Jack Flaherty Throws 7 Scoreless as Cards Stop Royals; Kyle Seager Rips 3 HRs, Mariners Whip Tigers

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 13, 2019

American League

Seager: 3 HRs, 6 RBI

Kyle Seager crashed three home runs in Seattle's 11-6 Tuesday win at Detroit.

Seager connected with a solo shot in the fourth inning, a three-run rip in the sixth and a two-run dinger in the ninth, tally six RBI on the night.

Missing nearly all of the first two months of the season due to injury, Seager has 14 homers and 34 RBI in 64 games. The Mariners could have used his bat earlier, as they fell out of contention early, and are currently last in the AL West, a full 29 games out. Seattle is, at least, better than the Orioles and Tigers, the other two division trailers in the AL. Baltimore is 39-81, 40 1/2 off the East division pace. The Tigers, with the worst record in the majors, at 35-81, trail the Twins by 35 1/2 games in the Central.

The Twins lead the division by 1/2-game over Cleveland. The Twins were 7-5 winners at Milwaukee on Tuesday, while the Indians lost at home, 7-6, to the Red Sox.

The Mariners had lost eight of their last nine prior to Seager's performance. They continue their three-game series in Detroit on Wednesday, 7:10 pm ET.

National League

Flaherty: 7 scoreless

Nearly playing themselves out of contention last week with five straight losses, the Cardinals are back in the proper swing of things, winning their fourth straight with a 2-0 victory in Kansas City Tuesday.

Jack Flaherty was on the mound for St. Louis, tossing seven scoreless win for his second straight win and his third consecutive start without allowing a run, a scoreless streak that has now reached 23 innings, dating back to July 26, when the Cardinals topped Houston, 5-3, though Flaherty received no decision, allowing just three hits and two earned runs over six innings.

To say that Flaherty has been the best pitcher in the majors this month would bear some credence. He's given up a mere eight hits and four walks in 21 innings, with 26 strikeouts and a 0.57 WHIP. Opposing batters are operating at a .116 level against him.

St. Louis' win put them only a game back of the Cubs in the NL Central, as Chicago lost at Philadelphia, 4-2. They remained one game behind Washington in the wild card race. The Nationals have won three straight.

Looking to extend their winning ways, the Cardinals are at Kansas City again on Wednesday. Game time is 8:15 pm ET.

Seattle Trio Combines to Down Texas, 6-0; Yoenis Cespedes Brings Mets Back Again for Sweep of Nationals

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 9, 2015

American League

Mark Trumbo

Vidal Nuno

Putting on hold the Rangers' run to the top of the AL West, Seattle blanked Texas, 6-0, behind seven innings of one-hit ball from starter, Vidal Nuno, and 4-for-4 plate efforts from Kyle Seager and Mark Trumbo.

Nuno, a reliever and spot starter for the Mariners this season after being acquired from Arizona in early June, gave up a two-out single to Prince Fielder in the first inning, but completed the next six without giving up another hit. A powerful lefty, Nuno fanned 10, walked two and hit a batter.

Meanwhile, Seager and Trumbo both delivered two-run homers, Trumbo's in the third and Seager's coming in the fifth inning. All six other hits by the pair were singles.

Kyle Seager

Seattle earned its first win in the four-game series, which concludes Thursday at 12:40 pm PDT in Seattle. The Rangers had a two-game winning streak snapped and, with Houston topping Oakland, 11-5, the Rangers fell two games behind the AL West leaders though they remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Twins for the second wild card.

National League

Yoenis Cespedes

Yoenis Cespedes and the NY Mets did it to the Nationals again Wednesday night, coming from behind to win, 5-3, and take the series, three games to none.

After Kelly Johnson's solo homer tied the game at two in the top of the eighth, Stephen Strasberg fanned Kurt Neiwenhaus for his 13th strikeout and then allowed a one out single to Curtis Granderson. Relieved by Drew Storen, Strasberg saw his chance for a win vanish on one swing by he next batter, Yoenis Cespedes, who launched a two-run homer over the wall in left center.

A one man wrecking crew for the Mets over the past seven games (.424, 5 HR, 11 RBI), Cespedes victimized the Nationals during the three-game series in Washington, going 6-for-14 with two homers and seven RBI.

With the sweep, the Mets have a seven-game lead in the NL East with 23 games to play, a nearly insurmountable edifice to the Nats, who will surely finish in second place in the division (Miami is 19 1/2 back) but will not qualify for the playoffs. The Chicago Cubs have a 9 1/2 game lead on them for the final wild card spot.

The Mets are 5-3 in September and headed to Atlanta for a four-game series with the Braves beginning Thursday. The Braves have the second-worst record in the league, at 56-84.

Jordan Zimmermann Wins 10th as Nats Drop Rockies; Kyle Seager's Big Night Spoiled as Angels Tip Mariners, 10-9

Players of the Day for Thursday, June 20, 2013

American League

Kyle Seager

Kyle Seager may have had his best game as a major leaguer, but it went for naught as the Angels scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to overtake the Mariners, 10-9, and finish off their four-game series in Anahiem, winning three games to one.

Seager, a third-year pro out of Charlotte, NC, socked a home run, two doubles and a single in five at-bats, drove in three runs and scored three times, but Seattle pitchers could not take advantage of his effort, giving up 17 hits to the relentless Angels, who evened their home record at 20 wins and 20 losses.

Having a solid season as the regular third baseman, Seager has nine homers and 33 RBI to go with a .287 batting average.

The loss dropped the Mariners 10 1/2 back of the A's, who lead the AL West by a game over the Rangers. The Angels are nine out, with hopes of catching the two front-runners as the season wears on.

National League

Jordan Zimmermann

Jordan Zimmermann came up big, and the Nationals got some much-needed help in the standings from the Mets, as Washington dropped Colorado, 6-1, and the Braves lost for the third time in five games to the Mets, 4-3.

Tying Cardinal hurlers Lance Lynn and Adam Wainright for the league lead with his 10th win, Zimmermann blanked the Rockies - losers of four straight - through seven innings, giving up an unearned run in the eighth. Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect ninth in relief.

Zimmermann gave up six hits, fanned nine and allowed just one walk. The Washington hurler lowered his ERA to 2.26, fifth-best in the NL. He's stuck out 76 and walked just 15 batters in 107 2/3 innings, a K-BB ratio of better than 5-1.

David Wright belted a pair of homers to lead the Mets, helping the Nats pull to within six games of the runaway Braves in the NL East.

Colorado fell three off the pace set by Arizona in the NL West. They lost three straight in Toronto and will try to get back on track Friday in game two of the four-game series in Washington, Friday, at 7:05 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: Who won his first AL batting title in 1983, and then won four straight from 1985-1988? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The Designated Hitter rule was first used in the American League in 1973.