MIAMI -- Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton not only established personal and franchise milestones in August, the All-Star right fielder also had a month for the ages.
The numbers speak loudly for themselves -- 18 home runs, 37 RBIs and a whopping OPS of 1.332. The power production was off the charts. On Sunday, not surprisingly, Stanton was named the National League Player of the Month. This is Stanton's third Player of the Month Award, having previously won in June 2015 and May '12.
Stanton comes off one of the most historic home run-hitting months in history. The 18 home runs matched Rudy York of the Tigers in 1937 for the most ever for the month. The MLB record for any month is 20, set by Sammy Sosa in June 1998. Stanton ended up two shy, but he closed out August with 51 on the season, and that number jumped to 52 after he connected on Saturday in a 10-9 win over the Phillies.

Stanton's sizzling August helped carry the Marlins into National League Wild Card contention. For the month, Stanton's slash line was .349/.433/.899. Before Stanton reset the bar, the most home runs by a National League player in August was 17 -- Sosa in 2001 and Willie Mays in 1965.
Stanton's rising home run totals captured the attention of Major League Baseball and the sports world. Taking Player of the Month honors caps statistically the greatest slugging month ever by a Marlin. No Miami player ever exceeded 12 homers in a month before Stanton kept clearing the fences. In July, Stanton had 12, giving him 30 across July and August.
Stanton received the top monthly award after being named NL Player of the Week on Aug. 28. Stanton had five home runs and drove in 11 during that seven-game stretch. The 27-year-old earned the Player of the Week honor twice in August.
Throughout the month, Stanton checked numerous milestones off various record lists.

On Aug. 14, Stanton broke the Marlins' single-season home run record with No. 43 against the Giants. A day earlier, he went deep against the Rockies, giving him 42 to tie Gary Sheffield's team mark that had stood since 1996. The blast was also the 250th of his career.
"Yeah, something special," Stanton said after breaking the mark. "When you're one hit or one homer away from a record, you don't want to let it linger, because then every at-bat is, 'You're going to do it, you're going to do it.' Luckily, I got it out of the way right away."
From Aug. 10-15, Stanton had a stretch of homering in six straight games. The outfielder from Sherman Oaks, Calif., is one of 21 players in MLB history to homer in as many as six consecutive games. Only one player -- Barry Bonds -- has done it twice.
The MLB record is eight games in a row, shared by three players, including Marlins manager Don Mattingly when he was with the Yankees in 1987.
Mattingly isn't surprised Stanton challenged his remarkable stretch.
"I think it's attainable for guys that have that kind of power," Mattingly said. "It's stupid pop, because they hit popups that go out. One guy may crush a ball to center, and may absolutely crush it to get it out. He can miss the ball to center or right. That's just the difference with guys who have true home run power."