Cabrera Powers Indians Past Red Sox; Stanton Bombs Mets with Slam in 10th

Players of the Day for Monday, August 1, 2011

American League

Cabrera: Two Homers

The Cleveland Indians opened a crucial four-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Monday at Fenway Park, coming away with a 9-6 victory which moved them 1/2 game closer to the Central-division-leading Tigers, who are now two games in front.

Asdrubal Cabrera continued his season of all-around excellence by picking up the Indians when needed most. In the 6th, with Boston clinging to a 3-2 lead, Cabrera socked a two-run homer to right, putting the Indians up by a run.

Coming to the plate again in the 8th inning with a man aboard and the game tied at 5-all, Cabrera knocked his second long ball of the evening, putting Cleveland ahead for good. The versatile shortstop finished the night 3-for-5, with 3 runs, four RBI and a pair of home runs, his 18th and 19th of the season. Cabrera is batting .293 with 65 RBI.

Boston's loss allowed the Yankees to creep to within one game in the AL East, with a weekend series with New York looming.

National League

Normally, it's Gaby Sanchez who does most of the damage whenever the Marlins and Mets get together, and the all star definitely did his part with a sac fly in the 1st inning and an RBI single in the third.

Grand Slam Stanton

The work of Sanchez would not be enough on this night, however, as the Mets rallied to tie the game in the 9th inning on Lucas Duda's two-run blast, sending the game to an extra frame.

That's when Mike Stanton made his presence felt, bombing reliever Jason Isringhausen with a grand slam in the top of the 10th for a 7-3 Florida triumph.

Stanton, who had singled earlier, ended up with a 2-for-5 night with a homer and four RBI. The second-year outfielder is having a sensational season, with 25 home runs and 67 RBI.

The Marlins closed to within one game of the third place Mets, though both squads are struggling to catch the second place Braves in the division, as Atlanta currently holds the keys to the wild card.

Florida is 54-55, and trails the Braves by 8 1/2 games. The Mets are one game better, at 55-54.