Max Scherzer Wins 17th, Tigers Win 12th Straight; Hyun-Jin Ryu Leads Dodgers to Commanding Lead in NL West

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 8, 2013

American League

Max Scherzer is pitching his way to a Cy Young award while his Tigers are streaking toward the AL Central pennant and the playoffs.

Max Scherzer

Scherzer won his fourth straight decision and 17th overall - against just one loss - as the Tigers completed a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians with their 12th straight victory.

Just like that, the Tigers cooled off the Tribe, increasing their lead in the division to seven games.

Scherzer allowed two earned runs on four hits with a walk and six Ks over seven innings, as the Tigers downed their division rivals, 10-3.

Scherzer has a comfortable, three-game edge in AL wins over a trio of hurlers. Chris Tillman, Bartolo Colon and Matt Moore each have won 14 games. Second in the league to the Rangers' Yu Darvish, Scherzer has 176 strikeouts. His 2.84 ERA is eighth-best in the league.

The Tigers haven't lost since July 25th, when they dropped a 7-4 decision to the White Sox. They're a perfect 7-0 in August and have won 16 of their last 17.

Detroit opens a three-game series in New York with the slumping Yankees - losers of four straight - Friday at 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

Hyun-Jin Ryu

The LA Dodgers have taken control of the NL West. In the process, they've damaged the post-season chances of some other National League clubs.

17-3 since the All Star break, LA swept three from the Nationals and beat up the Reds and Cardinals, taking four-game series from both, three games to one, including the series finale in St. Louis Thursday, as Hyun-Jin Ryu led them to a 5-1 victory.

With one of his best performances of the season, Ryu (11-3) worked over the Cardinal lineup for seven innings, giving up five hits, walking none while fanning six. The sole Cardinal run was unearned, coming off a throwing error by the Dodgers' Andre Ethier in the fourth inning.

A. J. Ellis provided some pop with a sixth-inning, three-run homer, his sixth of the season.

The Dodgers have a 5 1/2 game lead over Arizona in the division and host the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game series starting Friday night at 7:10 pm PDT.

Today's Trivia: The last time a player from Cleveland won the AL MVP award was 1953. Who was it? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The eight MVP awards won by Yankee players from 1954-1963 went to four players: Yogi Berra (1954, 1955), Mickey Mantle (1955, 1956, 1962), Roger Maris (1960, 1961) and Elston Howard (1962).