Pablo Sandoval Drives In 5 As Giants Top Cards; Nathan Eovaldi Keeps Tampa Bay Alive With 1-Hit Effort

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 8, 2018

Eovaldi: 7IP, 1H, 0ER, 9K

American League

Tampa Bay keeps experimenting with different pitching strategies, often using five or six relievers to get through a given game, but they may have found a hidden gem in Nathan Eovaldi, who tossed seven scoreless innings against the Mets for a solid, 9-0 win at New York's Citi Field.

Not only did Eovaldi lank the Mets, but he allowed just one hit, fanned nine and didn't allow any walks. Taking a perfect game into the seventh inning, Eovaldi's day was spoiled by Brandon Nimmo, who singled to lead off the frame after seeing 18 consecutive Mets fail against the 28-year-old right=hander.

Eovaldi avoided further damage, getting the next three batters in order. Andrew Kettridge finished up, allowing one hit over the final two innings.

The Rays improved to 45-44 with the win and keep hanging around the fringes of the wild card race, though they have a long way to go even think about playoffs.

Tampa took two of three from the Mets and return home to open a three-game series with Detroit, starting Monday at 7:10 pm EDT.

National League

Sandoval: 3-5, HR, 5 RBI

Pablo Sandoval socked a fifth-inning, three run homer, and added a two-run single in the sixth as the Giants smothered the visiting Cardinals, 13-8.

The Giants' third baseman came around to score in the five-run sixth as well as scoring again to secure the game in the ninth. Sandoval was 3-for-5 with three runs and five RBI.

The decision sent the Cardinals 7 1/2 back of Milwaukee in the NL Central, while the Giants were the only contender to win on the day. As Arizona, LA, and Colorado were each defeated, the Giants managed to move into a tie for third place in the division with the Rockies, 3 1/2 off Arizona's pace.

The portly Sandoval, who checks in at 268 pounds, is having a sub-par season, batting .257 with eight homers and 34 RBI, though those numbers have been achieved in just 191 at-bats.

San Francisco split the four=game series with St. Louis and will open a three-game set with the Cubs at home, starting Monday, 10:10 pm EDT.