Mike Napoli's GS, Daniel Nava's 4 Hits Lead Boston Rout of Yankees; Paul Goldschmidt's Grand Slam Lifts Arizona

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 1, 2013

American League

Did somebody designate June 1 as MLB Grand Slam Day?

It sure felt like it as bases-loaded shots cleared the fences in three different stadiums on Saturday.

Mike Napoli

Early on, Miguel Cabrera - who else? - made his contribution to the cause by sending one deep in the fourth inning of Detroit's 10-3 win over the home-standing Orioles. The Tigers scored eight runs in the frame, sending four balls out of Camden yards - three solo shots and Cabrera's big blast.

Daniel Nava

Leading the AL in batting with a .369 average, Cabrera added to his league-leading RBI total, which now stands at 65, and is two behind Baltimore's Chris davis in homers, with 17. Better yet, the win kept the Tigers 1/2 game ahead of Cleveland in the Central division.

Mike Napoli's third-inning grand slam fueled an 11-1 Boston barrage at Yankee Stadium in which the Red Sox ripped 18 hits off three Yankee hurlers and improved their AL East lead over the Bombers to two games. While Napoli was going 3-for-5, the real deal was leadoff hitter Daniel Nava, who stroked four singles, drove in four runs and scored a pair himself, getting his batting average close to the magic .300 mark, at .296.

Along with Cleveland's 5-0 win over the Rays, the AL East remains pretty tight. Baltimore is just 2 1/2 back of Boston and the rays three games out.

The Yankees and Red Sox play the rubber game of their three-game series at 8:00 pm EDT. The game will be nationally-televised by ESPN.

National League

Paul Goldschmidt

Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt added to the festivities with his 13th home run of the year, an eighth-inning grand slam that broke a 4-4 tie and led directly to the Diamondbacks' 12-4 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Goldschmidt added a single, going 2-for-5 on the day, and scored three times.

Slightly overshadowed by Cabrera and Davis in the AL, Goldschmidt is having a memorable season in Arizona, batting .332 (6th in the NL) with 45 RBI, which is tied with Justin Upton for the most in the league. His 13 homers is fourth-best in the NL. In just his second full season, Goldschmidt is developing into one of the most-respected batters in either league.

With the Cardinals taking a pair from the Giants - 8-0 and 7-1 - Arizona's win has them suddenly 2 1/2 up on both San Francisco and Colorado in the NL West.

After dropping Friday's game to the Cubs, 7-2, the Diamondbacks will be looking to take the series, Sunday at 2:20 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: The career mark for World Series on-base percentage is a stunning 70%. Who holds the record? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Cy Young, who holds the major league mark of 511 career wins, also lost the most ever by a pitcher. Young was on the wrong end of the score 316 times.