Walk-Offs To All Star Game: Trevor Story Completes Rockies' Sweep; Twins' Brian Dozier Slams In 10th

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 15, 2018

American League

Dozier: Walk-off Slam

Brian Dozier is known around the league as a dangerous hitter in the clutch and he proved to be just that when he came up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth inning Sunday against the visiting Rays.

Dozier took a one out, 1-1 offering from Tampa's Matt Andriese - the Rays' ninth pitcher of the game - and deposited it in the seats beyond the left field wall of Target Field for an 11-7 victory. His grand slam was his 16th home run of the season and sent Minnesota into the second half in a good way, winners off nine of their last eleven and three of four over the Rays.

Dozier and the Twins underperformed through June, but they seem to have awakened in July. Dozier has especially improved, raising his average from .181 at the end of June to .292 at the all star break.

He's hit safely in 12 of 15 games with five homers and 17 RBI.

The 44-50 Twins are in second place in the AL Central, 7 1/2 games behind Cleveland.

National League

Story: Walk-off Homer

In the National League, there's no doubt which division is the tightest.

It's the NL West, where the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Giants are all within four games of each other. The Dodgers take a 1/2-game lead into the break with their 5-3 win over the Angels, but, in Colorado, Trevor Story had a significant send-off as he belted a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 win over Seattle and a sweep of the Mariners in their three-game series.

Story's shot was his 20th of the year, his 68th RBI tying him with teammate Nolan Arenado for fourth in the league.

Colorado heads into the second half on a five-game win streak and winners of 13 of their last 16. They are in third place, two games behind the Dodgers, with a 51-45 record.