Jacob deGrom, Pete Alonso Lead Mets Past D'Backs; Robinson Chirinos Leads Astros in 15-0 Win Over A's

Players of the Day for Monday, September 9, 2019

American League

Chirinos: 2 HR, 6 RBI

On Sunday, the Astros hammered the Mariners, 21-1 and on Monday, opened a four-game series with the A's, in Houston, so, OK, maybe the score would be a little closer.

It was, but not by much. Houston clobbered Oakland, 15-0, putting themselves that much closer to the AL West pennant and showing the wild card contender what they might be dealing with should they reach the playoffs.

The Astros belted seven home runs, all but one coming in the first two innings, as Houston built an 11-0 lead. Zack Grienke, the Houston starter, was the beneficiary of the big advantage, tossing six innings of shutout ball to go 5-1 in an Astros uniform.

Robinson Chirinos and Yordan Alvarez each socked two home runs. While Alvarez was banging out solo shots, Chirinos was doing it with men aboard, mashing a two-run homer in the first and a three-run rip in the seventh. His single in the second innings plated another run, giving him six RBI for the game.

The win left Houston with a 10 1/2 game lead over the A's and a magic number of seven to clinch the division for the third straight season. Game two is set for 8:10 pm ET, Tuesday, in Houston.

deGrom: 7IP, 3H, 1ER, 10K

National League

With three weeks left in the regular season, the wild card race in the National League is shaping up for excitement.

In New York, two contenders for the second and final wild card spot took to the field as the Mets opened a huge four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jacob deGrom was at his best for New York, tossing seven innings of three-hit ball, allowing in one run in the Mets' 3-1 victory, pulling them closer to the pack and to Arizona. Striking out 10, deGrom surrendered Arizona's only run in the fifth inning, when Wilmer Flores went deep for his eighth home run of the year.

Alonso's 47 HRs lead NL

Seth Lugo also came up big, fanning four in a hitless six-out save spanning the final two innings.

Aiding the cause was rookie sensation Pete Alonso, who cranked out a pair of solo homers. Alonso leads the league in home runs, with 47 and is fifth in RBI at 109. No rookie has led the National League in home runs since Ralph Kiner socked 23 for Pittsburgh in 1946. Only five players have led their league in home runs in their rookie season, the most recent being Aaron Judge, who hit 52 for the Yankees in 2017.

The Mets gained to within four games of the Cubs for the second wild card, but they have plenty of competition. The Brewers are two games back, the Diamondbacks, 2 1/2, the Phillies, three out. Washington leads all, two games up on Chicago.

The Mets host Arizona Tuesday in game two of the series at Citi Field, starting at 7:10 pm ET.

Gerrit Cole, Jordan Alvarez Lead Houston to 22-1 Blowout of Mariners; Jack Flaherty Rolls, Cardinals Slash Pirates, 2-0

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 8, 2019

American League

Cole fans 15

Gerrit Cole allowed one hit and struck out 15, and the Houston Astros exploded for 22 hits in a 21-1 blowout of the Seattle Mariners.

Alvarez: 3 doubles, 6 RBI

Cole, 16-5, was perfect except for a second-inning solo homer by Shed Long. He did not walk anyone and threw 68 of 96 pitches for strikes, getting first pitch strikes on 18 of the 25 batters he faced. In his last 18 starts, he's 12-0, dating back to May 27. His strikeout total grew to 281, which leads the majors.

On the offensive side, Houston rang up 11 doubles, three of them by rookie Yordan Alvarez, who went 4-for-6 and drove in six runs. Alvarez is a big-time candidate for rookie of the year in the AL, batting .314 with 22 home runs and 70 RBI in just 258 at-bats.

Houston is 16-1 against the Mariners this season and have won 11 straight head-to-head. The season series closes out on September 24-25, with two games in Seattle.

Looking to wrap up their third straight LA West title, Houston holds a 9 1/2-game bulge on Oakland. The A's arrive in Houston Monday for a four-game series against the Astros. Game one starts at 8:10 pm ET.

National League

Flaherty blanks Pirates

Extending his scoreless streak to 18 innings, Cardinals' hurler, Jack Flaherty, delivered eight innings of shutout ball in a 2-0 St. Louis win at Pittsburgh, taking two of three from the Pirates in their final head-to-head series of the season.

Flaherty allowed five hits and one walk, hit a batter, and was picked off first base after a successful bunt advanced runners to second and third bases. He fanned 10 for the third time this season.

While his base-running might have been questionable, Flaherty's pitching was outstanding, a trait developing over his last eight starts, dating back to August first. Over that span, he's 6-1, with an ERA of 0.50, having worked 54 innings and given up just three earned runs. His scoreless streak dates back to August 28, when he finished a six-inning stint with a pair of goose eggs in a 4-1 loss to Milwaukee.

On September 3, he gave up one hit to the Giants over eight innings in a 1-0 St. Louis victory.

Combined with the Cubs' 8-5 loss at Milwaukee, the Cardinals have opened up a 4 1/2-game lead in the Central division, which, until a few weeks ago, had been a see-saw battle between St. Louis, Chicago, and the Brewers. Milwaukee is 6 1/2 back in the division and tied with the Phillies, two behind Chicago for the second wild card. Arizona is only 1 1/2 behind the Cubs.

Since August 18, the Cardinals are 17-5, while the Cubs and Brewers have not been able to keep pace. After a day off Monday, St. Louis opens a three-game series in Colorado with the Rockies.

Brewers Bounce Back vs. Cubs On Christian Yellich HR; Brendan McKay Leads Rays Over Jays

Players of the Day for Friday, September 6, 2019

American League

McKay fanned 7 vs. Jays

There are no superstars on the Tampa Bay Rays. Most baseball fans would be hard-pressed to name three or four of their starting position players. As for pitchers, the Rays use them all, deploying a new approach, using an "opener" instead of a starter, who normally will pitch just one or two innings.

The strategy has worked so well for the Rays that other teams have adopted it, along with Tampa Bay's infield shifts. Most of the Rays' radical style has come from their upstart manager, Kevin Cash, who's guided the Rays since 2014 and has them in the top wild card position this season.

Tamps won for the eighth time in its last nine games, setting the tone with opening pitcher, Brendan McKay, who allow just one hit and fanned seven in 3 2/3 innings, en route to a 5-0 win over the visiting Blue Jays.

McKay has worked just 39 1/3 innings, but has struck out 48. Like most Tampa hurlers, the 23-year-old lefty is employed in a variety of situations.

Tampa Bay is a game up on Oakland in the wild card race, with Cleveland next, 1 1/2 out.

The Rays will look to take their third straight from Toronto on Saturday. The four-game series concludes Sunday.

National League

Yelich Socks 44th HR

Don't go sticking a fork in the Milwaukee Brewers just yet. They're not done.

Bouncing back with a 7-1 win over the Cubs after losing the first of their four-game series, 10-5, Milwaukee remained very much alive in the wild card chase, though time is running out on all teams, with three weeks and roughly 20-23 games remaining.

Zach Davies held the Cubs to one run over five innings, and Christian Yelich ripped his 44th home run of the season to power the victory.

Yelich's three-run homer in the third off Chicago starter, Cole Hamels, put the Brewers up, 3-1. They added another run in the frame and posted single runs in the fourth, seventh and eighth.

Yelich also singled twice, remaining within striking distance of the league lead in batting. At .326 - the exact average with which he took the NL batting title in 2018 - he's fourth, toiling Washington's Anthony Rendon, who leads with a .338 average. Yelich is tied with LA's Cody Bellinger in the home run race. Both are one behind Mets' rookie Pete Alonso, who has 45 blasts.

The Brewers are four games behind the Cubs in the race for the second wild card, and are tied with the Phillies and Mets, each with identical 72-68 records. Arizona, winners of 10 of their last 11, is in the best position, trailing the Cubs by 2 1/2 games.

Game three of the Cubs-Brewers series is slated for a 7:10 pm start, Saturday in Milwaukee.

Reynaldo Lopez 1-Hits Indians in 7-1 White Sox Win; Kyle Schwarber, Wilson Contreras Lead Cubs

Players of the Day for Thursday, September 5, 2019

American League

Lopez 1-Hits Indians

In late July and early August, the Cleveland Indians began to look like the team that had won the AL Central three straight years.

From July 14 through August 12, the Indians went 22-7 and had closed the gap between themselves and first place Minnesota to a game or two. Since then, including Thursday's pathetic effort in a 7-1 loss to the White Sox, the Indians are sadly, 9-13, have fallen well off the pace in the division - 6 1/2 back - and have dropped to a game behind Oakland for the second wild card spot.

While Cleveland may be singing an early swan song, take nothing away from Reynaldo Lopez, who pitched a complete game one-hitter over the would-be-contending Indians.

The only hit Cleveland managed off Lopez was a second inning double by Kevin Plawecki, scoring Jake Bauers, who reached on a walk, from first.

After walking three batters over the first 3 2/3 innings, Lopez was pure perfection, setting down the final 16 batters in order. Throwing 109 pitches, Lopez fanned 11.

Like his team, Lopez has had his share of ups and downs this season, posting a 9-12 record over 29 starts, but the White Sox are looking ahead to next season, blessed with a wealth of young talent that may be ready to break out and challenge in the division. At 62-78, the White Sox aren't going anywhere this season. However, for whatever it's worth, they're 9-7 head-to-head against Cleveland this season.

The Sox split their four-game series in Cleveland and head home to take on the Angels in a three-game series starting Friday. The Indians start a critical three-game series in Minnesota with the Twins.

National League

Contreras: 4-5, 2 2B, HR

Is it too early to call it quits on the Milwaukee Brewers?

With Thursday's 10-5 loss to the visiting Cubs, Milwaukee has lost six of its last 10, and now trail the Cubs by five games for the second wild card and are 7 1/2 behind the Cardinals in the division.

Schwarber: Grand Slam

Kyle Schwarber belted a sixth-inning grand slam and Willson Contreras went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a solo homer, driving in two, scoring twice.

The Cubs won their third straight and seven of their last nine in the opener of a four-game series in Milwaukee.

Chicago is in a good spot, 2 1/2 behind St. Louis in the division and two games behind Washington in the wild card hunt. Their lead over Arizona is 2 1/2, and they're three games up on the Phillies.

As for the Brewers, the next three games could determine their playoff fate. If they can somehow regain momentum and take two of three or all three games with the Cubs, they'd be right back in the race. But, if they continue to play sluggishly and their pitching disappoints, as it has most of the season, the Brewers may just be done.

Game two between the Cubs and Brewers is set for 8:10 pm ET in Milwaukee.