Cleveland Tops Twins, 8-1, On Carlos Santana's 2 HR; Reds Top Cubs As Luis Castillo Throws 6 Shoutout Innings

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Santana: 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R

American League

A crucial series began Tuesday in Minnesota as the Twins hosted the Indians in the first of three.

Cleveland starter, Danny Salazar, allowed a run in the second, but that was equalled in the fourth when Carlos Santana belted the first of his two home runs.

As Salazar steadied and continued to dominate, allowing the lone run over seven innings, the Indians continued to tack on runs, culminating in Santana's second homer of the game, a two-run belt in the ninth for the 8-1 victory and a six game lead over the Twins and Royals in the AL Central division.

Santana was on base all five times he appeared at the plate. He walked in the second and fifth innings, and singled in the seventh, scoring on Austin Jackson's three-run homer. Santana has 18 home runs and 63 RBI.

Minnesota will try to even the series on Wednesday when the teams take the field at 8:10 pm ET.

National League

Castillo: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER

If the Chicago Cubs wish to defend their World Series title, they'll have to start winning games in bunches, because the Cardinals and Brewers don't seem to be going away in the contentious NL Central.

Cincinnati got six innings of two-hit, shutout ball from starter, Luis Castillo, who took the win, as the Reds downed the Cubs, 2-1, in game two of their four-game series at Wrigley Field.

Castillo, a rookie, surrendered just two singles and a pair of walks, striking out seven for his second win against five losses. A trio of relievers finished up for the Reds, who are out of contention in both the division and the wild card.

The Cubs remained 1 1/2 in front of the Cardinals and Brewers in the division as St. Louis took a 10-4 loss at Boston and Milwaukee defeated Pittsburgh, 3-1, tying the Cardinals for second place.

Game three of the series is Wednesday, at 8:05 pm ET in Chicago.

STREAKING: Giancarlo Stanton homered in his sixth straight game, but the Miami Marlins fell to the San Francisco Giants, 9-4. Stanton's third inning solo shot off Madison Bumgarner was his 44th of the season, leading the majors. Stanton has 11 homers in his last 12 games, and 23 in the last 35 and is two games shy of tying the major league record, homering in eight straight games, held jointly by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987), and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993).

Stanton has 94 RBI on the year, second in the NL to Colorado's Nolan Arenado (101).