The Sports Mac: The Daily Fives For September 24th, 2010

Top 5 Stories From Yesterday

1.         The Rays blow out the Yankees to gain a split in their big four-game series in New York and get back within ½ game of the division lead in the AL East.

2.         #19 Miami (Fla.) totally dominated Pittsburgh defensively and cruises to a Thursday night win to start the college football weekend.

3.         There are reports that the Warriors are going to part ways with HC Don Nelson just five days before the start of preseason camp.

4.         The Giants are back in first place in the NL West as they blow out Chicago while the Padres were losing in Los Angeles.

5.         Geoff Oglivy, Luke Donald, and Paul Casey share the lead after the first round of the Tour Championship outside Atlanta.

Top 5 Games From Yesterday

1.         Blue Jays 1, Mariners 0: Jose Bautista hits his 50^th HR for the only run of the game, while Ichiro Suzuki gets 200 hits in a season for the 10^th consecutive year.

2.         Diamondbacks 10, Rockies 9: Arizona hangs on for the sweep of Colorado after the Rockies scored 3 in the 9^th and had the tying run on first before the Diamondbacks secured the win.

3.         Dodgers 3, Padres 1: Los Angeles holds San Diego to 1 run and 5 hits sending the Padres into second in the NL West and tied with Atlanta for the NL Wildcard.          

4.         Athletics 5, Rangers 0: Texas cannot reduce its magic number again as Dallas Braden pitches eight strong innings and beats Cliff Lee in Oakland.

5.         Rays 10, Yankees 3: Tampa Bay beats up on C.C. Sabathia and gets to within a ½ game of New York in the AL East.

Top 5 Performances From Yesterday

1.         Dallas Braden, Athletics SP: 0 runs on one hit with 7 K’s over 8 IP and the victory in OAK’s 5-0 win over TEX

2.         Albert Pujols, Cardinals 1B: 3 for 4 with two HRs and three RBIs in STL’s 9-2 win over PIT

3.         Juan Uribe, Giants SS: 2 for 4 with two HRs and six RBIs in SF’s 13-0 win over CHC

4.         Felix Hernandez, Mariners SP: one run on two hits with 5 K’s over 8 IP in SEA’s 1-0 loss to TOR

5.         Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks SS: 3 for 5 with a HR and four RBIs in ARI’s 10-9 win over COL

5 Performances That Weren’t So Good From Yesterday

1.         Ryan Dempster, Cubs SP: 9 runs on 7 hits in 1.2 IP in CHC’s 13-0 loss to SF

2.         Esmil Rogers, Rockies RP: 4 runs on 3 hits in 1 IP in COL’s 10-9 loss to ARI

3.         Brian Burres, Pirates SP: 4 runs on 6 hits in 2.1 IP in PIT’s 9-2 loss to STL

4.         Michael Saunders, Mariners LF: 0 for 3 with 3 K’s in SEA’s 1-0 loss to TOR

5.         Elvis Andrus, Rangers SS: 0 for 4 with 3 K’s in TEX’s 5-0 loss to OAK

Top 5 Events To Follow Today

1.         MLB: Red Sox (84-68) at Yankees (92-61), 7:00 PM: New York faces its old nemesis trying to maintain their slim division lead; (Beckett (BOS) vs. Pettitte (NYY))

2.         MLB: Braves (86-67) at Nationals (65-88), 7:00 PM: Atlanta needs to start winning again if they have any hope of making the playoffs; (Hudson (AYL) vs. Zimmerman (WAS))

3.         MLB: Mariners (58-94) at Rays (91-61), 7:00 PM: Tampa Bay looks to move past the Yankees in the AL East race; (Vargas (SEA) vs. Niemann (TB))

4.         MLB: Giants (86-67) at Rockies (82-70), 8:00 PM: If Colorado has any hope of winning the NL West; it starts tonight at home; (Good matchup; Lincecum (SF) vs. Chacin (COL))

5.         MLB: Reds (86-67) at Padres (85-67), 10:00 PM: A tough task for San Diego in their playoff push playing Cincinnati at home; (Arroyo (CIN) vs. Young (SD))