Eric Hosmer's Two Homers Lead Royals to DH Sweep of Tigers; Brandon Belt, Hunter Pence Power Giants to 14-10 Win over Marlins

Players of the Day for Friday, August 16, 2013

American League

Eric Hosmer

Combine exceptional pitching with a couple of home runs from Eric Hosmer and you get a double-header sweep of the Detroit Tigers by the unflappable Kansas City Royals.

Hosmer's solo rome run in the fourth inning of game one staked KC starter, Danny Duffy, to an early lead in his duel with Detroit's Justin Verlander. Duffy, a third year pro recalled this week from AAA affiliate Omaha, allowed just one hit over six innings to pick up his first win of the 2013 campaign.

Verlander gave up another run in the seventh that proved the game-winner. Ramon Santiago socked a pinch-hit home run off Royal reliever Aaron Crow to cut the lead in half, but closer Greg Holland slammed the door on the Tigers in the ninth for his 33rd save and a 2-1 Royals win.

In the nightcap, Hosmer homered early again, this time in the third inning, launching a two-run homer into the right field stands of Comerica Park in support of James Shields' seven innings of shutout ball. Shields allowed three hits, walked four and fanned one, evening his record at 8-8 as the Royals produced a 3-0 victory and a double-header sweep of first place Detroit.

The twin killing left the Royals 6 1/2 games back, in third place in the AL Central, just 1/2 game behind second place Cleveland. The Royals lead the five-game series, two games to one, with the next meeting slated for Saturday evening at 7:08 pn EDT.

National League

Hunter Pence

Brandon Belt

With both teams scraping the bottom of their respective divisions, there isn't much happening for either the Giants or the Marlins, so what better way to pass through a Friday night's contest than by bruising a few pitcher's egos.

The two teams combined for 35 hits and 24 runs as the Giants prevailed at Marlins Park by a 14-10 margin.

Pablo Sandoval went 4-for-4, Brandon Belt singled twice, doubled, tripled, scored four times and drove in a run, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Hunter Pence went 3-for-6 with two doubles and a triple, scoring three times and driving in five.

The Giants (54-67) are 1/2 game out of last place in the NL West, while the 46-74 Marlins have the worst record in the league and have last place in the NL East virtually wrapped up.

The two teams will slug out game two of their three-game series Saturday night, starting at 7:10 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: Some guys just out to go straight. Which player led his league seven different times, for four different teams - from 2001 to 2011 - in being caught stealing? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: While Babe Ruth hit more homers than teammate Lou Gehrig, Gehrig was the leader in doubles, amassing 534 to the Bambino's 508.