Christian Vazquez Walks Off Indians As Boston Wins, 12-10; Anthony Rizzo Powers Cubs' 16-4 Win Over D'Backs

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 1, 2017

American League

In a game which had all the trappings of playoff baseball, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians, 12-10, at Fenway Park when catcher Christian Vazquez ended the contest with a three-run homer to center.

Vazquez: HR wins game

The victory put Boston back in first place in the AL East, as the Yankees lost, 4-3, to Detroit, dropping to second place, 1/2 game behind the Red Sox. Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Toronto all were winners on the day, tightening the division race. All six teams are separated by just 8 1/2 games.

Vazquez, the hero of Boston for a day, at least, was 3-for-5, adding a single and double, scoring twice.

Boston starter, Chris Sale, had his worst outing of the season, surrendering seven runs on eight hits over five innings. Cleveland scored three in the first and two in the second before the Red Sox countered with five runs in their half of the second. Edwin Encarnation ended Sale's stay on the mound with a two-run blast in the fifth, but Boston rallied again, scoring four in the sixth.

After Cleveland took back the lead at 10-9 with a run in the eighth and two in the ninth, Cody Allen came on for the Indians to wrap things up, but allowed a single to Rafael Devers and, with tow outs, uncorked a wild pitch, striking out Mitch Moreland, who raced to first, representing the tying run. Allen threw another wild pitch, sending Devers and Moreland to third and second, prior to serving up the game winner to Vazquez, just his second home run of the season.

Boston has taken the first two games of the series and will be seeking the sweep when the teams take the field for game three, Wednesday at 7:00 pm ET.

National League

Rizzo: 2 HR, 3 RBI

Beginning to look like the reigning world champions, the Chicago Cubs won their third straight, winning 16-4 over Arizona, a potential wild card team.

Playing under the lights at Wrigley Field, the Cubs put on an impressive hitting and power display, banging out 17 hits, including five home runs, two of them by first baseman, Anthony Rizzo.

Rizzo smoked a two-run homer in the second inning and blasted a solo shot in the seventh. In the Cubs' seven run sixth inning, Rizzo singled and scored prior to Javier Baez's three-run rip.

The homers were numbers 25 and 26 for the seven-year pro and the three RBI gave him 70 on the year.

With Milwaukee squeaking by the Cardinals, 3-2, Chicago remains 2 1/2 ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central. St. Louis is 5 1/2 back, Pittsburgh trails by 6 1/2. Sizzling since the all-star break, the Cubs are 14-3 in the season's second half and will look for their fourth in a row when they host the Diamondbacks in game two of the three-game series at 8:05 pm ET.