Robinson Cano, Jayson Nix Power Yankees to DH Win over Blue Jays; Patrick Corbin, Paul Goldschmidt Lead Arizona's 5-2 Win at Cincinnati

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 20, 2013

American League

Robinson Cano

Jayson Nix

The Yankees have gotten hot at an opportune time, taking a double-header from the Blue Jays on Tuesday to creep to within 6 1/2 games of the new leader in the AL East, Tampa Bay.

Robinson Cano has been a mainstay for the Yanks, one of the few regulars that hasn't missed time due to injury, and he was the catalyst for the 8-4 win the afternoon contest, going 4-for-4 with his 200th career homer, his 23rd of the year, a three-run, third inning blast. He also singled twice and doubled in a run in the seventh inning. Cano is hitting .307, seventh in the AL, with 81 RBI, also seventh in the league.

Cano also went 2-for-4 in the nightcap, driving in the Yankees' first run with a single in the third inning, but game two turned into a personal highlight reel for Jayson Nix, filling in at shortstop for the injured Derek Jeter. Nix tied the score at 2-2 with a solo homer in the seventh, then delivered the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth, singling home Ichiro Suzuki for the 3-2, walk-off win.

The Yankees resume their four-game series with the Jays on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm EDT.

National League

Patrick Corbin

Right now, the Arizona Cardinals are on the outside looking in, trailing the Dodgers by 7 1/2 games in the NL West and five games behind the Reds for the second wild card spot, but they are still in contention with the month of September coming up fast.

In Tuesday's 5-2 win at Cincinnati, Patrick Corbin handled all the mound requirements, going the distance for his second complete game of the season, fanning ten without issuing a walk.

Paul Goldschmidt

Corbin didn't allow a run until the eighth inning, after Paul Goldschmidt's grand slam put the Diamondbacks up, 5-0. Chris Heisey socked a two-run homer off Corbin in the bottom of the frame, but that was all the Reds could muster as Corbin held them to six hits.

Making a quiet case for the Cy Young award in just his second season, Corbin has a 13-3 record with a 2.45 ERA and 150 strikeouts, all those figures among the leaders in the National League, tied for fourth in wins, fourth in ERA and 16th in strikeouts.

Goldschmidt tied the Pirates' Pedro Alvarez at 31 home runs, extending his RBI lead to eight over Brandon Phillips, the four ribbies giving him an even 100 on the year.

The four-game series is tied at 1-1, with game three scheduled for 7:10 pm EDT at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Today's Trivia: Who led the National League in home runs more times, Hank Aaron or Willie Mays? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: While Mickey Mantle led the AL in home runs four times, Harmon Killebrew did it six times, leading three in a row from 1962-64 and tying for the league lead twice, in 1959 (Rocky Colavito, 42) and in 1967 (Carl Yazstremski, 44). Killebrew won it for his final time in 1969, when he belted 49.