JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — A number of Jewish ballplayers went to work on Saturday (9/18/2010), Yom Kippur. Two of them made the best of a difficult situation:

• 3B Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins continued his phenomenal rookie season, going 2/4 with a three-run HR in a 4-2 win over the Oakland A’s. Valencia, who leads all MLB rookies with a .340 batting average, also homered in Friday’s game. According to MLB.com, he is hitting .431 with runners in scoring position.

“He’s made a difference in a lot of games, and single-handedly won a handful,” (Twins starting pitcher Kevin) Slowey said of Valencia. “It’s been great for us. He was a guy that everybody knew he had the talent and it would just be a matter of time of getting up here and getting some repetitions.”

• For the second straight day, RP Josh Zeid of the “A” Lakewood BlueClaws (Philadelphia Phillies) turned in a remarkable performance, pitching 4 perfect innings and striking out 5 consecutive batters in a 4-2 win over the Greenville Drive. The win earned Lakewood the South Atlantic League championship, and Zeid’s teammates mobbed him after the final out. A day earlier, Zeid pitched 3 perfect innings in the BlueClaws’ 6-1 win, striking out four.

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