Bryce Harper Leads Nationals in Sweep of White Sox; Detroit Pounds Blue Jays, 11-1, Behind Torii Hunter

Players of the Day for Thursday, April 11, 2013

American League

Torii Hunter

Twice in his four at-bats, Torii Hunter came to the plate with runners in scoring position and both times he delivered solid singles, driving in three runs and scoring twice as the Tigers mauled the Blue Jays, 11-1.

Hunter, batting a brisk .405, was 2-for-4; teammate Prince Fielder also had two hits and drove in four runs, supporting the eight innings of work by Doug Fister (2-0), who allowed one earned run while scattering eight hits.

A regular starter since 1999, Hunter arrived in Detroit during the off-season after five seasons with the Angels.

Oddly enough, the Tigers, last season's AL champs, are chasing the Kansas City Royals, winners of four straight. Detroit trails KC by a game in the Central division.

National League

Bryce Harper

As a rookie last season, Bryce Harper turned plenty of heads, winning the NL rookie of the year award batting. 270 with 22 homers, 57 RBI, 18 steals and 98 runs..

He doesn't seem to be suffering from much of a sophomore slump, batting .417 with eight RBI, two of which he produced in Thursday's interleague, 7-4 win over the visiting White Sox.

Harper was on base four of the five times he went to the plate, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and two walks, scoring twice. The Nationals have won three straight, sweeping the Sox, but find themselves a game back of the Braves in the NL East, who have put together a six-game winning streak.

The Braves and Nationals open a three-game series in Washington beginning Friday at 7:05 pm EDT.