Miguel Cabrera's Three Homers Wasted in Tigers' Loss at Texas; Yonder Alonso, Padres Pound Nationals, 13-4

Players of the Day for Sunday, May 19, 2013

American League

Playing in front of a national TV audience on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, Miguel Cabrera put on a power performance, but Adrian Beltre and David Murphy powered Texas to an 11-8 victory, taking their series with the Tigers three games to one.

Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera belted three homers - two solo shots and a two-run bomb - singled in the first inning and walked and scored in the sixth, but his 4-for-4, five RBI effort was for naught as the Rangers rallied from a 4-1 deficit with four runs in the fifth, four more in the sixth and two in the eighth.

David Murphy's three-run homer in the sixth gave Texas a lead they would not relinquish. Beltre had two doubles and went 4-for-5.

The loss for the Tigers left them two games behind Cleveland in the AL Central, while Texas enjoys a 6 1/2 game bulge over Oakland in the West.

Cabrera, who took down the triple crown last season, leads the league in RBI with 47, batting average (.387) and his 11 homers is one behind an AL foursome with 12.

National League

While the Giants, Rockies and Diamondbacks try to sort things out atop the NL West, San Diego continues to make progress on the leaders.

Yonder Alonso

Despite a record of 20-23, the Padres are only 4 1/2 back of Arizona, which held onto a one-game lead despite a 2-1 loss at Miami. Colorado topped the Giants, 6-0, tying the Giants for second place.

San Diego earned a 2-2 split in their home series with the Nationals, banging out 15 hits to take the finale, 13-4.

Unheralded Yonder Alonso singled, doubled and cranked out his sixth homer of the season, scoring three times and driving in a pair of runs. The Padres hammered Washington starter, Dan Haren (4-5), for seven runs on nine hits over five innings.

In his second full year with the Padres, Alonso is having a solid start to his season, batting .289 with 26 RBI.

The loss left Washington 2 1/2 behind the Braves in the East. On Monday, San Diego begins a three-game series with Central division leader, St. Louis.

Today's Trivia: In 2009, Ichiro Suzuki led the majors with 224 hits. He was followed by two players - each with more than 200 hits - who played for the same team. Who were they?

Yesterday's Answer: Albert Pujols took the NL Home Run and RBI titles; his .312 batting average was tied for fifth with teammate Matt Holliday.