putting the side down in order in the fifth and sixth.

Starting Friday, the Cubs host the Cardinals for three games to end the season. St. Louis trails the Dodgers by one game for the second wild card spot. Milwaukee has already clinched the top wild card spot and will host the single game unless they get some help from St. Louis and nip the Cubs for the division title.

The same condition exists in the West, where the Dodgers trail the Rockies by one game. All teams have three games left. The Rockies host the Nationals, the Dodgers are at San Francisco, while the Brewers host the Detroit Tigers to close out the regular season.

Trevor Story Leads Rockies To 1st Place In West; Rafael Devers Drives In 6 In Boston's 19-3 Rout Of Baltimore

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 26, 2018

American League

The Orioles managed to win the second game of their doubleheader at Boston, 10-3, but it came after they dropped the day game, 19-3.

Devers: 4-5, 2B, 2HR, 6RBI

In the opener, the Red Sox hammered out 22 hits against five Baltimore hurlers. Rafael Devers had himself an active afternoon, going 4-for-5 with a single, double, two home runs, and six RBI.

Devers got the Red Sox rolling with a bases-full double that plated three in the first inning. After singling home Ian Kinsler in the fifth inning, Devers hit solo homers in the seventh and eighth, his 20th and 21st of the season. The win was Boston's 107th, extending their franchise record for wins in a season. Baltimore lost its 112th game.

Elsewhere, the Yankees fell sloppily at Tampa Bay, 8-7, while the A's walloped Seattle, 9-3, cutting the Yankees' wild card lead to 1 1/2 games. Both Oakland and New York will be wild cards, all that needs to be determined is where the game will be played.

The Yankees play a final game at Tampa Bay before heading up to Boston to close out the regular season with a three-game series. Oakland has Thursday off and finishes out the season at LA, playing the Angels three times over the weekend.

National League

Story: 3-4, 3R, HR, 3RBI

Colorado won their sixth straight game, dropping a 14-0 rip on the visiting Phillies taking their third straight over the East division represenative. During the winning streak the Rockies moved from wild card hopeful to division leader, as the Dodgers, losers of two straight, gave up first place in the NL West with a 7-2 loss at Arizona and the Cardinals lost three straight to the Brewers. The Rockies took a half game lead over LA in the West division.

Knocking out 16 hits, the Rockies got a big effort from Trevor Story, who tripled and scored Colorado's first run on a second inning Carlos Gonzalez sacrifice fly, socked a two-run homer in the fifth, and singled and scored in the seventh.

Having an MVP-like season, Story is batting .290 with 34 home runs and 104 RBI. His numbers place him in a tie for second in homers (Matt Carpenter leads with 36), and in a tie for fourth with Milwaukee's Christian Yelich in the RBI tally. Javier Baez leads the league, driving in 111 runs.

In the Central division, the Brewers completed their sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis with a 2-1 win, dropping the Cardinals a game behind the Dodgers for the second wild card. The Cubs continued to cling to a half game lead over the Brewers, winning, 7-6, in 10 innings over Pittsburgh.

With three games remaining on their slate, the Cardinals, Brewers and Dodgers all have Thursday off, while the Rockies finish up with the Phillies and the Cubs host the Pirates. Over the final weekend, St. Louis is at Chicago, the Rockies host Washington, the Dodgers are at San Francisco, and Milwaukee hosts Detroit. All are three-game series which begin Friday and finish the regular season on Sunday.

Christian Yelich Leads Brewers Over Cards, Closes Gap On Cubs; Gary Sanchez Powers Yankees Past Rays

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 25, 2018

American League

Sanchez: 2-for-4, HR, 4RBI

Yankees' catcher, Gary Sanchez, broke out of a mammoth slump with a three-run homer and an RBI single as the Yankees improved their chances of hosting the AL wild card game with a 9-2 victory at Tampa Bay.

Sanchez capped a seven-run third inning uprising by the Yankees with his 17th home run, then singled home Giancarlo Stanton in the fifth.

Entering the game, Sanchez was 1-for-27 over his last eight games, his average dropping to a pathetic .180.

The win moved the Yankees 2 1/2 games better than the A's in the wild card race. Oakland lost, 10-8, in 11 innings at Seattle on Chris Herrmann's two-run, walk-off homer.

The Yankees have five games left to play, Oakland, four. New York needs any combination of two wins or two Oakland losses to wrap up the top wild card and home field for the single elimination playoff game.

The Yankees - winners of four of their last five - play game three of their four-game set at Tampa Wednesday at 7:10 pm. Oakland wraps up its series in Seattle on Wednesday.

National League

Yelich: 3B, HR, 6 RBI

With the regular season expiring on Sunday, there were some big changes in National League division and wild card races, most of them centered on Milwaukee's 12-4 thrashing of the Cardinals in St. Louis.

Christian Yelich - in search of his first batting title - banged out two big hits for the Brewers and drove in a career-high six runs. In the fourth inning, Yellich's bases-loaded triple blew open the game, putting the Brewers up by a 6-0 score. The Brewers added one in the fifth and two in the eight before Yelich struck again in the ninth, this time clearing the wall in center field with his 33rd home run, a three-run shot, putting him among the leaders with 33 homers and 104 RBI.

The way Yelich has been going in September, the batting title may not be all he's going to get. A trip to the playoffs is a virtual lock and an MVP award could be in his bright future. Yelich leads the league in batting with a .321 average, his 33 homers are three behind leader Matt Carpenter, with a logjam of players in the mix. Four have 34 homers, and five - including Yelich - have 33. His 104 RBI is good for fourth, behind Chicago's Javier Baez's 110. Jesus Aguilar and Nolan Arenado each have 105.

The September numbers for Yelich are off the charts. He's batting .346 (28-for-81) with seven homers and a whopping 28 RBI.

Milwaukee (91-67) now leads Colorado by 3 1/2 games for the top wild card. St. Louis (87-71) dropped a half-game behind Colorado for the second NL wild card after the Rockies routed Philadelphia 10-3. Better yet for the Brewers was Pittsburgh's 6-0 win at Chicago. Chris Archer blanked the Cubs for six innings and a pair of relievers finished them off. That left the Brewers 1/2 game behind the Cubs in the division race with four games to play. The Cubs (91-66) have five games remaining.

After taking the first two in St. Louis, Milwaukee will be looking for the series sweep when they take the field in St. Louis, Wednesday, 7:00 pm EDT.

In the West, Colorado is now in the second wild card spot, 1/2 game ahead of the Cardinals, but also trail the Dodgers by a mere 1/2-game in the division race. LA dropped a 4-3 decision at Arizona.

Corey Kluber Notches 20th Win As Indians Down White Sox; Jon Gray Hurls Rockies To Victory

Players of the Day for Monday, September 24, 2018

Kluber: 20-7, 2.83 ERA

American League

Corey Kluber became the second 20-game winner in the majors, hurling seven scoreless innings at the Chicago White Sox in a 4-0 Cleveland road win. Tampa Bay's Blake Snell leads all starters with 21 wins.

Just in time for the post-season, Kluber displayed his winning form, allowing four hits while fanning 11 and walking one.

Cleveland's win didn't change anything concerning the playoffs, as they are locked in with the lowest win percentage of any division winner. Thus, they will likely face the #2 seed in the playoffs, at this juncture, looking like Houston.

The Astros won, 5-3, at Toronto, maintaining their 4 1/2 game lead over the A's in the West division. Oakland topped Seattle, 7-3, while the Yankees beat Tampa Bay, 4-1, so there was no change in any of the standings. The Yankees continue to lead Oakland by 1 1/2 in the wild card race. Houston needs just two more wins or Oakland losses to wrap up the division.

National League

Gray: Seven solid

While Colorado hitters were piling on the runs - five in the third inning and three more in the fourth - Jon Gray was keeping the Phillies off the basepaths and off the scoreboard.

Gray turned in one of his best performances of the season, allowing one run on four hits over seven complete innings. Improving to 12-8, Gray struck out seven, walked three, and was done after throwing 105 pitches. His work and the Rockies' onslaught at the plate produced a 10-1 victory in the first of three against the visiting Phillies.

In his fourth year in the majors - all with the Rockies - Gray has compiled a record of 32-24 and may be looking forward to some post-season play as the Rockies picked up a game on St. Louis in the wild card chase. They now trail St. Louis by 1/2-game for the second spot as the Cards dropped a 6-4 decision to the Brewers.

Colorado also trails the Dodgers by 1 1/2 in the West division. Los Angeles has five games left, matching their magic number, while the Rockies have six games remaining on the schedule.

The Rockies play game two of their series with the Phillies at 8:40 pm on Tuesday. Colorado has won four straight; the Phillies are losers of five in a row.