"Alexei Ramirez wasn't aware there was a Silver Slugger Award presented to the dominant offensive players at each position in the American and National leagues.

But Ramirez has given himself a reasonable chance to win the award because of his improvement at the plate.

"In every way, he's doing a lot of things better," hitting coach Greg Walker said. "He has come through for us in the clutch time after time. What has made him better as a hitter is hitting to the opposite field correctly, which has put him over the top."

Ramirez leads AL shortstops with a .282 batting average and 16 home runs, and his 62 RBIs are third to the Tigers' Jhonny Peralta (72) and the Royals' Yuniesky Betancourt (70) entering Wednesday.

"I didn't know the award existed, but any kind of recognition like that I'd take with great pride," Ramirez said. "But it just shows I've been working hard and it has paid off.""