Howie Kendrick Grand Slam Lifts Nationals in 11th; White Merrifield Cashes 5 RBI As Royals Trounce White Sox, 14-6

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 13, 2017

American League

Merrifield: 3-6, HR, 5 RBI

Whit Merrifield singled, tripled and socked his 14th home run, helping the Kansas City Royals to a 14-6 win over the White Sox with five RBI.

Merrifield was starting as the leadoff hitter for the Royals, and for good reason. The second-year second baseman has shown vast improvement over his rookie season. In 2016, Merrifield batted .283 in 81 games, with two home runs, 29 RBI and eight stolen bases. This year, in 100 games, he's at .299, with 14 homers, 56 RBI and 19 swipes.

Merrifield socked a three-run homer in the third inning, putting the Royals up, 8-0, adding two more RBI with his sixth-inning triple.

The game was the third of the series at Chicago, Kansas City taking two of three. Kansas City got off to a poor start for the month of August, losing eight of 10, but their back-to-back wins over the White Sox leave them in third place in the AL Central, five games behind Cleveland. Minnesota is in second place, 1/2 game better than the Royals. Both the Twins and Royals have legitimate shots at either the division or a wild card. They're 1/2 and one game behind the Angels for the second wild card. The Yankees lead, but only by 1 1/2 games after dropping two of three to the Red Sox over the weekend.

The Royals conclude their road trip with three games at Oakland beginning Monday. Game time is 7:10 pm PT.

National League

Kendrick: Walk-off slam

No Bryce Harper? No problem, judging by the standings and the time left in the season.

Washington's Bryce Harper suffered a bone bruise in his knee, but no ligament or tendon tears, the results of an injury caused by slipping on a wet first base in Washington's 3-1 win over the Giants on Saturday.

Initially, it was feared the injury would be season-ending, but Harper and Washington's front office believe he'll return to the team before the end of the season. He's been placed on the 10-day disabled list.

Meanwhile, the Giants and Nationals had unfinished business on Sunday, a day-night doubleheader, with the Giants taking the opener, 4-2, before Washington came back with a 6-2, 11th-inning victory in the nightcap.

Matt Moore and Max Scherzer dueled through seven innings in a 2-2 tie, and the relief staffs took the game into extra innings before Howie Kendrick racked a grand slam with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th for the walk-off win.

Giants' reliever, Albert Suarez, didn't retire a batting in the winning inning. Murphy singled to center to lead off the frame, followed by Ryan Zimmerman's single to shallow center, sending Murphy to third. Anthony Rendon was intentionally walked, setting up Kendrick with the bases chock full.

Kendrick's homer was just his fourth of the season. The 34-year-old utility player spent most of the season with Philadelphia, acquired by the Nationals in late July. He spent half the season on the DL, but, he's batting .375 (15-for-40) since joining the Washington squad.

The Nationals should be all right without Harper, their star player. They have a 14 game lead over the Marlins in the NL East, and even though Miami has won three straight, there's almost no chance of them - or anybody else - catching the Nationals. Washington is 70-46, which is the second-best record in the league, after the Dodgers. The Cubs (61-55) have a one-game lead in the NL Central, so Washington is probably not in any danger of losing their position for the playoffs.

The Nationals get a day off Monday, and host the Angels for two games, Tuesday and Wednesday.