Yasmani Grandal's Grand Slam Boosts Dodgers; Brian Anderson Leads Marlins to 7-5 Win Over Yankees

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 11, 2018

Grapefruit League

Anderson: 2-2, 3R-HR, 3R

Giancarlo Stanton may have been sitting in the other dugout, but the Miami Marlins certainly didn't miss him as they belted the first-place Yankees in a 7-5 win.

Stanton, who was traded from Miami to the Yanks after socking 49 home runs for the Marlins in 2017, remained on the bench for the duration, never getting to the plate against his old mates.

With the slugger sidelined (manager's decision) rookie prospect Brian Anderson made his presence known, walking and scoring in the second inning as the Marlins took a 2-0 lead, then belting a three-run homer in the third to put Miami up 5-0.

Anderson added a double in the fifth and scored again, on Cameron Maybin's home run, completing the scoring for the Marlins, finishing a fine day with a 2-for-2 effort with three runs and three RBI. The Yankees tried to keep pace with homers by Didi Gregorious and Aaron Judge, but could not complete the comeback as Maimi reliever, Sandy Alcantara, shut them down in the eighth and ninth.

New York fell off the lead in the Grapefruit League as Houston took over first place by 1/2 game. Miami is an additional 1/2 game back, in third, with a 10-5 mark.

Cactus League

Grandal: 3-for-3, GS, 5 RBI

At Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, a pair of NL West foes squared off on Sunday at the Spring home of the Colorado Rockies, with the Dodgers visiting and looking to move up in the Cactus League standings.

It didn't take long for LA to establish its dominance, scoring five runs in the second inning, three in the third and completing the scoring with five more in the fourth, when catcher Yasmani Grandal belted a grand slam, leading to a 13-7 Dodger victory.

Grandal, who has been the regular Dodger backstop since 2015 and has proven to possess considerable power, socking 27 homers in 2016 and 22 last season.

Grandal added a pair of singles in three at-bats and scored three runs. His second-inning RBI single, in addition to his third homer of the Spring, gave him five on the day. It was Grandal's best showing thus far. He's batting a mere .222, with eight RBI in 27 at-bats.

The Dodgers improved to 10-7, tied with Cleveland for third place, two games behind the Cubs. Milwaukee is 1 1/2 games back with a 10-6 record. The Rockies haven't had much luck thus far, the loss dropping them to 6-10, ahead of just Cincinnati and Texas.