Ryan Zimmerman Slam Boosts Nationals over Padres; Evan Gattis Powers Houston to 15-1 Win over Yankees

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 25, 2015

American League

Evan Gattis

After losing Monday's opener at Yankee Stadium on a walk-off sac fly by Carlos Beltran, 1-0, the Houston Astros exacted their revenge early and often against the Yankees on Tuesday night, smothering the home team by a 15-1 tally.

Houston scored five runs in the first inning off Yankee starter, Ivan Nova, and finally chased the starter in the fifth inning when Evan Gattis belted his 20th homer of the season with one aboard and nobody out.

Ryan Zimmerman

Gattis also singled home a pair of runs in the seventh inning, delivering four RBI on the night, walking twice and scoring three times in four at-bats.

The win helped out the Astros, increasing their lead over Texas in the AL West to 4 1/2 games, while sending the Yankees one game back of Toronto in the AL East. The Blue Jays have won four straight and retaken first place in the division.

Houston and New York play the third - and final - game of the series when they take the field at Yankee Stadium Wednesday afternoon at 1:05 pm EDT.

National League

Ryan Zimmerman had just one hit in five at-bats, but it was a loud one: a sixth inning grand slam that turned a 4-2 Washington lead into an 8-3 victory over the visiting San Diego Padres.

Zimmerman's smash was just his 10th of the season. The All-Star third baseman has been saddled by injuries the past two seasons, playing in just 61 games in 2014 and 82 this season. He has only 15 home runs over the past two years, well below his former production.

Zimmerman's woes mirror those of the rest of the team, riddled with nagging injuries and underperformance that has the Nationals ten games behind the Cubs for the second wild card spot, the chances of making the post-season almost hopeless at this point.

The Nationals have won three straight and gotten back over .500, but the Cubs have won six in a row and have been the hottest team in the National League this month, with a mark of 17 wins and four losses.

Washington will try to keep pace when they play game two of their three-game series with the Padres at 7:05 pm EDT on Tuesday.