MLB: Ohtani signs record $30-M deal with Angels for 2023

LOS ANGELES -- Japanese star pitcher and slugger Shohei Ohtani signed a one-year Major League Baseball deal worth $30 million to remain with the Los Angeles Angels for the 2023 season, the club announced Saturday.

The 28-year-old unique double threat inked the largest-ever MLB deal for a player eligible for arbitration, surpassing the $27 million given to Mookie Betts by the Boston Red Sox in 2020.

Reigning American League Most Valuable Player Ohtani's deal is fully guaranteed. He remains set to become a free agent after next season.

Ohtani has never gone through the arbitration process with the Angels, avoiding it this time as he did when he signed a two-year deal worth $8.5 million before the 2021 campaign.

Ohtani makes a hefty salary jump after making only $3 million last season and $5.5 million this year.

The battle for this year's AL MVP award figures to be between Ohtani and Aaron Judge, who has matched the AL one-season home run record by hitting 61 so far this season for the New York Yankees, matching the mark of 61 set 61 years ago by ex-Yankee Roger Maris.

On the mound as a right-handed pitcher, Ohtani is 15-8 with a 2.35 earned-run average and 213 strikeouts over 161 innings.

He was hurling a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Thursday against Oakland and is set to make his final start of the season in Oakland on Wednesday in the club's season finale.

With the bat, Ohtani is hitting .276 this season with 34 homers, 29 doubles, 11 stolen bases and 94 runs batted in over 152 games.

Ohtani entered the weekend with a 15-game hit streak, the longest active run in the major leagues.

He ranks in the top four in the AL in pitching wins, strikeouts, earned-run average and homers.

Despite Ohtrani's heroics, the Angels are days away from finishing off a seventh consecutive losing season. They haven't reached the MLB playoffs since 2014 and haven't won a playoff game since 2009.

Agence France-Presse

MLB: Judge blasts 61st homer to equal Maris record

TORONTO, Canada -- New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge blasted his 61st home run of the season on Wednesday to equal the legendary Roger Maris's longstanding American League record.

Judge, who has been motoring towards Maris's record all season, had been stuck on 60 home runs after failing to homer in seven straight games and 33 at bats.

But the 30-year-old power-hitter ended his drought in spectacular fashion on Wednesday, crushing a 394-foot homer on a 3-2 count from Toronto pitcher Tim Mayza in the seventh inning to give New York a 5-3 lead.

Judge's record-equaling blast brought the Rogers Centre crowd to its feet for a rousing ovation as Yankees players gathered at home plate to congratulate the right fielder as he rounded the bases.

Yankees legend Maris -- whose son Roger Maris Jr. was on hand to witness Judge's homer -- set his single season American League record of 61 home runs in the 1961 season.

That record stood as the best single season home record tally for all of Major League Baseball before it was surpassed multiple times by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire during baseball's steroid era in the late 1990s.

Barry Bonds, who was also heavily implicated in the infamous BALCO drug scandal, holds the outright single season record of 73 home runs set in 2001.

Agence France-Presse

MLB: Iconic Red Sox slugger Ortiz enters Baseball Hall of Fame

NEW YORK -- Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, whose batting helped spark the club to three Major League Baseball titles, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

The ceremony was staged near the museum and baseball showplace at Cooperstown, New York.

The 46-year-old Dominican nicknamed "Big Papi" was part of the team that ended Boston's 86-year title drought by winning the 2004 World Series and added crowns in 2007 and 2013, when he was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.

"My teammates were always there for me and that's something I'm always going to appreciate," Ortiz said of his Red Sox years.

"Teammates are your second family. I'm going to love you guys forever... I'm going to thank you guys for the rest of my life. I don't think I would have made it without all of you."

Ortiz thanked dozens of people who helped guide his path to stardom, including Dominican Republic and United States youth coaches for developing his skills and work ethic.

"I knew once I got my shot I was going to work hard and never let it go until I played my last game," Ortiz said.

Ortiz was a first baseman and designated hitter in his 20 MLB seasons, finishing his career with a .286 batting average, 541 home runs and 1,768 runs batted in.

"When they told me, 'I don't want you to move them over, I want you to bring them in,' the rest is history," Ortiz said. "When you believe in someone, you can change the world."

The left-hander was originally signed by the Seattle Mariners in 1992 but traded to Minnesota in 1996 before making his MLB debut with the Twins in 1997.

Ortiz was released by Minnesota in 2003 and signed with the Red Sox, playing for them through 2016. He was a 10-time MLB All-Star in 14 seasons with Boston, setting a Red Sox season record with 54 homers in 2006.

The Red Sox retired Ortiz's jersey number, 34, in 2017.

Ortiz noted how Boston recovered from the bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon and how much love he felt from city fans.

"I've never seen a community reunite and bounce back like Boston," Ortiz said, adding, "I'll always be there for you Boston. I love you Boston."

Ortiz was the only player voted into the Hall in 2022 by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, being named on 77.9% of ballots in his first year of eligibility.

Also entering the Hall of Fame on Sunday were "Golden Days Committee" electees Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva and Minnie Minoso plus "Early Era Committee" electees Bud Fowler and Buck O'Neil.

Agence France-Presse

MLB: Eight ejected after Mariners and Angels stage brawl

LOS ANGELES -- A Major League Baseball melee between the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners delayed Sunday's game and ended with the ejection of the manager and three players from each club.

Tensions regarding inside pitches thrown over the past two days boiled over when Seattle batter Jesse Winker was struck on the right hip by a 91.1-mph fastball from Angels pitcher Andrew Wantz in the top of the second inning at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California.

Players cleared both benches and relief pitchers emptied the bullpens to join the ugly brawl in front of the Angels dugout down the third-base line.

The first skirmish lasted more than six minutes; the next resumed on the field and play was halted for about 17 minutes in all.

Issues swelled Saturday when Angels star Mike Trout dodged a 95-mph fastball from Seattle relief pitcher Erik Swanson, and then rose again Sunday when Wantz hurled a 92.9-mph fastball behind Seattle rookie Julio Rodriguez in the first inning, sparking warnings for both teams.

After outfielder Winker was struck by the ball, he held up his left hand and exchanged words with Wantz, and then took a few steps toward first base before running to the Angels dugout.

Home plate umpire John Bacon and third-base umpire Adrian Johnson tried to restrain Winker, who escaped them and ran to Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon. 

They threw their hands to each other's faces as players from both teams raced onto the field to join the fray.

The shoving and pushing saw multiple players dragged to the turf and once the fracas finally ended, players exchanged verbal taunts while the punishments were being determined.

Mariners manager Scott Servais and Angels interim manager Phil Nevin were ejected. So were Angels players Wantz, Raisel Iglesias and Ryan Tepera, and Seattle players Winker, Rodríguez and J.P. Crawford.

Jose Suarez, who was the original Angels pitcher before Wantz was inserted into the lineup Sunday, entered after Wantz was ejected and threw six innings in the Angels' 2-1 eventual victory.

Agence France-Presse

MLB: Technology boosts pitchers for new baseball season

LOS ANGELES -- Pitchers and catchers will be given the option of using new technology to prevent sign-stealing as Major League Baseball looks to move on from its scandal-plagued recent past when the delayed new season finally gets under way on Thursday.

Five years after the Houston Astros claimed a controversial World Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball chiefs said Tuesday that clubs will be allowed to use new "PitchCom" equipment that has been successfully tested during Spring Training.

PitchCom is wearable technology that allows catchers and pitchers to communicate directly without needing to use hand signals -- the traditional method of signaling what kind of pitches a batter will face.

Under the new technology, catchers wear a sleeve on their forearm with nine buttons that represent different pitches and the location where they will be thrown.

Messages from the catcher's device are transmitted to a receiver fitted in the pitcher's cap.

The Astros were fined $5 million and manager A.J. Hinch was suspended for a season after the MLB found the club had been using a camera hidden in the outfield to decode the signs being used by the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series.

The new technology -- which is also aimed at speeding up the pace of play -- has received broad support since being tested.

"Anything that can help the pitcher get the sign without anyone knowing what the sign is, we're moving in the right direction," was the verdict of Colorado Rockies director of pitching Steve Foster.

New York Yankees ace Luis Severino tested the system for the first time last weekend and was impressed.

"I think it was great," Severino told reporters. "I was a little doubtful at the beginning, but when we started using it, it was really good. You know what pitch you're going to throw right away."

Thursday's opening round of regular season fixtures comes after an acrimonious off-season dominated by the labor dispute between MLB owners and players.

- Dodgers favored -

The season had been due to start on March 31 but was delayed after negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement became deadlocked.

The dispute came to an end last month after both sides reached agreement on a new deal that includes increased minimum salaries, a pre-arbitration bonus pool to reward top young players before they can negotiate new deals and a boost to the league's luxury tax thresholds.

Designated hitters will replace batters in the National League, as they have for many years in the American League.

An expanded playoff format will see 12 teams advance, six from each league, adding two clubs to the post-season championship chase. 

The two top division winners in each league would receive first-round byes.

Bookmakers have installed the Dodgers as early favorites to repeat their World Series triumph from the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The Dodgers pulled off one of the coups of the off-season by prizing star first baseman Freddie Freeman away from the reigning champion Atlanta Braves.

Freeman, the National League Most Valuable Player in 2020, gives the Dodgers' already formidable batting line-up another weapon as they chase an eighth World Series.

Although the Dodgers have not strengthened their starting rotation, and doubts continue to swirl around the availability of pitcher Trevor Bauer, who has effectively been frozen out of the league since the emergence of lurid allegations concerning his private life last year, the NL West powerhouses can still call on Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urias from the mound.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes if his starters can stay healthy in 2022, his team will win a second title in three seasons.

"We are winning the World Series. Put it on record," Roberts said last month.

"We are winning the World Series if our starting staff stays healthy. I know that's vague, but that's my answer. I think it's about our starting pitching, just keeping our guys healthy."

Agence France-Presse

MLB: Braves oust defending champion Dodgers to reach World Series

LOS ANGELES -- The Atlanta Braves punched their ticket to their first World Series in over two decades Saturday, toppling the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 to wrap up the National League Championship Series in six games.

The Braves, who will face the Houston Astros in Major League Baseball's Fall Classic, rolled over the Dodgers by jumping on their starting pitcher Walker Buehler in the first inning.

The win ended a string of heartbreaking potential elimination losses for the Braves who had four previous chances in the last two years to book a trip to the World Series but failed.

Atlanta advanced to their sixth World Series all-time and their first since 1999. 

"It is amazing. This organization has been around a long time and it has been a long time since we got to the World Series," said first baseman Freddie Freeman.

"We took it to another level with what we did in the second half (regular season) and postseason."

The World Series starts Tuesday in Houston, which will host the first two games before they switch to Atlanta.

The turning point Saturday was a three-run fourth inning that featured a 361-foot home run to right field by slugger Eddie Rosario, who scored teammates Travis d'Arnaud and Ehire Adrianza. Rosario's blast landed just inside the right outfield pole.

"I'm at a loss for words to be honest," Rosario said. "I gave everything I had for the team, for a World Series. I just left it all out there. I'm extremely proud of myself and the team for getting to the World Series."

Last season the Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series in six games for their first championship since 1988.

Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson got the final out, snagging a ground ball and throwing to first to get Dodgers AJ Pollock out, sparking a wild celebration on the field around Braves closer Will Smith.

Last season, the Braves took a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NLCS over the Dodgers, giving them three chances to advance to the World Series. 

But Los Angeles brushed aside all of those Atlanta opportunities, doing it in the neutral-site stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Saturday's loss snapped the Dodgers' run of winning seven consecutive playoff elimination games.

The Dodgers pitching staff were in trouble before Saturday's game even began. Los Angeles was expected to start Max Scherzer, but the ace right-hander was scratched from the start. 

Scherzer gave up two runs over four innings of game two on Sunday and said that his arm was too sore to pitch in game six.

The Dodgers instead had to turn to Buehler on short rest. Buehler was initially scheduled to start a potential game seven on Sunday.

The Braves made a couple of clutch defensive plays in the top of the sixth inning, including a one-hop snag at first base by dual American-Canadian citizen Freeman to get Dodgers baserunner Trea Turner out.

Agence France-Presse

Martinez on ALDS roster, not in Game 1 lineup for Red Sox

ST. PETERSBURG. Fla. (AP) — Boston slugger J.D. Martinez is on the Red Sox roster but not in the lineup for Game 1 of their AL Division Series against the 

Martinez missed Tuesday night’s win over the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game because of a sprained left ankle. The best-of-five ALDS was scheduled to start Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Boston manager Alex Cora said Martinez was available off the bench for Game 1.

“Obviously, four at-bats, it’s going to be hard,” Cora said. “He will keep getting treatment. If we need it in a big spot and in a situation that we feel it’s the right one, not only because of his bat, but where he is at physically, we’ll use him.”

Martinez stumbled over second base while heading to the outfield in Sunday’s regular-season finale at Washington.

Because the National League does not use a DH in games played in its stadiums, Martinez was playing right field against the Nationals. He stepped on the bag and twisted the ankle heading out to play defense in the fifth inning.

It was only the seventh game in 2021 that Martinez started in right field. He was in the starting lineup as a DH for 113 games and as the left fielder for 28.

Martinez hit .286 with an AL-leading 42 doubles and 28 homers and 99 RBIs during the regular season.

Tampa Bay has 13 pitchers on its roster that does not include speedy outfielder Brett Phillips. Lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who went 9-7 with a 5.11 ERA in 30 games, including 21 starts, was also left off.

Rays manager Kevin Cash plans to be aggressive in using his bullpen during the series. He said right-hander Drew Rasmussen will start Game 3 or 4, with the other contest being a bullpen day.

Boston also added Game 2 starter Chris Sale, left-hander Martín Pérez and infielder Danny Santana to the ALDS roster.

Sale made nine starts this year after having Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020.

“It’s been two years trying to get to this point,” Cora said. “All the hard work, all the tears and sweat throughout the process. So we have to take care of him, but it was his turn and we feel comfortable with him.”

Sale said he would be available to work as a reliever later in the series as well.

“There’s no reason to save an arm to go sit on the couch, you know what I mean?” Sale said. “This is all the baseball we have left, and we’re going to get certain points in these series where tomorrow might not come. So if that’s the case and it’s what’s called upon, you know, it’s my job.”

Red Sox right-hander Matt Barnes, who lost his closer role in August, is not on the roster after being active for the wild-card game. Others dropped were catcher Connor Wong, infielder Jonathan Araúz and outfielder Jarren Duran.

Boston outrighted infielder José Iglesias to Triple-A Worcester, reinstated infielder-outfielder Yairo Muñoz from the COVID-19 related injured list and outrighted him to Worcester on Wednesday. Iglesias was not eligible for the postseason roster because he signed with the team after the Aug. 31 cutoff.

Nick Anderson, Tampa Bay’s closer during its run to the World Series last year, failed to make the roster. He didn’t make his 2021 debut until Sept. 13 because of a right elbow injury and struggled in six late-season appearances.

With Boston having several left-handed starting pitchers on its roster, Tampa Bay added right-handed hitting outfielder Jordan Luplow.

The AL East champion Rays lost the World Series in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020.

-Associated Press

Cole, Stanton lead Yankees past Red Sox 8-3, cut lead to 1

BOSTON (AP) — Gerrit Cole showed the Yankees he’s ready for the important games soon to come. Nathan Eovaldi left the Red Sox with nothing but worries.

In a potential AL wild-card preview, Cole took a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning and led the Yankees to an 8-3 victory Friday night, snapping Boston’s seven-game winning streak and pulling New York within one game of the Red Sox in the standings.

“He’s a great pitcher. He’s our ace. He’s a horse,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “There’s a very short list of people you’d rather hand the ball to.”

With Boston in its lucky yellow jerseys and Fenway Park sold to capacity for just the third time this season, Cole (16-8) no-hit the Red Sox for 3 2/3 innings and New York coasted to its fourth straight win.

Eovaldi (10-9) barely made it out of the first inning and couldn’t get through the third.

“The good ones, they have bad ones,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose team holds the top American League wild card.

Giancarlo Stanton had three hits, including a three-run homer, for the Yankees, who are one game back and in position for the second wild card. Toronto and Seattle are two games behind New York.

Unless the Blue Jays — or Seattle or Oakland — can catch one of them, the Red Sox and Yankees would meet in a one-game playoff Oct. 5 for the right to advance to an AL Division Series.

Whoever finishes better over the last eight games could host the winner-take-all matchup. And this weekend in Boston might have a lot to say about that.

“I haven’t gotten quite to the point where I’m really pondering that. I still have some work to do,” said Cole, who noted that he has played in three wild-card games and seen the home team lose two of them. “Regardless of it’s here, Toronto, New York — we’re going to have to play really good baseball, no matter who’s cheering for us.”

Bouncing back from perhaps his worst start of the season, Cole allowed three runs on five hits and three walks, striking out six in six innings.

Gleyber Torres also had three hits — including a homer — for the Yankees, who opened the season with seven straight losses against their AL East archrivals but have since beaten them seven out of 10 tries.

J.D. Martinez broke up Cole’s no-hit bid with a double down the right field line with two out in the fourth. Rafael Devers spoiled the shutout with a three-run homer in the sixth that made it 7-3.

Torres led off the seventh with a fly ball to straightaway center that was knocked back onto the field by a fan in the front row of the bleachers. There was some confusion before the umpires confirmed that it was a home run.

José Iglesias and Kiké Hernandez singled off Yankees reliever Clay Holmes with two out in the seventh before Wandy Peralta struck out pinch-hitter Bobby Dalbec to end Boston’s last big threat.

ACE IN THE HOLE

With erstwhile ace Chris Sale only making seven starts so far after recovering from Tommy John surgery — and only once completing as many as six innings — Eovaldi had been mentioned as a possible No. 1 starter for Boston’s playoff run. But he allowed seven runs on seven hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings.

The first three Yankees batters reached base and scored against Eovaldi. Aaron Judge doubled in one run, went to third on Stanton’s RBI groundout and scored on Torres’ two-out single.

Stanton hit his 32nd homer in the third. Eovaldi left after giving up Joey Gallo’s single and walking Brett Gardner; Hirokazu Sawamura replaced him and got Kyle Higashioka to pop the ball up, but first baseman Kyle Schwarber let it drop for a run-scoring single that made it 7-0.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: RHP Jameson Taillon (ankle) is with the team for the road trip and Boone said there is a “good chance” Taillon returns for one of the games against Toronto next week. He has not pitched since Sept. 6.

Red Sox: Reinstated OF Jarren Duran and INF Jonathan Araúz from the COVID-19 injured list and optioned them to Triple-A Worcester. To make room for them on the 40-man roster, RHPs Geoff Hartlieb and Yacksel Rios were designated for assignment.

UP NEXT

Yankees LHP Nestor Cortes (2-2, 2.79 ERA) has struck out 30 and walked six over 22 1/3 innings in four starts. He’ll oppose Red Sox righty Nick Pivetta (9-7, 4.63), who is winless in his past five starts and allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings against the Yankees on Aug. 18.

-Associated Press

MLB: Kyle Schwarber homers twice to power Nats over Marlins

Kyle Schwarber clubbed two homers and drove in four runs, leading the Washington Nationals to a 7-3 win over the host Miami Marlins on Thursday night.

Schwarber hit a homer to lead off the game and added a three-run shot in his second at-bat.

Thursday was just the 13th time that Schwarber hit leadoff for Washington, and he has delivered 12 home runs in those games. Yet, he is already tied for third in franchise history with five leadoff homers. He is also the first player in franchise history with eight homers in a five-game span.

The reigning National League Player of the Week, Schwarber has 21 homers for the season. He is one of just four players in major league history with at least eight homers and 15 RBIs in a five-game stretch.

Schwarber's hot hitting and strong work from starting pitcher Joe Ross (4-7) allowed the Nationals to win their fifth straight game, making them the hottest team in the NL since June 13, with a 10-1 record.

Ross lasted seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks. He struck out eight, one short of his season high.

Miami has lost four straight games and eight out of 10. The Marlins couldn't get a runner past first base until the fifth inning, and they have now scored just five runs over their past four games.

Marlins rookie Cody Poteet (2-3) took the loss, allowing six hits, four walks and five runs in three innings. He struck out six batters, including the red-hot Schwarber.

Poteet went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and one homer allowed in his first three starts. In his four starts since then, he is 0-3 with a 9.88 ERA and six homers allowed.

Schwarber gave Washington a 4-0 lead with his shot down the right field line to start the game -- a homer measured at 398 feet -- and his 414-foot blast to center in the second.

That gave the seven-year veteran his 12th multi-homer game. Four of those have come since June 13.

The Nationals added on in the second inning as Trea Turner singled and scored from first when Juan Soto scorched an opposite-field double that rolled to the wall in left-center.

Washington made it 7-0 in the seventh, an inning that included Soto again driving in Turner with a double.

Miami got on the board in the eighth as Jon Berti walked, Luis Marte singled, and rookie Jazz Chisholm Jr. lofted a three-run homer that traveled 414 feet to right-center.

-Field Level Media

Dodgers beat Rays to draw first blood in World Series

Mookie Betts hit a home run, stole two bases and scored twice as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-3 to win the first game of the World Series in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday.

The favored Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when center fielder Cody Bellinger laced a home run over the right field fence.

The Rays hit back with a Kevin Kiermaier solo shot but the Dodgers then raced away, Max Muncy’s RBI double extending their lead to 8-1 by the end of the sixth.

The Rays plated two runs and threatened more in the seventh but a sharply hit ball found the mitt of Dodgers relief pitcher Victor Gonzalez, who threw to second for a double play to end the inning.

The win saw Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who has struggled at times in the postseason throughout his career, throw six strong innings, allowing one run on two hits and a walk while striking out eight to earn the win.

“It’s great to get this series going with a win. That’s the biggest thing,” Kershaw said.

“It’s always important to get that first game of a series and for me personally, it’s awesome to get to pitch well in a World Series.

“I’m just thankful to get that opportunity.”

Kershaw applauded his team’s hitters, who made Rays starter Tyler Glasnow work for every out.

“Glasnow has unbelievable stuff and for us to keep fouling pitches off, grinding it out, getting a lot of walks, getting guys on base … it’s a testament to their at-bat quality,” he said.

After a truncated 60-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the best-of-seven World Series is being played entirely at the new Globe Life Field with a limited number of fans in attendance.

The Dodgers, appearing in the World Series for the third time in four years, are looking to win their first title since 1988.

The Rays are hoping to claim their first championship after coming up short in their only appearance in 2008.

Game 2 is on Wednesday.

-reuters

Minus Strasburg, Nats top Yanks 9-2 on Robles’ 3 hits, 4 RBI

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wearing a red muscle shirt with a drawing of a gold trumpet — this year’s answer to the “Baby Shark” phenomenon of 2019 — Washington Nationals center fielder Victor Robles sat down for his postgame video conference and announced, “Hi, guys!”

Filled with energy on and off a baseball field, Robles did his part Saturday night to help fill in for missing teammate and friend Juan Soto, who began the season on the COVID-19 injured list.

Robles jump-started Washington’s dormant offense by delivering three hits and four RBIs, including a homer off the foul pole that he celebrated by pantomiming pandemic-appropriate “air high-fives” with teammates, helping the Nationals beat the New York Yankees 9-2 without scratched starter Stephen Strasburg and despite five errors.

“He uplifted us,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said about Robles.

Robles credited utility player Emilio Bonifácio with coming up with the trumpet theme — players motioned with their fingers as if playing a horn after hits — and making shirts with the instrument. Robles likened it to the whole “Baby Shark” vibe last year along the way to a championship when since-departed outfielder Gerardo Parra’s child tune became a walk-up song and then an anthem of sorts for the Nationals.

Asdrúbal Cabrera and Michael A. Taylor also homered for Washington, which lost 2019 World Series MVP Strasburg to a nerve issue in his pitching hand two days after Soto tested positive for the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Filling in for Strasburg, Erick Fedde allowed a pair of runs in four innings, including Giancarlo Stanton’s second homer in two games. Fedde was told two days earlier to be prepared to start in case Strasburg couldn’t.

Stanton’s drive was projected at 483 feet with an exit velocity of 121.3 mph, and when Fedde was asked about that 3-0 pitch, he chuckled and replied: “He definitely crushed it.”

Stanton knelt alongside fellow Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks during the national anthem; another teammate, DJ LeMahieu, stood nearby and tapped each on the shoulder after the song ended.

Asked why he knelt, Hicks said: “Because I’m a Black man living in America. I feel like for me, I should be judged by my character and not by my skin tone. And growing up, that’s kind of what happened. I felt like it was right to do.”

With Max Scherzer and other Nationals starting pitchers — although not Strasburg — sitting somewhat spread out about 10 rows behind home plate, Fedde was followed by four relievers, who gave up three hits across five scoreless innings.

Tanner Rainey (1-0) got three outs for the win.

After losing Soto on opening day, then managing one hit against Gerrit Cole in a rain-shortened 4-1 loss to the Yankees, the Nationals got going in Game 2 with four consecutive hits off James Paxton (0-1) in the second.

The biggest was Robles’ two-run double. One walk later, Paxton was done after 41 pitches — and just three outs. The lefty went 11-0 over his last 14 starts in 2019, including the playoffs, but he had offseason back surgery and would have missed the start of this season if it hadn’t been delayed for nearly four months because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The lefty said he didn’t feel pain while throwing.

“Just felt a little sluggish tonight,” Paxton said. “The arm just didn’t feel really live.”

Robles added a two-run homer in the fourth, clanging the ball off the foul pole in left field, then singled in the sixth.

“He’s definitely missed big-time here,” Robles said through a translator about Soto, a fellow Dominican outfielder. “But individually, we all have a role. We all know what our job is. It’

The teams combined for seven errors — two by Nationals shortstop Trea Turner on a single play, one fielding and one throwing.

“The errors that we made, I think, were kind of lackadaisical,” Martinez said. “Those things can’t happen. We’re better than that.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: LeMahieu made his season debut after having COVID-19, leading off and playing five innings in the field. ... Manager Aaron Boone said LHP Zack Britton would be his primary closer while Aroldis Chapman is on the COVID-19 injured list.

Nationals: Carter Kieboom has what Martinez described as a “little, slight groin issue” that affects his lateral movement, so Kieboom was in the lineup as the DH instead of at 3B.

ROSTER MOVES

After the game, the Yankees optioned OF Clint Frazier and RHP Ben Heller to the team’s alternate training site. New York said it anticipates recalling RHP Brooks Kriske and RHP Nick Nelson before Sunday’s game.

UP NEXT

LHP Patrick Corbin begins his second season of a $140 million, six-year deal with Washington by starting Sunday afternoon against the Yankees, who are expected to go with a mix of relievers.

-Associated Press

Red Sox finish off Dodgers in 5

4th World Series crown in 15 seasons

LOS ANGELES – Chris Sale’s final pitch for this Boston juggernaut triggered a celebration on the Dodger Stadium infield, among thousands of fans who made their way to California – and even outside Fenway Park back home.

The quest is complete. Yes, these 2018 Red Sox really are that great.

A team to remember from top to bottom. A season to savor from start to finish.

David Price proved his postseason mettle, Steve Pearce homered twice and Boston beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Sunday to finish off a one-sided World Series in five games.

A tormented franchise during decades of frustration and despair before ending an 86-year championship drought in 2004, the Red Sox have become baseball’s team of the century with four titles in 15 seasons.

“Seeing all these grown men over there, just acting like kids, that’s what it’s all about,” Price said after pitching three-hit ball into the eighth inning on short rest. “This is why I came to Boston.”

After losing on opening day, Alex Cora’s team romped to a 17-2 start and a club-record 108 wins, then went 11-3 in the postseason, dispatching the 100-win New York Yankees and the 103-victory and defending champion Houston Astros in the playoffs. Cora, a player on Boston’s 2007 champions, became the first manager from Puerto Rico to win a title and just the fifth rookie skipper overall.             

Pearce, the World Series MVP, hit a two-run homer on Clayton Kershaw’s sixth pitch. Solo homers by Mookie Betts in the sixth inning and J.D. Martinez in the seventh quieted the crowd, and Pearce added a solo drive off Pedro Baez in the eighth.   

source: philstar.com

Red Sox LEAD WS 2-0; Dodgers pay d’ price

BOSTON –  From playoff flop to October ace in two legacy-shifting starts, David Price earned his second postseason victory in a row and moved the Boston Red Sox halfway to yet another World Series title.

The Red Sox left-hander pitched six innings of three-hit ball, and major league RBI leader J.D. Martinez broke a fifth-inning tie during another two-out rally to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 on Wednesday night.

Game 3 is Friday in Los Angeles. The Dodgers need a win to avoid a 0-3 deficit that no World Series team has ever recovered from.


“This is the biggest stage in baseball,” Price said after his longest postseason outing since signing a seven-year, $217 million contract to come to Boston in 2016. “To be able to do that, it feels good, for sure. I’m pumped for myself, pumped for all my teammates and coaches for us to be two wins away.”

Mookie Betts had three hits for the Red Sox, who have won 14 of their last 16 World Series games dating to a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004. They have won two more championships since then, in ‘07 and ‘13.

Not bad for a team that went the previous 86 years without a title.And Price had battled a curse of his own.

The one-time Dodgers draft pick has pitched like an ace in the regular season but was 0-9 in his first 10 postseason starts before this October. Whether with Tampa Bay, Toronto, Detroit or Boston, his team had never won a playoff game he started before this year.

But the Red Sox have now won his last three postseason starts, including the ALCS Game 5 clincher against the defending World Series champion Astros  in which he pitched six shutout innings.

source: philstar.com

Yellow towels scream: ‘One tough crew’

Brewers bang up Dodgers, force Game 7

MILWAUKEE – Ryan Braun slid across home plate and raised his arms in sheer joy.

A big lead, a bruising bullpen and a boisterous crowd have the Milwaukee Brewers all set up for Game 7.

Jesus Aguilar sparked Milwaukee’s slumping lineup with three RBIs on a pair of two-out hits, and the Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 on Friday night to even the NL Championship Series at three games each.


Game 7 is Saturday night in front of the same frenzied crowd that booed Manny Machado vociferously after he tangled with Aguilar while the series was in Los Angeles. Dodgers rookie Walker Buehler faces journeyman Jhoulys Chacin, with well-rested relief ace Josh Hader looming in the bullpen for Milwaukee after a surprise day off.

It’s the first Game 7 for the Brewers since losing to St. Louis in 1982 in their only World Series appearance. The Dodgers dropped Game 7 of the World Series last year to Houston.


David Freese led off this Game 6 with a home run that quieted Miller Park  – but just for a moment.

Backed by raucous fans waving yellow towels that read “ONE TOUGH CREW,” Milwaukee rebounded from consecutive losses at Dodger Stadium with the same formula it used to win the NL Central during a breakout season.

Some timely hitting by Aguilar and company produced an early lead, and Corey Knebel and Jeremy Jeffress led the way in another shutdown performance by Milwaukee’s tough bullpen.

Los Angeles was looking for its second straight NL pennant and some time to prepare for the mighty Boston Red Sox in the World Series. But losing pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu was tagged for four runs in the first inning, two on a double by Aguilar that sent Braun sliding home.

After Wade Miley pitched into the fifth inning in his second straight start  – he faced only one batter in Game 5  – Knebel, Jeffress and Corbin Burnes closed it out with hitless relief. Knebel got the win and Burnes retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth, setting off a wild celebration for the crowd of 43,619.

source: philstar.com

Red Sox: No celebrations, only hi-fives

BOSTON – The Red Sox became the first team in the major leagues to clinch a playoff berth and did not celebrate.

“Any time you make the playoffs and give yourself a chance to be that last team, it’s a pretty special thing,” Brock Holt said. “We’re excited by that, but we’ve got more work to do.”

Holt pinch hit in the seventh inning and hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in a 7-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night that guaranteed Boston no worse than a wild card berth.

At a major league-best 99-46, the Red Sox lead the AL East by nine games with 2 1/2 weeks left. Their postgame celebration was lining up for routine high-fives and heading back to the clubhouse.

“We’re in great position to win the division and then to accomplish other things,” first-year manager Alex Cora said. “As I told the group, I’m very proud of them.”


Starter Chris Sale came off the disabled list and pitched one scoreless inning, striking out two and throwing 26 pitches. Sale has been slowed by inflammation in his left shoulder, and the Red Sox had said they would ease their ace back into action.

“We’re taking care of the guy,” Cora said.

Boston assured its third straight postseason team, matching the Red Sox teams of 2003-05 and 2007-09.

Ryan Brasier (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings as Boston used seven relievers.

Toronto led 2-0 in the seventh, when Steve Pearce hit a tying triple and Holt followed with a two-out home run off Ryan Tepera (5-5).

Kevin Pillar had an RBI single for Toronto during a two-run sixth, when Devon Travis scored the game’s first run on a double-steal and botched defensive play by the Red Sox.

Toronto starter Ryan Boruki, who allowed seven runs and eight hits July 13 at Fenway Park, held an opponent to two runs or fewer in at least six innings for the third time in four starts.

“He was tremendous today,” manager John Gibbons said. “He’s done a tremendous job for a rookie call-up.”

source: philstar.com