J.D. Martinez Swats 4 HR In Arizona's 13-1 Rout Of LA; Blue Jays Pound Boston Behind Kendrys Morales

Players of the Day for Monday, September 4, 2017

American League

Morales: 2-4, HR, 4 RBI

For a first place team, the Boston Red Sox haven't been exactly knocking the cover off the ball, losing eight of their last 12, including Monday's 10-4 pounding by the last place Blue Jays, a team that deserves to be where it is, losing 12 of the last 17, including three straight to Boston just a week ago.

Kendrys Morales provided the fuel for Toronto's offensive outburst, socking a first-inning, three-run homer off 2016 Cy Young award winner, Rick Porcello, the Boston hurler dropping to 9-15 after allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Morales added a ninth-inning RBI double, driving in four runs in the game, upping his total for the season to 75.

Coupled with the Yankees' 7-4 win at Baltimore, Boston's tenuous hold on first place in the AL East is down to just 2 1/2 games.

Boston will try to shake out of their slump in game two of the three-game series at Fenway Park, Tuesday at 7:10 pm ET.

National League

Martinez: 4 HR, 6 RBI

J.D. Martinez swatted four home runs in Arizona's no-doubt, 13-0 victory over the LA Dodgers Monday, making the 30-year-old Diamondback outfielder the 18th player in major league history to accomplish the single-game feat, and the second player this season to do so.

Martinez opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Arizona starter, Robbie Ray (12-5), would make that stand up for 7 2/3 innings, blanking the Dodgers on three hits, fanning 14.

In the seventh, Martinez cranked a solo homer out to right center, the first of two measuring 417 feet, the second coming in his next at-bat, in the eighth, also with bases empty. Competing the feat in the ninth, Martinez swatted his fourth of the game with a man aboard, giving him six RBI on the day.

Martinez has 34 homers on the year, 18 of them with Arizona. He hit 16 for Detroit before being traded to the Diamondbacks in mid-July.

The other player to hit four in one game this season was Cincinnati's Scooter Gennett, who did so on June 6, in a 13-1 win over St. Louis.

Arizona's win came in the opener of a three-game series in Los Angeles and was their 11th straight win. Forgetting for now that the Dodgers lead the NL West by 12 1/2 games, the Diamondbacks are clearly the team to beat as September progresses. While Arizona has gotten hot, the Dodgers have gone cold, losing nine of their last 10.

Game two of the series is Tuesday, at 7:10 pm PT in LA.