Eric Hosmer 5-6, Grand Slam As Royals Win 8th Straight; Marcell Ozuna, Marlins Bury Rangers, 22-10

Players of the Day for Wednesday, July 26, 2017

American League

Kansas City won its eighth straight game, a 16-2 thrashing of the Tigers, in which six Detroit hurlers allowed a total of 22 hits, though all but three of them were singles. Essentially, the Royals were all over the bases the whole game. Only in the sixth inning did Kansas City go down in order.

Hosmer: 5-6, Grand Slam

Slugging Eric Hosmer accounted himself well in the bloodbath, going 5-for-6, scoring five times and driving in six, thanks to having one of those three extra base hits, a grand slam in the seventh. The Royals scored nine times in the inning, Hosmer's blast making the score 13-1.

The rest of Hosmer's other hits were singles, raising his average from .310 to .319 during the course of the game. He's batting a robust .368 in July, part of the reason the Royals are fast on the heels of division-leading Cleveland, a mere 1 1/2 game out, despite the Indians winning six straight, including Wednesday's 10-4 mashing of the Angels. Hosmer has 16 home runs and 59 RBI.

Kansas City didn't come roaring out of the all-star break, losing four of their first five games, but they've gotten red hot of late, taking the final two games of an earlier four-game series with the Tigers on their way to consecutive sweeps over the White Sox and now the Tigers, in Detroit.

After a day off Thursday, the Royals head east on Friday, playing back-to-back three-game series in Boston and Baltimore.

National League

It was a tough night for You Darvish and the Texas Rangers - maybe even tougher for the 26,471 fans in Arlington - as the Miami Marlins took the rubber game of their three-game series by the football-ish score of 22-10.

The Rangers used six pitchers, though starter Darvish got the worst of it, allowing 10 runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings. Miami had the same number of hits as runs, 14 of them going for extra bases, including four homers.

Ozuna: 3-5, 4 R, 5 RBI

Marcell Ozuna didn't have a home run, but he did double twice and triple in five at-bats, scored four times and drove in five runs, giving him 77 RBI on the season, third in the National League.

Ozuna, batting .315 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI is putting up MVP-like numbers, despite playing on the same team as Giancarlo Stanton, who did hit a home run, his 33rd, which leads the majors.

Unfortunately, the Marlins have little pitching to go with their awesome lineup of mashers. While Miami hits .268 as a team, third in the NL, their pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.72, 11th of 15 teams in the NL.

That's landed them at 46-53, 14 games behind the Nationals in the NL East, with the Braves and Mets between them and the division leader.

The Marlins return home Thursday, where they will host Cincinnati for four games. Texas gets a day off before hosting a three-game series with Baltimore Friday. The Rangers recently swept the Orioles four straight at Camaden Yards.