Lorenzo Cain Leads Royals over Tigers, 6-1; David Peralta's Grand Slam Boosts Diamondbacks

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 11, 2013

American League

Peralta: Grand Slam, 5RBI

The races in the two of the three AL divisions can't be much tighter, but Kansas City is making a mockery of the AL Central.

Cain: 4-for-4

With both the Angels and Astros losers on Tuesday, the AL West still has Houston on top, but only a game ahead of LA. In the East, the Yankees lost their fourth straight - 5-4 at Cleveland in 16 innings - while the Blue Jays won their ninth straight and have gotten to within 1/2 game of the division leading New Yorkers.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, the Royals hold a 12-game lead over the Twins after hammering the Tigers in the second of their three-game series, 6-1.

In support of the six-inning, two-hit pitching of Yordano Ventura, Lorenzo Cain went 4-for-4 with a solo homer, a double and a pair of singles, scoring twice and driving in one.

The 29-year-old who broke into the majors in 2010, but is really in just his third year as a full-time player for the Royals, has rapidly become one of the better hitters for average in the league.

After hitting .251 in 2013, Cain upped his average to .301 last season and is currently fifth, at .316 in the league, just .009 behind league-leader, Prince Fielder (.327).

The Royals look for the sweep of the Tigers Wednesday night, when the two teams tangle at 8:10 pm EDT.

National League

The NL West isn't quite over with yet.

Thought the Dodgers have maintained their lead for most of the season, the Giants continue to keep pace, just 2 1/2 games back, but then there's the Arizona Diamondbacks, which may have the best lineup in the division, 6 1/2 back of LA, but winners of three straight after bombing the Phillies, 13-1, Tuesday night.

Jeremy Hellickson may have had his best outing of the season, allowing no earned runs on seven hits while fanning six over eight innings, but his effort was overshadowed by the 15-hit barrage from the Arizona regulars.

Leading the pack was David Peralta, who highlighted an 11-run second inning for the D-Backs with a grand slam, his 11 homer of the season. Perlata, currently at .301, added a run-scoring single in the fifth, finishing 2-for-4 with five ribbies.

The Diamondbacks are lurking in third place in the division and have six games remaining with the Gaints and seven against the Dodgers, all in September.

A win Wednesday in the series finale would give Arizona a sweep of the series. Game time is 12:40 pm PDT.