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.

Brian Dozier Powers Twins Past Indians; Corey Seager Leads Dodgers To Best NL Record

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 26, 2017

American League

Dozier: 3-5, HR, 3 RBI

With an 8-6 win over the Indians in Cleveland, the Minnesota Twins moved one step closer to clinching the second wild card, clinching at least a tie with the LA Angels. Both the Twins and Angels have five games remaining, so any win by the Twins or loss by the Angels would clinch the position outright for Minnesota.

Brian Dozier continued his season of excellence, going 3-for-5 with a single, double and a three-run, eighth inning home run that rallied the Twins from a 6-4 deficit to a 7-6 lead. Minnesota added another run in the top of the ninth for the final score.

Dozier's home run was his 33rd, the three RBI upping his season total to 80, which is incredible considering Dozier is a leadoff hitter.

Dozier led off the game with a double, and scored the first Minnesota run in the first, then singled leading off the the third, scoring on one of Eddie Rosario's two doubles. Rosario was 4-for-5 with three RBI including his 27th home run, in the first with the bases empty.

Minnesota plays game two at Cleveland Wednesday at 7:10 pm ET. The Twins can clinch the wild card outright with a win. Meanwhile, Cleveland has a tenuous hold on the best record in the league, one game better than the Houston Astros.

National League

Seager: HR, 4 RBI

Corey Seager drove in four runs, leading the LA Dodgers to a 9-2 home victory over the San Diego Padres, securing playoff home field advantage with the best record in the National League.

The Dodgers are 101-57. With five games left, the Washington Nationals, at 95-62, cannot match the Dodgers' mark. Thus, the Dodgers will host the winner of the wild card game, which currently will be either Arizona or Colorado, making for an all-NL West series. Washington will host the winner of the NL Central. The Cubs need one more win or a Milwaukee loss to wrap up the division.

Seager singled in a run to put the Dodgers up, 5-2, in the sixth, then wrapped up the scoring with his 21st home run, a three-run blast, in the seventh inning. Seager is batting .295 with 75 RBI.

LA will be looking to add to their win total and sweep the Padres in game three of the series, Wednesday, at 7:00 pm PT. Los Angeles closes out the regular season with a three-game road series at Colorado.