Homers by Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera Power Tigers over Twins; Andrew Cashner Tosses 2-Hit Shutout over Phillies

Players of the Day for Monday, September 15, 2014

American League

Miguel Cabrera

Torii Hunter

Breaking a 6-6 tie in the top of the ninth inning, Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera socked back-to-back homers to give Detroit a 8-6 win at Minnesota in the opener of a three-game series with the Twins.

The win was the fourth in a row for the Tigers, who have regained control of the AL Central after yielding the lead to Kansas City in August. Coupled with the Royals' 4-3 win over the White Sox, Detroit holds a 1 1/2 game edge in the division.

Game two is Tuesday at 8:10 pm EDT.

The other two divisions of the AL are nearly decided as both the Angels and Orioles won on Monday, the Angels topping Seattle - and sending the Mariners further down the standings in the wild card hunt - 8-1, while Baltimore took care of second-place Toronto with a 5-2 win over the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. Baltimore's victory opened a three-game series with Toronto and set the stage for a possible clinching of the division on Tuesday, when the two teams meet for game two at 7:05 pm EDT. Baltimore's magic number is now one; LA's is three, as the A's are 10 1/2 back and were idle on Monday.

The A's have a one-game edge over KC for the first wild card. Seattle trails KC for the second wild card by two games. Toronto, Cleveland and New York are further back with fading hopes of reaching the post-season. The Yankees - 1-0 losers at Tampa Bay Monday - were officially eliminated from the AL EAst race.

National League

Cashner: 2H ShO

Andrew Cashner (4-7, 2.20) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, eventually settling for a two-hit shutout for the Padres in a 1-0 win over the visiting Phillies Monday night.

Cashner walked one (Chase Utley in the fourth), fanned seven and threw 68 of 92 pitches for strikes. Domonic Brown bunted his way on with one out in the fifth, but was quickly erased on an inning-ending double play. Marlon Byrd's leadoff single in the eighth inning was the only other hit for the flat-lining Phillies.

The shutout was the second of the season for the San Diego hurler. Cashner shut out the Tigers on one hit back on April 11.

Elsewhere, division leaders LA and Washington were both winners; the Cardinals maintained a 3 1/2 game lead over the Pirates in the Central. Both the Cards and Pirates were idle on Monday.

In the only significant wild card action, San Francisco dropped its third straight, losing, 6-2, at Arizona. The Giants still hold a 2 1/2 game edge over the Pirates in the wild card. Pittsburgh is 1 1/2 in front of Milwaukee for the second wild card slot. The Brewers were also off Monday.