Placido Polanco might have been the grittiest player on a night where several were in contention after 16 innings. The Detroit Tigers second basemen fouled a ball off his protective cup in the 14th inning, only to follow it up on the next pitch with an RBI single. He hit another run-scoring single in the 16th inning that put his team up for good in an 11-9 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday...
Manny Ramirez is back in the big leagues, looking like a guy who missed 50 games. Returning from his suspension for violating baseball's drug policy, the Los Angeles slugger barely hit the ball out of the infield in the Dodgers' 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday night. He did provide a lot of energy to the team with baseball's best record.
Albert Pujols appreciates history. He just doesn't let it overshadow what he considers important. Pujols hit his club-record fourth grand slam of the season and 10th of his career, and Jarrett Hoffpauir drove in the go-ahead runs in the ninth inning with his first career hit as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-4 on Friday night.
The Chicago White Sox seem to be getting better swings at Zack Greinke every time they see him. Before a packed house Friday night, they finally beat him. John Danks threw 7 1-3 innings and got a big lift from reliever Scott Linebrink, while A.J. Pierzynski and Scott Podsednik had three hits apiece to lead the White Sox over the Kansas City Royals 5-0, their seventh straight victory.
