Ryan Zimmerman's 2 HR, 6 RBI Lift Nats Over Cubs; Marcus Semien Goes Yard Twice As A's Rout Angels, 7-0

Players of the Day for Saturday, August 12, 2018

American League

Semien: 3-5, 2HR, 4RBI

The Oakland A's are charging hard in the AL West and they're getting help from the Seattle Mariners.

Seattle dumped worst-place Houston for the third straight time, winning, 3-2, at Houston. Meanwhile, the A's were making the Angels pray for help in a 7-0 win, and are 3 1/2 back of the Astros in the division. Seattle is five out.

With starter Edwin Jackson blanking the Halos on three hits over 7 1/3 innings, leadoff hitter Marcus Semien was sending balls toward the heavens, socking a pair of homers and driving in four runs.

Semien got things started right away, singling and scoring in the first inning before smashing a three-run homer in the second and a solo shot in the fourth.

Batting .259 on the year, Semien's homers were his eighth and ninth. He has 43 RBI and has scored 65 runs.

Winners of eight of their last 10, the Athletics wrap up their series in Anaheim on Sunday, 4:07 pm EDT. The Angels won the first of the three-game set. On Monday, the A's return to Oakland for a nine-game home stand with three each against division rivals Seattle, Houston, and Texas.

National League

Zimmerman: 2HR, 6RBI

One of the reasons that the Washington Nationals are 5 1/2 behind the Phillies and trail Atlanta by 4 1/2 in the NL East might be attributed to the mid-season absence of Ryan ZimmermanRyan Zimmerman, who was on the DL from May 9 until July 20 and has only recently been playing regularly.

Facing the Cubs Saturday in Chicago, Zimmerman displayed his ability, smacking a pair of home runs and driving in six, powering the Nationals to a 9-3 victory.

The Cubs took the first game of the series, 3-2, on Friday, but the Nationals came back with a vengeance, scoring all of their runs in the first four innings, rocking Chicago starter, Jon Lester, for eight earned runs on 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings.

Zimmerman's blasts came in the first with one aboard and in the fourth, with two runners on base. Both homers were hit with two outs in the frame. In between, Zimmerman knocked in another run with a sac fly in the third.

The homers were just the eighth and ninth of the season for the Washington third baseman, but he's hit three this month, along with 11 RBI off a .409 August batting average (9-for-22).

The series with the Cubs is the first meeting between Chicago and Washington. The rubber game is Sunday night, 8:00 pm EDT, and will be televised nationally by ESPN. The two meet again in Washington for four games, September 6-9.