We're beyond the non-waiver trade deadline and into August, and that means it's time to focus on the various and sundry playoff races.

Speaking of which, Tuesday offers us a full 15-game slate of MLB action, so let's dig right in ... 

Final scores

Tigers 4, Yankees 3 (box score)
Reds 9, Pirates 1 (box score)
Orioles 7, Royals 2 (box score)
Red Sox 12, Indians 10 (box score)
Marlins 7, Nationals 6 (box score)
Dodgers 3, Braves 2 (box score)
Brewers 3, Cardinals 2 (box score)
Cubs 16, Diamondbacks 4 (box score)
Mariners 8, Rangers 7 (box score)
Rays 6, Astros 4 (box score)
Blue Jays 8 White Sox 4 (box score)
Rockies 5, Mets 4 (box score)
Giants 10, Athletics 4 (box score)
Angels 7, Phillies 1 (box score)
Padres 3, Twins 0 (box score)

Red Sox back in first after epic win over Indians

Well. As you see above, the Red Sox on Tuesday outscored the Indians 12-10 in Fenway. That in tandem with the Yankees' loss to Detroit earier in the evening pushed the Red Sox back into first place in the AL East by a half-game. That made this game between two World Series hopefuls compelling enough, but, man, it was so much more than that. 

The Sox at one point trailed this one by five runs. This game also included the likely catch of the year, courtesy of Austin Jackson (see below for more on that particular baseball miracle). At this point, let's drop in the win probability chart which tracks each team's chances of winning throughout a given game ... 


Source: FanGraphs

When the Red Sox went down 5-0 in the second, they had just a 13.2 percent chance of winning. That figure got even lower in the fifth when the Tribe went up 7-5. Then came Eduardo Nunez's bases-loaded double in the sixth off Andrew Miller (Nunez has been on fire since being acquired from the Giants), which made the Tribe heavy underdogs. Then we move ahead to the ninth, when lockdown Boston closer Craig Kimbrel is protecting a one-run lead with Francisco Lindor at the plate ... 

That's an 0-2 pitch off the plate, 99 mph, and Lindor popped it over the Green Monster to tie it up. Prior to that pitch, the Sox had an 82.6 percent chance of winning. After that pitch, their odds were 50-50. Jose Ramirez later scored on a wild pitch to put the Indians back up by one. At that point, Cleveland had an 83 percent chance of winning. 

Home half of the ninth. Boston rookie Rafael Devers (more below on how important he's been in recent days) hustles for a one-out infield single off closer Cody Allen. Xander Bogaerts sends a drive to center, but it's caught for the second out. Then Mitch Moreland strikes out, but the game doesn't end -- the dropped third strike allows Moreland to reach first.

The game should've been over, but it wasn't. In stepped Christian Vazquez, he of the three career home runs in 174 games and none off a reliever. The game had been so nuts by this point, then, hey, why not ... 

Why not indeed ... 

Good lord, what a game. Nothing sums it up like this: In this game, Andrew Miller, Craig Kimbrel, and Cody Allen all blew save opportunities. Actually, here's something else that sums it up ... 

Pretty much. Except it actually happened. 

Longoria hits for cycle

On Tuesday, Rays' warrior-poet Evan Longoria became just the second batsman in franchise history to hit for the cycle. As you're about to see, he got an assist from replay review on his final hit of the night ... 

More than 300 hitters have hit for the cycle throughout the sprawl of baseball history, but I'm guessing never before has the completion of a cycle hinged on replay review. 

The other Ray to cycle was B.J. Upton (now Melvin Upton Jr.) back in 2009. 

Devers has been just what the Sox needed

You'll recall that for a long time the Red Sox were prominently linked to pretty much every third baseman on the trading block. It stood to reason. After all, the Sox struggled to get any kind of production from third base earlier this season, and club honcho Dave Dombrowski has never been shy about adding veterans via trade. 

In the end, though, the Sox called up top prospect Rafael Devers and gave him the job even though he was just 20 years of age and even though he'd played just nine games above Double-A. Thus far, though, Devers has rewarded the team's faith in a big way. He homered in his second big-league game. Then on Monday he became one of youngest players in franchise history to go 4 for 4 or better in a game.

Then on Tuesday against the Indians, he reached in his first two plate appearances. That brings us to this ... 

Since that tweet hit the wires, Devers popped out to third, so the streak has ended. Still, he's batting .423/.500/.731 since the call-up, which comes on the heels of his absolutely crushing the ball in the minors this season. To say the least, Devers is looking legit thus far.

You gotta see this Austin Jackson catch

Indians leading the Red Sox by two runs in the fifth. Hanley Ramirez sends a drive to center. Tribe fly-catcher Austin Jackson gives chase. And then ... 

We share Mr. Ramirez's sense of baseball amazement. That, people, was a catch.

Some pretty still photography ... 

The Red Sox actually challenged the catch, but it stood upon review. Read more here. 

Scherzer hits first career home then exits game

Nationals ace Max Scherzer came into his Tuesday night start against the Marlins with a career line of .188/.223/.203 at the plate. That's not all that bad for a pitcher, but there's definitely a pronounced lack of power. Of Scherzer's 49 career hits, just four have gone for extra bases -- all doubles. Well, on Tuesday Scherzer registered his first home run, and suffice it to say it was legit ... 

Nothing cheap about that one. Also, the sense of disbelief on Scherzer's face is almost palpable. Speaking of which ... 

All was not well for Scherzer on this night, however. On that, you can read more here. 

Quick hits