A's Thump Tigers, 14-4, as Brandon Moss Homers Twice; Jay Bruce Drives in Five as Reds Dismantle Cardinals, 10-0

Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 28, 2013

American League

Moss: 2HR, 6RBI

It's not even September, yet the Detroit Tigers may already be thinking about the playoffs and what might happen to them if they run into the Oakland A's.

The A's took their third straight in Detroit, hammering four pitchers for 21 hits, drilling the Tigers, 14-4, and generally putting a scare into the AL Central leaders.

Brandon Moss led the hit parade, going 4-for-5 with six RBI and three runs. Moss, singled, doubled, belted a two-run homer in the sixth inning and finished off his night with a three-run blast in the eighth. Moss, who is about as close as any A's player to superstar status, has 24 home runs on the year, with 66 RBI.

Oakland never trailed, scoring three runs in the second inning, four more in the fifth and three in the sixth, touching up Detroit starter, Doug Fisterfor 15 hits and seven earned runs. The 2-3-4-5 hitters in the A's lineup were a combined 12-for-19, with 10 runs and 10 RBI.

With the win, the A's remained 2 1/2 games behind Texas in the West, while the Tigers continued to lead the Central by 5 1/2 games over the Indians, 3-2 losers to Atlanta.

Game four of the series gets started at 1:08 pm EDT, the A's looking for the sweep.

National League

Bruce: 2-4, HR, 5RBI

After dropping the first two games of their series in St. Louis with the first-place Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds were looking to salvage a win in game three. To do so, they'd have to beat Cardinal ace, Adam Wainwright.

The Reds not only beat Wainwright, they sent him back to the clubhouse after only two innings, ripping him for eight hits and nine runs en route to a 10-0 blowout.

Jay Bruce was Wainwright's main antagonist, driving in the first two runs for the Reds with a single in the first and sending the Cardinal hurler to an early exit with a three-run bomb in the second inning.

With the huge, 9-0 lead, Reds' starter, Homer Bailey (9-10), cruised through 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just five hits and two walks while fanning seven. Chris Heisey finished the scoring for the Reds with a solo homer in the ninth.

The result left the Cardinals with a slim 1/2 game lead over Pittsburgh in the division, with the Reds 3 1/2 games back. While it would be nice, Cincinnati has the luxury of not needing to worry about winning the division, as they are currently six games clear of Arizona for the second wild card spot.

The Reds head next to Colorado, where they open a three-game series with the Rockies on Friday. St. Louis also gets Thursday off, as they travel to Pittsburgh for a critical three-game series with the Pirates.

Today's Trivia: Baltimore's Chris Davis and Manny Machado currently lead the majors in home runs and doubles, respectively. Who were the last two teammates to lead the majors in those categories and in what year did they do it? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1971 World Series, beating the Orioles, four games to three.