Yandy Diaz Leads Cleveland Rout Of Red Sox; Giancarlo Stanton, J.T. Realmuto Power Marlins Past Phils

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 24, 2017

Diaz: 4-4, 2 2B, 3B, 4R

American League

With the Yankees and Tigers brawling in Detroit and the Twins losing again in Chicago - dropping three of five to the White Sox - the Indians took the opportunity to rough up Boston's ace, Chris Sale, taking the finale of their four-game series in Cleveland, 13-6.

Sale suffered one of his most-forgettable outings of the season, lasting just three innings, allowing seven hits, three walks and seven runs (six earned). The Indians leapt to a 7-1 lead after three, and didn't let up, stroking 11 more hits against four Boston relievers.

Yandy Diaz led the assault, going 4-for-4, scoring four times with two RBI on a single, two doubles and a triple.

Diaz, the starting DH, was called up, for the third time this season, on August 22nd. The four hits bumped his average from .186 to .230 in 74 at-bats.

The series ended in a 2-2 tie, as Boston heads home for a three-game series with the Orioles beginning Friday, while the Indians, having improved their lead in the division to 5 1/2 over the Twins, hosts third place Kansas City (six back) for three games over the weekend. With the Yankees and Red Sox both on the losing end Thursday, the Red Sox lead remains at 4 1/2 games in the East division.

National League

Stanton: 47 HR, 100 RBI

Giancarlo Stanton socked his major league best 47th home run, became the third player to reach 100 RBI this season, and J.T. Realmuto ripped an inside-the-park homer as Miami overcame a five-run deficit, outlasting Philadelphia, 9-8.

Realmuto: HR, 3 RBI

Stanton 47th home run put him 10 ahead of Aaron Judge, who leads the American League, and even further in front of LA's Cody Bellinger, who is in second place in the NL home run category with 34. Stanton joins Colorado's Nolan Arenado (108) and Seattle's Nelson Cruz (100) in the 100-RBI club this season.

Stanton is batting .345 in August, with 14 home runs and 27 RBI. He has seven more games to attempt to tie or surpass the National League record of 17 home runs in the month of August, held jointly by Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa.

Entering the fifth inning, the Marlins trailed the homesteading Phillies, 8-3, but scored two on an A.J. Ellis homer, added another in the sixth on Christian Yellis' solo shot, and tallied two more in the seventh on Realmuto's inside-the-park belt. Realmuto finished the Miami scoring with a sac fly in the eighth, breaking the 8-8 tie.

Miami took the series three games to one, reached .500 (63-63) and are now a clear threat for the wild card. The Marlins have picked it up recently, going 13-8 in August and 10-3 over their last 13, taking series from Colorado, San Francisco, the Mets and Phillies. They are 5 1/2 out of the second wild card, but Arizona is currently in the top spot, a mere 1/2 game ahead of the Rockies. Milwaukee is 3 1/2 back of Colorado and St. Louis five out.

Miami heads home for a quick three-game set with San Diego, starting Friday.