Ian Kinsler 5-for-5 as Tigers Cool Off Cubs; Yunel Escobar Leads Nationals to 15-6 Win at Colorado

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 18, 2015

American League

Escobar: HR, 4R, 4RBI

Kinsler: HR, 5-for-5

Detroit may have given up on the post-season, but that doesn't mean the players stop playing.

Case in point: Ian Kinsler went 5-for-5 in the Tigers' 10-8 win over the red-hot Cubs Tuesday night.

Kinsler got off right away, belting his seventh homer of the season - a solo shot - in the top of the first inning. The Tiger second baseman added a double and three singles, scoring three times and driving in a pair of runs.

Upping his average to .304, Kindler is 10th in the league in batting for average. Only 10 American League players have batting averages over .300.

The game was the first of a two-game interrelate series which concludes Wednesday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Game time is slated for 8:05 pm EDT.

National League

Yunel Escobar helped carry the Washington Nationals to a 15-6 win over Colorado with a 3-for-4 night at the plate.

Escobar got the Nationals on the scoreboard in the top of the first with his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot.

He added a pair of singles and also walked twice, enabling him to score four times. Escobar drove in four runs as the Nationals belted out 15 hits against a battered Colorado pitching staff. The Rockies used six pitchers in the loss, their eighth in the past ten games. Escobar finished the game with a .305 batting average.

The win kept Washington within 4 1/2 games of the NL East-leading Mets, who took a 5-3 decision in Baltimore over the Orioles.

Colorado hosts Washington in the second of their three-game series Wednesday night at 8:40 pm EDT.