Torii Hunter Falls a Single Short of Cycle in Tiger Victory; Jay Bruce Rallies Reds to 13-4 Stomping of Mariners

Players of the Day for Saturday, July 6, 2013

American League

On Friday it was Juan Uribe coming up a single short of hitting for the cycle, on Saturday, it was Torii Hunter's turn to do the same thing, though he drove in only three runs as opposed to Uribe's seven.

Torii Hunter

In Detroit's 9-4 win over the Indians, Hunter doubled, tripled and homered in five at-bats, but did not come up with what is considered the "easist" part of the cycle, the single.

Nonetheless, Hunter was an integral part of the Tigers' taking their second straight over their Central division rivals, expanding their lead over Cleveland to 3 1/2 games, with Kansas City six back.

Game three of the four-game series is set for 1:05 pm EDT Sunday in Cleveland.

On Saturday, Hunter was named as a reserve to the American League All-Star roster. The annual showcase event is to be held July 16 at Citi Field in New York.

National League

Jay Bruce singled, doubled, drove in three runs and scored four times as the Cincinnati Reds pummeled the Seattle Mariners, 13-4.

Jay Bruce

The Mariners led early, enjoying a 3-1 bulge entering the fourth inning, but the Reds scored three in the fourth, two in the fifth and three more in the sixth, before finally blowing the game wide open with four eighth-inning runs. Bruce's double in the sixth was a key hit, sending two Reds home for an 8-4 lead, which became 9-4 when Bruce scored on a single by Jack Hannahan.

In his sixth season - all with the Reds - Bruce is quietly having another solid season, with 18 homers and 59 RBI to go with a .274 batting average. He's on pace to better his career-best marks set last season, of 34 HR and 99 RBI.

Winning helped the Reds cut a game off Pittsburgh's lead in the NL Central, where the Pirates hold a one-game advantage over the Cardinals, with the Reds now 3 1/2 back.

Seattle remained 12 1/2 out in the AL West, in fourth place.

The Mariners took Friday's contest, 4-2, so the two teams will meet for the rubber game of the series on Sunday at 1:10 pm EDT in Cincinnati.

Today's Trivia: The all-time record for losses by a pitcher in a season is 48, set way back in 1883. Who holds this dubious distinction? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Ted Williams is actually the all-time career leader in on base percentage, at an incredible .4817. Ty Cobb's .4330 ranks ninth all-time.