Photo: Bill Richardson, Baseball Digest Daily

Albert Pujols was back to his old tricks launching a game winning 2-run homer to beat the Astros on Sunday.

• Gary Sheffield homered, reached base 3 times, drove in 2 runs, and scored 3 times, and Jeremy Bonderman pitched 6 2/3 strong innings as the Tigers beat the Indians for the second straight day, 9-2. Victor Martinez had 2 hits, a home run, and 2 RBI for Cleveland.
• Adam Lind had 2 hits, including a bases loaded double that drove in 3 runs, as the Blue Jays came from behind to defeat the White Sox, 4-3. John Danks allowed just one run over 5 innings, and Jim Thome homered and drove in 2 for Chicago.
• Doug Davis gave up one run on 6 hits in 7 2/3 innings, and Eric Byrnes reached base 3 times and scored twice as the Diamondbacks downed the Mets 4-1 to take the series from New York. Oliver Perez allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings for the Mets.
• Andre Ethier doubled, homered, and drove in 2 to lead the Dodgers to 3 runs in the 7th inning and 2 runs in the 8th inning on their way to a 5-4 decision over the Pirates. Adam LaRoche and Jason Bay went deep for Pittsburgh.
• Marcus Giles had 3 hits and scored 3 runs, Terrmel Sledge doubled, reached base 4 times, and scored 2 runs, and Josh Bard homered and drove in 4 runs as the Padres upended the Diamondbacks, 7-3.
• Aaron Rowand went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI, and Ryan Howard homered and drove in 3, but it was Shane Victorino’s solo shot in the 9th inning that gave the Phillies a 9-8 walk-off victory over the Giants. Chase Utley added a double and a home run for Philadelphia while Benjie Molina collected 3 hits and a homer for San Francisco.
• J.P. Howell allowed just one run on 5 hits over 8 innings of work, and Carlos Pena and Delmon Young each hit homers as the Devil Rays coasted to a 5-1 win over the Royals.
• Ben Sheets pitched 6 scoreless innings, and J.J. Hardy reached base 3 times and homered yet again as the Brewers shut out the Marlins, 3-0. Kevin Mench also had 3 hits for Milwaukee. Dontrelle Willis gave up just 2 run on 7 hits in 6 innings, but he also walked 6 for Florida.
• Albert Pujols hit 2 of the team’s 5 home runs and drove in 3 to lead the Cardinals to an 8-6 win over the Astros in 10 innings. Hunter Pence went 4-for-5 with a homer and 2 RBI for Houston.
• Mark DeRosa hit a grand slam, and Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano chipped in with 3 hits and a home run each as the Cubs responded to Lou Piniella’s challenge and crushed the Braves, 10-1. Sean Marshall gave Chicago a strong outing, allowing just one run while striking out 8 over 6 2/3 innings.
• Garrett Atkins doubled, homered, reached base 4 times, and drove in 2 runs, Brad Hawpe doubled, reached base 4 times, and drove in 3 runs, and Kazuo Matsui added 3 hits, a triple, and 3 RBI as the Rockies outlasted the Reds in a slugfest in Colorado, 10-9. Edwin Encarnacion and Norris Hopper each had 3 hits, and Brandon Phillips hit a 3-run home run for Cincinnati.
• Ervin Santana pitched 7 strong innings, but once again it was Vladimir Guerrero’s 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th that propelled the Angels to a 4-3 win over the Orioles. Jeremy Guthrie allowed just one earned run on 3 hits in 8 innings but goes back to Baltimore with nothing to show for it.
• Nick Swisher reached base 3 times, and 6 Oakland pitchers managed to give up just 2 runs despite allowing 15 base runners as the A’s got to Johan Santana and beat the Twins, 4-2. Jason Kubel homered and had 3 hits for Minnesota.
• Jose Lopez went 4-for-5 with a double and 3 RBI, and Jose Guillen went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and 3 RBI as the Mariners hammered yet another Texas pitcher on their way to an 11-6 win over the Rangers. Victor Diaz hit 2 home runs and drove in 5, and Mark Teixeira reached base 3 times, homered, and scored 3 times for Texas.
• Five different New York hitters collected 2 hits, but none was bigger than Alex Rodriguez’ solo home run in the 9th inning off Jonathan Papelbon that gave the Yankees a 6-5 win over the Red Sox. A-Rod drove in 2 on the night. Dustin Pedroia continued to swing a hot bat, collecting 2 doubles and driving in 3 runs for Boston. Incidentally, Rodriguez is batting .467 (7-for-15) with 4 homers and 11 RBI in the 9th inning of games this season. He has also hit 20 or more homers now for 12 straight seasons.  

BDD Players of the Day

Tough call on the players of the day so we’re going to give the award to the five  players who hit heroic home runs to give each of their teams a late inning victory.

Albert Pujols – 2-run home run in the 10^th inning

So Taguchi – Solo home run in the 10^th inning

Alex Rodriguez – Solo home run in the 9^th inning

Vladimir Guerrero – 2-run walk-off home run in the 9^th inning

Shane Victorino – Solo walk-off home run in the 9^th inning