Matt Holliday's Grand Slam Lifts Cardinals; Matt Shoemaker Delivers as Angels Win Sixth Straight

Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 21, 2015

American League

Shoemaker: 6IP, 10Ks

Rolling to their sixth straight win, the LA Angels maintained a two-game lead in the AL West over Houston with a 7-0 shutout of the visiting Minnesota Twins.

Starter Matt Shoemaker improved to 5-7 with a solid six-inning performance, blanking the Twins on two hits over six innings. The Angels staked their hurler to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and third innings, but, after Chris Ianetta keyed a five-run sixth inning with a three-run homer, manager Mike Scioscia decided he had gotten all he needed from his starter and sent Fernando Salas out for the seventh inning.

After Salas put down the Twins in order, Jose Alvarez completed the whitewash with two hitless innings.

Shoemaker walked three and fanned 10, matching his season high. Off to a slow start in 2015, Shoemaker was 16-4 last season with the Halos. The win was Shoemaker's first since June 9.

Holliday: Grand Slam

National League

Michael Wacha didn't have his best stuff, but still improved to 11-3, allowing five runs on four hits over five innings as teammate Matt Holliday boosted the Cardinals to an 8-5 win over the White Sox with a fourth inning grand slam.

The homer was just Holliday's fourth of the season, but it came at a most opportune time, lifting the Cardinals to a five-game lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central. The Pirates fell at Kansas City, 3-1.

While Holliday is batting a healthy .302, his power numbers are way down. He's hit 20 or more homers every season since 2009.

Still, the Cardinals continue to bowl over the opposition. Their 59-34 mark is the best in the majors.

St. Louis faces the White Sox in the completion of their two-game series, Wednesday night in Chicago.