Sabathia's $10M deal finalized by Yanks; payroll up to $178M

NEW YORK (AP) -- CC Sabathia's $10 million, one-year contract has been finalized by the Yankees, a deal that raises New York's projected luxury tax payroll for next year to about $178 million.

The deal was announced Tuesday, about 10 days after the sides reached an agreement pending a physical. The 37-year-old left-hander is taking a pay cut from the $25 million he earned this year, when he went 14-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 27 starts for his best season since 2012. He was 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 10 starts following a Yankees loss.

Sabathia needs periodic injections in his surgically repaired right knee. The six-time All-Star is part of a rotation that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery.

Sabathia is 237-146 with a 3.70 ERA and 2,846 strikeouts in 17 big league seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the Yankees, who first signed him to a $161 million, seven-year deal before the 2009 season. When Sabathia had the right to opt out after the 2011 season, the Yankees agreed to a deal that paid him $25 million in 2016 and included a $25 million option for 2017 that became guaranteed because he did not finish 2016 with a left shoulder injury.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner repeatedly has said New York intends to get under next year's tax threshold of $197 million, which would reset the team's base tax rate from 50 percent to 20 percent in 2019, the first season after Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are free agents. New York has paid tax annually in each year since the penalties began in 2003.

New York has seven signed players for next season whose salaries total $120.7 million for purposes of the luxury tax: Giancarlo Stanton ($25 million), Tanaka ($22,142,857), Jacoby Ellsbury ($21,857,143), Aroldis Chapman ($17.2 million), Brett Gardner ($13 million), David Robertson ($11.5 million) and Sabathia.

The Yankees have eight players eligible for arbitration whose projected salaries total $30 million: Dellin Betances, Gray, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Tommy Kahnle, Austin Romine, Chasen Shreve and Adam Warren. The rest of the 40-man roster, which includes Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Severino and Montgomery, figures to add approximately $10 million. Each team will be charged a projected $14,044,600 for benefits and extended benefits.

In addition, the Yankees are charged with $3 million for cash transactions. They are credited with $3 million from Miami in the Stanton trade and are debited $5.5 million in the Brian McCann trade to Houston in November 2016 and $500,000 in the Chase Headley trade this month to San Diego.

New York likely would want to start the season $5 million to $10 million below the threshold, allowing the Yankees to add salaries with in-season moves.

Indians invite Ogando and Upton to Major League camp

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed free agent RHP Alexi Ogando and OF Melvin Uptin, Jr. to Minor League contracts with non-roster invitations to Major League spring training camp. 

Ogando, 34, owns a career record of 33-18 with a 3.47 ERA in 283 Major League appearances/48 starts across seven seasons with the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves from 2010-2016. The San Pedro de Macoris native debuted with the Rangers in 2010 following four years of visa issues after originally signing as an outfielder in the Oakland system (2002) and was selected by the Rangers in 2005 Minor League Rule V draft. He made 19 starts for Hanwha in the Korean Baseball League in 2017 and owns a career Postseason ERA of 2.37 in 18 relief appearances for the Rangers in 2010-11.

Upton, 33, owns a career Major League batting average of .243 (1260-5174) with 262 2B, 32 3B, 164 homers and 586 RBI in 1469 games over a 12-year career with Tampa Bay, Atlanta, San Diego and Toronto from 2004-16. He is one of six active players with four seasons of 20 HR/20 steals (Hanley Ramirez 5, Mike Trout 4, Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Braun, Ian Desmond), the last of which came in 2016 with Toronto and San Diego. He is sixth among active players in stolen bases (300) and has finished in the top 10 in the A.L. in steals five times in his career. He was limited to 12 games last season at the Triple-A level (San Francisco) due to right thumb and right shoulder injuries after being released by Toronto at the end of spring training.

Yankees, LHP Sabathia agree to one-year, $10 million deal

The New York Yankees and CC Sabathia agreed on a one-year deal worth a reported $10 million, according to multiple reports Saturday.

The 37-year-old left-handed free agent is coming off a roller-coaster season in which he suffered what might have been a career-ending knee injury in August. But Sabathia bounced back to anchor a rotation that carried the Yankees to the seventh game of the American League Championship Series.

New York lost that game to the eventual world champion Houston Astros, but Sabathia proved his worth. He also had been courted by the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays.

Sabathia finished last season with a 14-5 record and a 3.69 ERA in 27 starts. He must pass a physical for the deal to become official.

The Yankees' starting rotation includes Sabathia, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery.

The Yankees are reportedly trying to acquire another starter and have targeted Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole.

OF Kemp reunited with Dodgers after trade from Braves

The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired outfielder Matt Kemp from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for four players and cash considerations, the Dodgers announced Saturday.

Heading east to Atlanta are first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitchers Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy and infielder Charlie Culberson.

MLB.com reported the Braves have already designated Gonzalez for assignment.

Kemp, 33, is reunited with the Dodgers. He played for them from 2006-14, hitting 182 home runs, which is fourth in Dodgers' history. Last season, he hit .276 with 19 homers, 64 RBIs and 23 doubles in 115 games for the Braves.

Gonzalez, 35, was acquired by the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox in August 2012 and was instrumental in helping Los Angeles win five straight National League West Division titles. In 14 big league seasons, the five-time All-Star has hit .288 with 2,010 hits, 311 homers and 1,176 RBI while playing in 1,875 games.

Kazmir, 33, was signed to a three-year contract with Los Angeles before the 2016 season and went 10-6 with a 4.56 ERA in 26 starts during his first season with the Dodgers. He did not pitch last year due to a hip injury.

McCarthy, 34, signed a four-year deal with the Dodgers in December 2014 and in his three seasons with Los Angeles, went 11-7 with a 4.51 ERA in 29 starts. The right-hander missed most of 2015 and 2016 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2015.

Culberson, 28, appeared in 49 regular season games over the last two seasons with the Dodgers and made postseason rosters following each campaign.

MLB Winter Meetings: Cardinals acquire Marcell Osuna from Marlins

The St. Louis Cardinals reportedly completed a trade for Miami's Marcell Ozuna. Craig Mish of SiriusXM and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com have each reported that the deal is done, pending a physical. 

Ozuna, 27, is coming off an excellent 2017 in which he slashed .312/.376/.548 (145 OPS+) with 37 home runs in 159 games.

The Marlins will acquire prospect pitcher Sandy Alcantara, made eight relief appearances for the Cardinals last season.

MLB Winter Meetings: Mets sign RHP Anthony Swarzak to 2-yr, $14M deal

The Mets won’t be leaving the Winter Meetings empty handed.

After missing on relievers Bryan Shaw and Tommy Hunter, general manager Sandy Alderson netted a power right arm for his bullpen, landing Anthony Swarzak on a two-year deal worth $14 million, an industry source confirmed.

The 32-year-old Swarzak went 6-4 with a 2.32 ERA and 1.034 WHIP last season in 70 appearances for the White Sox and Brewers.

Swarzak will join Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos and Jerry Blevins to give the Mets four proven arms in the bullpen.

On Tuesday, new manager Mickey Callaway indicated the team may not name a closer, instead opting to use his best pitchers in the highest leverage situations, regardless of the inning.

The Mets still hope to trade for a second baseman and add another outfield/first base bat to the mix. An industry source indicated Mets officials convened this week with Jay Bruce’s agent, and although no offer was extended for the veteran outfielder, the team remains “very interested.”

MLB Winter Meetings: Twins sign injured right-hander Michael Pineda

The Minnesota Twins on Wednesday announced that they've signed injured right-hander Michael Pineda to a two-year, $10 million contract. He'll earn $2 million in 2018 and $8 million in 2019. 

Pineda, who turns 29 in January, underwent Tommy John surgery in July, making him expected to miss the majority of the 2018 season.

There had been more injury issues for Pineda, and you may remember a game in 2014 when he was ejected for having a foreign substance on his neck.

Last season, he pitched to a 4.39 ERA/103 ERA+ with a 4.38 K/BB ratio in 96 1/3 innings for the Yankees. For his career, Pineda owns an ERA+ of 101 with a 4.38 K/BB ratio across five big-league seasons and 117 starts. 

Padres acquire 3B Headley from Yankees

Chase Headley is headed back to San Diego.

The New York Yankees traded the third baseman along with right-hander Bryan Mitchell and cash considerations to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Jabari Blash, the Yankees announced.

The Yankees are in the midst of revamping their infield after dealing second baseman Starlin Castro to the Miami Marlins in the Giancarlo Stanton trade on Monday.

Headley, who began his career with San Diego in 2007, was traded from the Padres to the Yankees prior to the 2014 trade deadline. The 33-year-old switch hitter batted .273 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs in 147 games last season.

Headley established career highs of 31 homers and 115 RBIs for the Padres in 2012 when he finished fifth in National League MVP balloting.

Headley is entering the final season of a four-year, $52 million contract.

Mitchell, 26, posted a 1-1 mark with one save, a 5.79 ERA in 32 2/3 innings in 2017.

Blash, 28, batted .213 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 61 games last season.

Longoria talks with Rays and Mikolas signing show Cardinals are making splashes

The St. Louis Cardinals have been in contact with the Tampa Bay Rays about closer Alex Colome, "those talks could shift or expand to include third baseman Evan Longoria," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified source.

The Rays are also reportedly looking to trim payroll, and Longoria, a Gold Glove winner, is due $86 million through 2022, $94 million if an option is exercised for 2023. Less than two weeks into the coming season Longoria, 32, would achieve “10/5” no-trade rights after 10 years of service time, including the past five with one team.

The Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants continue to await word on Giancarlo Stanton’s decision and whether he would waive his no-trade rights from Miami to accept to go to a new oganization. Both teams met with Stanton and his representatives last week in Los Angeles.

The Cardinals signed pitcher Miles Mikolas to a two-year contract Tuesday that will guarantee the righthanded starter $15.5 million. A native of Jupiter, Fla., who came to Cardinals spring training games as a boy, Mikolas, 29, returns to the majors for the first time since 2014 and after three great seasons in Japan’s top league. He went 14-8 this past season for Yomiuri with a 2.25 ERA and eight strikeouts for every walk.

“Our scouts have watched him as he refined his repertoire, improved his velocity and became one of the most effective pitchers in Japan the last couple (of) seasons,” wrote general manager Michael Girsch in an email.

The Cardinals are coming off their worst season in a decade, going 83-79 They finished a distant third in the NL Central.

Cardinals sign free-agent pitcher Mikolas to two-year deal

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed free-agent RHP Miles Mikolas to a two-year contract in the $14M to $16M range, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday.

Mikolas, returning to majors in this deal, was one of top pitchers in Japan last season. He had a 2.18 ERA in 62 starts for the Yomiuri Giants from 2015-17. He is another addition to a deep Cardinals rotation.

Though he cracked the big leagues at age 23, he had a 5.32 ERA and 1.430 WHIP in 37 appearances between 2012 and 2014 before his success in Japan.

Boone reportedly tabbed new Yankees manager

The New York Yankees have chosen Aaron Boone to replace Joe Girardi as their manager, according to multiple reports Friday.

Boone, who helped the Yankees to a 2003 World Series title with a walk-off home run in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox, interviewed recently with his former team.

The New York Daily News reported that the Yankees' brass likes Boone's "polish."

New York general manager Brian Cashman reportedly is intrigued by Boone despite no previous managerial or coaching experience. Boone has been serving as an analyst with ESPN.

Cashman recommended Boone to owner Hal Steinbrenner from a pool of six interviewees that included Carlos Beltran, Hensley Meulens, Rob Thomson, Chris Woodward and Eric Wedge. The search for Girardi's replacement took over a month.

Various media reports earlier Friday suggested that the decision came down to Boone and Meulens after Beltran and Thomson were both informed that they were not getting the job.

Meulens is currently working as the bench coach for the San Francisco Giants and was on the coaching staff for all three of the Giants' World Series championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Meulens is a former top prospect in the Yankees organization who played parts of seven major league seasons from 1989 to 1998, including five with New York.

Notebook: Braves lose 13 players for illegal signings; Judge should be ready for camp after shoulder surgery

Major League Baseball came down hard on the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday for multiple violations of the international amateur signing rules, making 13 players who had previously signed with the organization free agents.

MLB will also dock the Braves a third-round pick in the 2018 amateur draft after the team offered extra benefits to 41st overall pick Drew Waters last year. Waters, however, will be able to remain with Atlanta.

The league determined that the Braves had packaged international signing bonuses during the two-year signing period from 2016-18, which is in violation of MLB rules.

MLB stated that Juan Contreras, Yefri del Rosario, Abrahan Gutierrez, Kevin Maitan, Juan Carlos Negret, Yenci Pena, Yunior Severino, Livan Soto, Guillermo Zuniga, Brandol Mezquita, Angel Rojas and Antonio Sucre were illegally signed during the two-year span.

The scandal cost former Braves general manager John Coppolella and team scout Gordon Blakeley their jobs and also led to the resignation of Atlanta president of baseball operations John Hart.

Judge has shoulder surgery; should be ready by camp

After insisting during a summer slump that he was not ailing, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder.

The operation was performed Monday by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. The Yankees said Tuesday the procedure involved a loose-body removal and cartilage cleanup and Judge should be recovered ahead of spring training.

The 25-year-old Judge hit .284 with 52 homers and 114 RBIs in 155 games this season, helping the Yankees advance to the AL Championship Series, where they lost to the eventual World Series champion Astros. He was a unanimous selection for AL Rookie of the Year and finished second to Houston infielder Jose Altuve in the AL MVP race.

Judge was hitting .329 with 30 homers and 66 RBIs at the All-Star break, then batted .179 with seven homers and 16 RBIs with 67 strikeouts in his next 44 games through the end of August.

He made several crashes into outfield walls and often was seen with packs of ice on his shoulder. While it looked as if an injury might be preventing him from swinging freely, but the right fielder and manager Joe Girardi repeatedly said his shoulder was fine.

He rebounded to bat .311 with 15 homers and 32 RBIs in the final month of the season.

Morgan says steroid users shouldn't be in HOF

Hall of Fame vice chairman Joe Morgan emailed every eligible voter from the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday, writing that "steroid users don't belong" in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Morgan's email, which he said he wrote on behalf of "many of the Hall of Famers," comes one day after the 2018 ballot was released.

"We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated. Steroid users don't belong here," wrote Morgan, a two-time National League Most Valuable Player who was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.

Former stars Roger Clemens (54.1 percent) and Barry Bonds (53.8 percent) received their highest vote totals last year, moving closer to the 75 percent required for enshrinement.

Beltran ends 20-year career, announces retirement

Outfielder Carlos Beltran announced his retirement after a 20-year major league career, going out on top by winning his first World Series championship with the Houston Astros.

The 40-year-old Beltran, a nine-time All-Star with 435 career home runs, made the announcement Monday with a first-person essay on The Players' Tribune.

"I am blessed to have played this game for 20 years," Beltran wrote. "I am blessed to have played for so many great organizations.

"I am blessed to have shared all of my experiences with my wife and my three kids, my family and friends. To have so many loving fans. To have been able to build a school in Puerto Rico and change the lives of so many kids. To have won the Roberto Clemente Award, which is the greatest honor I could have ever received as a ballplayer.

"And I am blessed to be a champion. But now, my time as a player has come to an end."

Beltran played for seven different teams, starting with the Kansas City Royals in 1998. He also played for the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants, before making a second stop in Houston for the 2017 season.

Beltran batted .231 with 14 homers and 51 RBIs in 129 games with Houston this season. The Astros signed him to be their primary designated hitter but as the season progressed, his playing time decreased.

For his career, Beltran batted .279 with 2,725 hits, 1,587 RBIs and 1,582 runs scored in 2,586 games.

Beltran told MLB.com he reached the decision to retire sometime over the summer during Houston's memorable run.

"At the beginning of this year, being in Houston while my family was in New York, it was the first time I've been away from my family for months," Beltran said in his first interview since announcing his retirement. "I told (my wife) Jessica I really missed the family and I wanted to be with them, so I was really contemplating retirement after this year. I said, 'Hopefully we can get to the World Series and win the World Series, so I can go home on a happy note.'

"When the family came to Houston for the summer, I told Jessica, 'This will be my last year for sure.' I couldn't be away from my family for such a long time anymore."

Astros win 1st World Series crown, top Dodgers 5-1 in Game 7

By BEN WALKER
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — From laughingstock to lift off.

George Springer and the Houston Astros rocketed to the top of the baseball galaxy Wednesday night, winning the first World Series championship in franchise history by romping past the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 7.

Playing for a city still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, and wearing an H Strong logo on their jerseys, the Astros brought home the prize that had eluded them since they started out in 1962 as the Colt .45s.

“I always believed that we could make it,” All-Star slugger Jose Altuve said. “We did this for them.”

For a Series that was shaping up as an October classic, Game 7 quickly became a November clunker as Houston scored five runs in the first two innings off Yu Darvish. Hardly the excitement fans felt during the Cubs’ 10-inning thriller in Cleveland last fall.

Well, except for everyone wearing bright orange. Back in Houston, a huge crowd filled Minute Maid Park to cheer as fans watched on the big video board, and the train whistle wailed when it was over.

“We’re coming home a champion, Houston,” Springer said after accepting the World Series MVP trophy named this year for Willie Mays.

The Houston Astros have won the World Series, after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in a decisive game 7 in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Fans in Houston celebrated the team’s first-ever championship. (Nov. 2)

Star shortstop Carlos Correa turned the party into a proposal. After doing a TV interview, he got down on one knee and asked girlfriend Daniella Rodriguez, a former Miss Texas USA, to marry him.

“Yes?” he said, putting a ring on her finger as she cried.

Altuve, one of four holdovers from a club that lost an embarrassing 111 times in 2013 after switching from the NL to the AL, and this collection of young stars silenced Dodger Stadium from the get-go, taking a 5-0 lead in the second inning.

Altuve was in perfect position for the final out, a grounder by Corey Seager to the 5-foot-6 second baseman.

“I caught the last out for the Houston Astros to become a world champion. It was a groundball to me, I threw to first, and I think it was the happiest moment of my life in baseball,” Altuve said.

The Astros streamed from the dugout and bullpen to go wild, tossing their gloves in the air. A thousand or so fans crowded behind the first base dugout, chanting “Hou-ston! Hou-ston!”

Later, some little Astros kids ran around the outfield grass dressed in Halloween outfits. Their dads, meanwhile, were putting on championship hats and shirts.

At last, they had completed the ascent some predicted after a rebuilding club purged payroll and stripped down to bare bones a few years back.

Famously, now, there was the Sports Illustrated cover in 2014 — after Houston had lost more than 100 games for three straight seasons — that proclaimed: “Your 2017 World Series Champs” and featured a picture of Springer in a bright Astros jersey.

On the other side, ace Clayton Kershaw and several Dodgers leaned against the dugout railing, watching the Astros celebrate. Los Angeles led the majors with 104 wins and a $240 million payroll, and rallied to win Game 6, yet it didn’t pay off for part-owner Magic Johnson and his team.

“Obviously, this one hurts,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And like I told the guys, when you put everything, every ounce of your being into something and you come up short, it hurts. And it’s supposed to hurt.”

Normally a starter, Charlie Morton finished up with four stellar innings of relief for the win.

“We held down a really tough lineup,” Morton said. “For my teammates, for the city of Houston, it’s just unbelievable.”

Springer led off the evening with a double against Darvish, and soon it was 2-0.

Springer hit his fifth homer — tying the Series mark set by Reggie Jackson (1977) and matched by Chase Utley (2009) — when he connected for a record fourth game in a row, making it a five-run lead.

That was plenty for Houston manager A.J. Hinch. He pulled starter Lance McCullers Jr. soon after the curveballer crazily plunked his fourth batter of the game , and began a parade of four relievers that held the lead.

Throughout the postseason, Hinch and the unconventional Astros overcame a shaky bullpen by using starters in relief.

“I knew yesterday I didn’t have much,” said McCullers, the Game 3 winner. “I knew I didn’t have much to give other than to gut it out as long as I could.”

In a dramatic Series marked by blown leads and late rallies, when Houston twice outlasted the Dodgers in extra innings, McCullers did enough.

Forever known for their space-age Astrodome, outlandish rainbow jerseys and a handful of heartbreaking playoff losses for stars like Nolan Ryan, Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, these Astros will be remembered as champions, finally, in their 56th season.

The club that wears a star on its hat also filled out the Texas trophy case. Teams from the Lone Star State had won most every major crown — the Super Bowl, NBA and NHL titles, championships in college football, and men’s and women’s hoops — except the World Series.

Built on the skills of homegrown All-Stars Dallas Keuchel and more, helped by veteran offseason acquisitions such as Brian McCann and 40-year-old Carlos Beltran, who won his first ring, and boosted by the slick trade for ace Justin Verlander, general manager Jeff Luhnow oversaw the team’s resurgence.

Houston won 101 times this year to take the AL West, then won Games 6 and 7 at home in the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees. The Astros joined the 1985 Royals as the only clubs to win a pair of Game 7s in the same year.

When it was over, Bagwell and Biggio posed for pictures together with the World Series trophy.

For the Dodgers, the quest to win a Series for the first time since 1988 fell short.

Kershaw provided four shutout innings of relief for Los Angeles , but it was too late. What the Dodgers really needed was a better starter than Darvish, someone more like the lefty who tossed out a ceremonial first ball: the great Sandy Koufax.

Acquired from Texas on July 31 for these big games, Darvish lasted 1 2/3 innings in both his World Series starts — the two shortest of his career.

“This pain is going to stay in me for a while,” the four-time All-Star said through a translator.

After Springer lined a leadoff double , Alex Bregman hit a bouncer that first baseman Cody Bellinger threw past Darvish for an error, allowing a run to score . Bregman aggressively stole third and scored on Altuve’s grounder , and it was 2-0 after eight pitches.

A double by Marwin Gonzalez helped set up perhaps McCullers’ biggest contribution, a slow grounder for his first pro RBI. Springer followed with a no-doubt, two-run drive into the left-center field bleachers.

That was the Series-most 25th homer in a Major League Baseball season that set a record for home runs. It was easily enough for the Astros to offset pinch-hitter Andre Ethier’s RBI single in the Los Angeles sixth.

Only once have the Dodgers clinched a crown at home, that coming in 1963 when Koufax outpitched Yankees star Whitey Ford to finish a sweep. They’ve never won Game 7 of the Fall Classic at their own park, dating more than a century ago to their days on the streets of Brooklyn as the Trolley Dodgers.

As pockets of Houston fans got louder and louder in the later innings, the crowd at Dodger Stadium was left to repeat the sad, but hopeful cry that used to echo in Brooklyn: Wait till next year.

Just 106 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Pitching returns to World Series as Dodgers force Game 7

LOS ANGELES -- Gravity appeared to return to the World Series on Tuesday as the Los Angeles Dodgers used cooler temperatures and an icy resolve to help force a deciding Game 7 on Wednesday.

The Dodgers' 3-1 victory in Game 6 over the Houston Astros was in stark contrast to the 25-run onslaught both teams delivered Sunday in a Game 5 that gave the Astros a brief advantage in the matchup.

A World Series that has seen a record 24 home runs had just two Tuesday, with Joc Pederson's late-inning drive to the opposite field in left the most significant. It gave the Dodgers a two-run cushion in the seventh inning, and closer Kenley Jansen was able to rebound from some early-series wobbles to finish off a six-out save.

The Dodgers might have shown they were good enough to get to this position when they went on a 44-7 run in the regular season behind a dynamic offense. But what might have helped them most Tuesday was what they learned about themselves during a 1-16 stretch late in the year.

"It's been the same thing all year in that whatever happens the day before is over with," Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said. "We had a chance to win a ballgame tonight, and we did that. It will be the same thing tomorrow. (Game 6) won't mean a whole lot. You have to go out and find a way to win a game (Wednesday)."

Corey Seager's sacrifice fly in the sixth inning gave the Dodgers the lead for good, and the World Series will head to a winner-take-all title game for the second consecutive season. There has been a Game 7 in three of the past four World Series.

The Dodgers will try for their seventh World Series title all time and first since 1988. The Astros will be playing for their first championship in their second World Series ever.

"This is when you're a young kid and you're kind of trying to play through all the heroes and heroics and talking about a Game 7 in the World Series, and here we are," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I know that we're happy to be at home. And tonight was very energetic, exciting. I know we love being in front of our fans, and I know we'll be ready to win a baseball game."

The Dodgers trailed 1-0 against Astros starter Justin Verlander when they started their comeback in the sixth inning. Austin Barnes hit a leadoff single before pinch hitter Chase Utley was hit by a pitch.

Chris Taylor followed with an RBI double to tie the game 1-1 as the crowd of 54,128 erupted. Seager flied out to the warning track to bring home Utley. With the 100-degree temperatures in Los Angeles during Games 1 and 2, Seager's drive might have carried into the seats. Dodger Stadium is known to produce fewer home runs during night games.

It is not as if Pederson had an issue with the damp marine layer. In the seventh, Pederson went deep against Astros reliever Joe Musgrove, his third homer of the World Series and fourth this postseason.

"I think we won because we have 25 guys all pulling on the same string," said Pederson, who has rebounded this postseason after being demoted following the acquisition of Curtis Granderson in August. "We all have each other's backs. You've been watching the series, it's been quite hectic, emotionally draining, mentally, physically, everything you could think of. And we stick together. And we find a way to produce runs and our bullpen shut them down, and it's a group effort."

A Los Angeles bullpen that was a strength all season has a 4.50 ERA during the six games of the World Series, allowing nine home runs. But the Houston bullpen sports a 7.29 ERA and has given up six home runs.

"Listen, it doesn't matter that they scored runs off us, whatever has happened in the past, the great thing about this bullpen is that we all let that go and don't think about that anymore," said Jansen, who followed scoreless relief outings from Brandon Morrow, Tony Watson (2-0) and Kenta Maeda. "We keep believing in ourselves and we just want to go out there and try to win ballgames."

George Springer continued his World Series offensive onslaught with a third-inning home run, hitting a 1-0 fastball from Dodgers starter Rich Hill over the wall in right field.

Springer's fourth home run of the series came after a Game 5 in which the center fielder became just the second player in World Series history to hit a home run, walk three times and score three runs in a game. Barry Bonds in 2002 was the only other player to accomplish the feat.

Verlander (0-1) was locked in through five innings, giving up a second-inning single to Yasiel Puig and nothing else. After Puig's single, Verlander had retired 11 consecutive batters heading into the fateful sixth inning.

"I thought (Verlander) was good, especially early," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "He brings so much energy and so much aggressiveness to the game. And I thought he entered the game with that. And I thought he was obviously cruising. He had the one hiccup in the middle of the game, but that was about it."

The Astros put together a rally in the fifth against Hill, getting a single from Brian McCann and a double from Marwin Gonzalez to open the inning. Hill retired Josh Reddick and Justin Verlander before giving way to Morrow, who retired Alex Bregman on a groundout to end the threat.

Hill went 4 2/3 innings, giving up one run on four hits with a walk and five strikeouts. He threw just 58 pitches after throwing 60 pitches over four innings in Game 2.

Verlander allowed two runs on three hits over six innings in Game 6, with nine strikeouts and no walks. In Game 2, also at Dodger Stadium, he gave up three runs on two hits over six innings with five strikeouts.

The Astros will start right-hander Lance McCullers in Game 7, while the Dodgers will counter with right-hander Yu Darvish.

"This series was destined to go seven pretty much the whole time," McCullers said. "I think we have two great teams here. I just have to stick with my game plan and execute a little bit better than last time in certain spots. And just be a competitor out there."

NOTES: Dodgers RHP Brandon Morrow has appeared in all six World Series games. Only Oakland's Darold Knowles (1973) pitched in all seven games of a single World Series. ... OF Andre Ethier set a Dodgers record by appearing in his 50th postseason game when he pinch-hit in the seventh inning. He flied out. ... With his third-inning home run, Astros CF George Springer has recorded an extra-base hit in five consecutive World Series games. ... The Astros had been 10-0, including the postseason, when RHP Justin Verlander started a game until the Game 6 defeat.

World Series shootout: Astros outast Dodgers in 10th

HOUSTON -- Alex Bregman stroked a walk-off single with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the Houston Astros to a wild 13-12 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros will take a 3-2 series lead back to Los Angeles on their strength of their prolific offense, which produced 14 hits and five homers Sunday.

Bregman, who homered off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen (0-1) with two outs in the ninth inning of Game 4, lined the first pitch of their second confrontation in two games to center field, scoring pinch runner Derek Fisher from second base.

Fisher replaced catcher Brian McCann, who homered in the eighth inning and reached in the 10th after being hit by a pitch with two outs. George Springer walked, moving Fisher to second.

The Astros, who managed just two hits in Game 4, faced a 4-0 deficit in Game 5 against Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers' ace left-hander handcuffed Houston in Game 1, allowing one run over seven innings while tallying 11 strikeouts. Game 5 didn't resemble the series opener.

Yuli Gurriel and Jose Altuve slugged dramatic, three-run home runs before Springer and Carlos Correa went deep in the seventh inning.

Gurriel ignited the onslaught with his three-run blast off Kershaw in the fourth inning, capping an inspired four-run frame that pulled the Astros even.

The Dodgers provided Kershaw the lead again a half-inning later when rookie first baseman Cody Bellinger crushed a three-run homer off Astros right-hander Collin McHugh, but Kershaw could not manage the prosperity.

Despite recording two quick outs to open the fifth, Kershaw did not complete the inning, issuing back-to-back walks to Springer and Bregman before getting the hook.

Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda had yet to allow a run this postseason, but that changed when Altuve bashed his seventh home run of the postseason to left-center field, tying it at 7-7.

Kershaw allowed six runs on four hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings. But he was an afterthought by the seventh when Springer and Correa took righty Brandon Morrow deep.

Morrow made his fifth consecutive appearance and 12th overall this postseason. He yielded a titanic blast to left by Springer that pulled the Astros even again at 8-8.

Two batters later, Altuve doubled to drive home Bregman for the Astros' first lead, and Correa chased Morrow with a two-run shot to left.

Trailing 12-9 entering the ninth, the Dodgers rallied against Astros right-hander Chris Devenski, who recorded the final out of the eighth with the tying run at second.

Yasiel Puig golfed a two-run homer into the Crawford Boxes in left. Two batters after Austin Barnes hit a one-out double, Chris Taylor lined a two-out, two-strike RBI single to center.

The shortest home start of Dallas Keuchel's postseason career began ominously with a leadoff single from Taylor and quickly eroded from there. Keuchel couldn't find the strike zone in the first inning, issuing back-to-back walks to Justin Turner and Enrique Hernandez before surrendering a two-out, two-run single to third baseman Logan Forsythe.

The Astros' defense, stellar throughout the playoffs, contributed to the third run of the frame when Gurriel took a pickoff toss from Keuchel and threw wildly to second base, pulling Altuve off the bag. Forsythe took second on the play; Hernandez scored to silence the partisan crowd.

Keuchel appeared to settle down in the second and third innings, but he surrendered three additional hits in the fourth, including a two-out, run-scoring single to Barnes, before departing. With Kershaw on the mound and the Dodgers leading 4-0, things looked dire for Houston. Then the bottom of the fourth unfolded and the madness was just getting started.

NOTES: After taking a grounder off the left calf in Game 4 and being lifted for a pinch runner in the ninth inning, the Dodgers' Justin Turner moved to designated hitter from his customary spot at third. Logan Forsythe shifted from second base to third with Charlie Culberson joining the starting lineup, playing second and batting ninth. ... Without explicitly labeling the move as a demotion, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said he would avoid using RHP Ken Giles in high-leverage situations when possible. Giles took the loss in Game 4 and has allowed at least one run in six of seven postseason appearances. ... With Los Angeles facing a left-handed starter, Dodgers LF Enrique Hernandez batted cleanup for the third time this postseason. He did so twice in the National League Championship Series against Cubs LHPs Jose Quintana and Jon Lester in Games 1 and 2.

Dodgers' Kershaw vs. Astros' Keuchel in pivotal Game 5

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HOUSTON -- Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw owns a resume befitting a pitcher capable of thriving no matter the ballpark dimensions, but the short porch in left field at Minute Maid Park can incite worry, particularly when the Houston Astros' right-handed-heavy lineup comes into play.

On Sunday night, Kershaw will be charged with twirling a masterpiece to rival the performance he delivered in Game 1, but this time he won't have spacious Dodger Stadium as the backdrop.

With the World Series squared at two games apiece and the victor in Game 5 set to move one win closer to a championship, Kershaw will need to render that short porch moot.

"No, I don't think you can change anything based on where you're at," Kershaw said. "It's just a matter of making good pitches to these guys. Most of the time I would say it doesn't come into play that much. I feel the homers I give up are pretty legit. As long as you're making your pitches, you might hit one off the wall that you're not supposed to or something, but other than that you can't really change."

The Astros bashed three home runs into the Crawford Boxes in left in Games 3 and 4, with right-handed hitters responsible for each dinger: first baseman Yuli Gurriel in Game 3, plus center fielder George Springer and third baseman Alex Bregman in Game 4. Negating the advantage the Astros often capitalize on will undermine any intention Kershaw has to dominate.

Kershaw allowed just three hits and one run -- a homer by Bregman -- while striking out 11 over seven innings in the Dodgers' 3-1 victory in Game 1.

Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who suffered the loss opposite Kershaw in Game 1, will get the ball aiming to send Houston back to Los Angeles with the series lead and right-hander Justin Verlander on deck. Incidentally, Keuchel was hurt by the gopher ball in the opener, surrendering a leadoff homer to Chris Taylor in the first inning and a two-run blast to Justin Turner in the sixth that spelled the difference in the Dodgers' 3-1 victory at Chavez Ravine.

"I just didn't feel like the finish on my pitches were right, and that happens," Keuchel said. "Through the course of the whole season if you get 34 starts, I think a lot of the better pitchers would say you only feel at your best a handful of times. And the in-between those handful of times is where you really establish how good you are because if you have a four-pitch mix and only two pitches are working that day, you make do with what you have.

"And that's why guys like Kershaw and Verlander have done it so long, is that they're not always at their best, but they look at their best because they know they have one or two pitches in their back pocket. And all of a sudden the third or fourth pitch comes around the fifth, sixth inning, and then all of a sudden you see a complete-game win."

Working to the Astros' advantage is one final opportunity to ride home-field advantage to victory. Keuchel has often lauded the raucous atmosphere at Minute Maid Park and credits fan support with providing him the vigor to conquer difficult patches during his starts. With so much on the line for the Astros, how Keuchel manages that fan support will prove critical.

"The key will be to harness the energy that comes with this building," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "He loves pitching at this place. He's had success at this place. And it's the stage of the World Series. I think that's a bigger issue than a guy like Keuchel facing the same team."

Dodgers' big ninth inning ties World Series 2-2

HOUSTON -- Roughly 24 hours after Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger was fitted with a figurative golden sombrero following an unsightly showing at the plate, redemption came in the form of that sweet swing, one that is soon to yield National League Rookie of the Year honors.

Bellinger ripped a run-scoring double to left-center field off imploding Astros closer Ken Giles in the ninth inning, igniting a five-run breakthrough in the Dodgers' 6-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.

The Dodgers evened the series 2-2 and ensured a return trip to Chavez Ravine for Game 6.

Bellinger, 0 for 4 with four strikeouts in Game 3, doubled in his final two at-bats, with the latter snapping a 1-1 tie and coming off Giles (0-1), who coughed up a 5-3 lead in the 10th inning of Game 2 before the Astros rallied to victory. After opening the ninth inning with a single to right, Corey Seager scored on the hit by Bellinger, who found success far more palatable.

"Yeah, I felt good today," said Bellinger, who was 0 of 13 in the series before his first double. "Made some adjustments pregame, and ... I hit every ball in BP (batting practice) today to the left side of the infield. I've never done that before in my life. Usually I try to lift. I needed to make an adjustment, and saw some results today."

Designated hitter Joc Pederson snuffed any shot at another miraculous Astros rally by belting a three-run homer off Astros right-hander Joe Musgrove later in the ninth.

Giles, Musgrove and Will Harris, who allowed an inherited runner to score in the seventh inning, continued the postseason struggles for the Houston bullpen, a unit that continues to leak under pressure.

"It seems like right now for some of these guys it's one pitch and things unravel a little bit," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "That's what happened to Kenny in the ninth. Joe came in and was working his way through the mess that we had. And then one pitch to Pederson and then all of a sudden his night's ruined."

After making a career-high 34 saves during the regular season, Giles has allowed at least one run in six of his seven postseason appearances. His teammates picked him up in Los Angeles, but there was no salvaging this effort after all three batters he faced reached base.

"I didn't do my job, plain and simple," Giles said. "I let the team down."

Left-hander Tony Watson (1-0) picked up the win in relief with a scoreless eighth inning.

Astros right-hander Charlie Morton and his mound counterpart, Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood, engaged in a riveting pitcher's duel. Wood carried a no-hitter into the sixth and retired the first two batters of that inning before falling behind 3-1 to center fielder George Springer.

Springer followed by drilling a knuckle curveball into the Crawford Boxes in left field, turning the Astros' first hit into a 1-0 lead. Morton, who survived a harrowing fifth inning thanks to a fabulous defensive play from third baseman Alex Bregman, returned for the sixth with a lead.

It was short-lived. Morton allowed a one-out double to Bellinger before being lifted for Harris, who then coughed up the lead via a two-out RBI single to second baseman Logan Forsythe.

Morton surrendered one run and three hits with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 sterling innings.

Morton needed just nine pitches to retire the side in order in the second and, by the close of the third, had faced the minimum on just 33 pitches.

By the middle of the fifth inning, Morton had seven strikeouts and only 50 pitches on his ledger, yet Wood was matching his zeroes.

With just one start this postseason under his belt, Wood appeared a likely candidate for an abbreviated start. However, he ably kept the ball down in the strike zone, induced six groundouts by the close of the fifth, and worked around walks in the second and third innings.

"Both starters tonight were lights out," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Woody's command tonight, his compete was just off the charts."

NOTES: Astros 1B Yuli Gurriel has been suspended without pay for the first five games of the 2018 season by Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred for mocking Dodgers RHP Yu Darvish with a racially insensitive gesture in the second inning of Game 3 on Friday night. Gurriel, a Cuban native, will undergo offseason sensitivity training for his inflammatory actions demeaning Darvish, who is Japanese. The Astros will donate Gurriel's lost salary to charity. ... Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda, perhaps their most versatile bullpen arm, was unavailable after pitching in Games 2 and 3. Maeda (2-0, 0.00 ERA in seven appearances this postseason) has worked in consecutive games three times this postseason. ... Dodgers RF Yasiel Puig and SS Corey Seager were named Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalists at their respective positions.

Bullpen issues could surface for Dodgers in Game 4

HOUSTON -- After burning through eight relief pitchers in Game 2 and sending five more to the mound on Friday night at Minute Maid Park in Game 3 of the World Series, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts faced the inevitable questions regarding the state of his bullpen after a 5-3 loss dropped the Dodgers into a 2-1 hole against the Houston Astros.

With left-hander Alex Wood scheduled to get the start on Saturday, the concerns are valid. Wood has made just one start this postseason, allowing three runs and four hits with seven strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings of Game 4 in the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers dropped that game 3-2, their lone loss of that series.

Excluding right-hander Kenta Maeda, who worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 3, Roberts declared each member of his bullpen available for action in what will be a pivotal Game 4.

"Well, we just had an off-day yesterday," Roberts said. "And when your starter (right-hander Yu Darvish) goes five outs, you've got to find a way to cover some innings. Everyone tomorrow is available, outside of Kenta. And Alex is going to have to go deep.

"But I think, like I said, everyone is available, and we've got Kersh (ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw) going Game 5. They'll be available. They'll be fine."

Wood will face a pressure-packed outing but is equipped for the challenge. He paced the majors in winning percentage after finishing 16-3 with a career-best 2.72 ERA in 27 appearances (25 starts). His 3.3 WAR represented the second-best mark of his career, trailing the 3.7 WAR he produced with the Atlanta Braves while finishing 11-11 with a 2.78 ERA in 2014.

Relative postseason inexperience aside, Wood gets the ball with the Dodgers on the brink of a daunting deficit should they lose, yet buoyed by the opportunity to start instead of relieve.

"I feel fortunate that I'm finally getting to start in the postseason," Wood said. "My three previous postseason experiences have all been out of the bullpen. So really my first start against the Cubs in the postseason, I felt way more comfortable, not really much nerves. Just seemed like another game with a little bit of higher expectations for yourself and a little bit more pressure.

"But I felt really comfortable in Chicago. If you can feel comfortable there, you can feel comfortable anywhere. So I'm really excited about the opportunity tomorrow."

For the second time this postseason, Astros manager A.J. Hinch parlayed a tandem outing to positive results, riding right-handers Lance McCullers and Brad Peacock to victory in Game 3 after doing the same with Charlie Morton and McCullers in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Morton gets his first World Series start on Saturday at Minute Maid Park.

With Peacock, who made 21 starts for the Astros during the regular season, covering the final 3 2/3 innings with hitless relief, Hinch was able to avoid dipping into his beleaguered corps of full-time relievers. The possibility exists for Hinch to execute the same gambit Saturday, with right-hander Collin McHugh poised to finish what the Astros hope is a strong start by Morton.

Despite the obvious call to allow Peacock to continue his stellar pitching, Hinch was asked if his shaky bullpen, and a presumed lack of confidence in it, played a role in his decision. With the Astros one win from taking a stranglehold on the series, he was adamant that his bullpen arms are capable of playing a role in a Game 4 triumph.

"It's about getting 27 outs," Hinch said. "At this point, if they didn't see Peacock pitching well, then they should watch the game, too. I love our bullpen, and our bullpen is going to get outs, but this is a race to 27 outs with a lead. When a guy is doing his job, there's only so much explanation I need to give."

Joe Girardi not returning as Yankees manager in 2018

Joe Girardi will not be back next season as manager of the New York Yankees, sources told David Kaplan of ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Thursday.

Girardi just concluded a four-year, $16 million contract, and he and the team agreed to part ways, sources said. They will make an announcement later Thursday.

Girardi, 53, and the Yankees came within one game of going to the World Series this year, losing to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. In 10 years at the helm, Girardi won one World Series and made the playoffs six times.

After the Yankees lost in the ALCS, Girardi professed his love for managing but said he would once again discuss his situation with his wife and three children, asking them what they thought was best for their family. He has expressed similar sentiments on previous occasions when his contract was up but has always returned to the team.

Girardi has had aspirations to work in baseball operations, possibly in the commissioner's office. He also could return to broadcasting. Girardi also has a passion for college football, and while he has said it is a long shot, he's spoken about serving as an athletic director.

After managing the Marlins for one year, Girardi took over the Yankees in 2008. He won a World Series in 2009 and finishes his Yankees tenure with an overall record of 910-710.

As a catcher, Girardi played for 15 years in the big leagues, winning three World Series titles in four years with the Yankees.

Jansen blows save, Dodgers dominant 'pen pummeled in Game 2

By BETH HARRIS
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dodgers’ usually rock-solid bullpen was anything but in Game 2 of the World Series.

Kenley Jansen allowed a tying homer to Marwin Gonzalez in the ninth — his first ever blown save in the playoffs. Josh Fields gave up long balls to Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in the 10th. Then Brandon McCarthy surrendered the decisive blow, a two-run shot by George Springer in the 11th.

All from a bullpen that had thrown 28 consecutive scoreless innings.

After that streak ended in the eighth, the once-dominant Dodgers bullpen gave up six runs in its final four innings, costing Los Angeles in a 7-6 loss in 11 innings to the Houston Astros that evened the World Series at 1-1.

Los Angeles hadn’t lost in 98 games this season when it led after the eighth inning. On Wednesday night, it just couldn’t stop baseball’s highest-scoring team from the regular season.

“Kenley’s the best in the game. He’s kind of got us spoiled and we expect him to be automatic,” outfielder Enrique Hernandez said. “But he’s human, and he made a mistake.”

Manager Dave Roberts had it lined up just as he wanted. Kenta Maeda replaced starter Rich Hill after 60 pitches to begin the fifth inning — Hill slammed his glove in the dugout after being told — and Maeda and left-hander Tony Watson combined to hand a 3-1 lead to the back of the bullpen.

“They’ve had the best bullpen in baseball this postseason and much of the season,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Doc showed it today, he’s going to go to the matchups as soon as he feels he’s got a little bit of an advantage.”

Roberts went to Ross Stripling to start the seventh, but pulled him after a four-pitch walk in favor of Brandon Morrow, who got through the seventh unscathed. Burning Stripling so early may have proved costly when the game went to extra innings, but Roberts had gambled Morrow and Jansen could close things out from there.

That’s where things went wrong.

The scoreless streak ended in the eighth. Morrow allowed a leadoff double to Alex Bregman, and that prompted Roberts to go to Jansen, hoping the All-Star closer could get his second career six-out postseason save — the first was against the Cubs in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series in 2016.

Jansen allowed Correa’s RBI single in the eighth, the first run surrendered by a Dodgers reliever since Game 2 of the Division Series. Still, Jansen took a 3-2 lead into the ninth.

“I’ll take Kenley any day of week with a one-run lead going into the ninth,” Roberts said. “He’s been virtually unhittable.”

Gonzalez homered to give Jansen his first blown save in 13 career postseason opportunities.

“One missed pitch, you got me,” Jansen said. “You can’t beat yourself up about that.”

Suddenly, Los Angeles was going to extra innings having already used the relievers who had pitched the club to the World Series.

The next inning, Roberts went to Fields, who had pitched just one inning the entire postseason. He gave up consecutive homers to Altuve and Correa leading off, then gave up a double to Yuli Gurriel before being pulled. Tony Cingrani cleaned up his mess, giving the Dodgers a chance to rally in the bottom of the inning and send it to the 11th.

That’s where McCarthy faltered. A starter making his first ever playoff appearance, McCarthy gave up a two-run drive to Springer for a 7-5 Astros lead. McCarthy got three outs after that.

“It took me a while to settle down and get into the flow of it; it was just a little too late,” McCarthy said. “I have to do a better job of being sharp when I come in.”

Roberts had been masterful in using his bullpen since a trade deadline overhaul that brought in lefties Cingrani and Watson. Morrow had been outstanding all season, and Maeda has thrived in October since moving from the rotation to the bullpen. And then of course, there’s Jansen, perhaps the best closer in the game.

It’s a crew Roberts is eager to go all-in with.

“It just doesn’t always go as planned,” he said.

Dodgers' foundation tested after bullpen blasted in Game 2

By GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kenley Jansen is 6-foot-5 and very wide. The Los Angeles closer is undeniably imposing in his home whites on the Dodger Stadium mound even before he throws his cutter, one of the most sadistic and dependable pitches in baseball.

That cutter doesn’t always cut, however.

When Marwin Gonzalez’s tying, ninth-inning homer cleared the fence and stunned Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night, Jansen suddenly didn’t look powerful enough to carry his team to a title on his broad shoulders.

Neither did the Dodgers’ vaunted bullpen, which no longer seems invincible after the Astros’ 7-6, 11-inning victory in Game 2 of the World Series. The Los Angeles relievers’ dominant facade was stomped and shattered, and the stigma from this spectacular meltdown will hover above any close game in the rest of this series.

“The ball really carried the whole night,” Jansen said after a game featuring eight homers, the most in World Series history. “You can’t do anything about that. One missed pitch. You got me.”

Actually, the Dodgers’ bullpen missed more pitches in Game 2 than it had missed in its nine postseason games before it. One of the most successful relief groups in recent baseball history was battered for 11 hits and six runs by the Astros, including an astonishing four homers in the final three innings.

The home run derby that broke out in Chavez Ravine provided one of the most thrilling postseason games in modern times, but it only happened because of mistakes by Ross Stripling, Brandon Morrow, Jansen, Josh Fields and finally Brandon McCarthy, who gave up George Springer’s winning homer in the 11th .

A group that barely put a foot wrong all summer and into October suddenly couldn’t keep one foot in front of the other.

“We battled out there,” said Jansen, who had never blown a postseason save and never given up a homer on an 0-2 pitch in his career until Gonzalez connected. “Every at-bat, nobody was giving up. We still continued to go out there and pitch, and we didn’t come up big this time.”

Over 30 2/3 innings during its first nine playoff games, the Dodgers’ bullpen had allowed only 12 hits, three earned runs and one homer.

In seven disastrous innings of Game 2, the bullpen gave up 11 hits, six earned runs and those four homers.

And a team that had been 98-0 when leading after eight innings took its first defeat.

Since early in their NL Division Series sweep of Arizona, the Dodgers’ relievers had strung together 28 consecutive scoreless innings. That’s the longest streak in big-league history and a monument to the chemistry of this deep, tested veteran bullpen, put together by a deep-pocketed front office to make up for years of postseason relief problems for a team with five straight NL West titles, but only this World Series berth.

The Dodgers’ bullpen led the NL with a 3.38 ERA this season. Los Angeles added left-handers Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani at the deadline and starter Kenta Maeda for the postseason, building a group that’s deeper and tougher than anything the Dodgers have had in recent years.

“Everybody has so much confidence in everybody else that you’re not worried about giving up the ball,” Morrow said earlier this week. “You know the next guy up will be just as good.”

Moreover, an aura of inevitability had settled around the Dodgers over the previous three weeks while they won eight of their first nine postseason games. A 104-win team was equally exceptional in the postseason, winning close games and blowouts with equal aplomb while steamrolling into the franchise’s first World Series since 1988.

Through it all, the bullpen had been thoroughly dependable — until one incredible game when it wasn’t.

“I just trust the guys behind (Jansen),” Roberts said. “And the bottom line is I’ll take Kenley any day of the week with a one-run lead going into the ninth inning.”

Roberts has been confident enough in his relievers to use them unconventionally and quickly throughout his two-season tenure with the Dodgers. His decision last year to employ Jansen in multiple-inning saves is almost becoming the industry standard, and Roberts has a swift hook for every starter in even minor trouble — even ace Clayton Kershaw.

The long-held paradigm of lengthy, resourceful postseason starts almost seems old-fashioned in this era, particularly around these Dodgers: Rich Hill got only four innings and 60 pitches in Game 2, his third straight brief start. Hill hasn’t thrown 80 pitches or recorded an out in the sixth inning of a playoff game this October, with Roberts preferring to go to the ’pen at the first sign of trouble.

When Hill was asked if he disagreed with being pulled so early from his World Series start, the 37-year-old veteran was diplomatic.

“I think looking outside of the competitor that I am, I understand it,” Hill said. “The competitive side of me wants to stay in the game and continue to keep going. I felt good. The ball came out of my hand the way I wanted it to.”

Although Maeda’s streak of 18 consecutive outs ended in the sixth, the Dodgers calmly nursed a 3-1 lead into the eighth. Yasiel Puig barely missed a diving catch on Alex Bregman’s double off Morrow, and Carlos Correa brought him home with a single off Jansen.

It was still 3-2, and Dodger Stadium bubbled with anticipation of its usual late-inning celebration — until Gonzalez smacked Jansen’s cut-free cutter and changed the script of the Dodgers’ postseason.

“We’re not frustrated,” Jansen said. “I mean, listen. It isn’t going to be easy. ... I didn’t make my pitch. You can’t beat yourself up about that." 

Springer's HR in 11th gives Astros 7-6 win, ties series 1-1

By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — George Springer screamed with joy as he circled the bases after hitting a two-run homer in the 11th inning.

Would it be enough? Was this the final plot twist on one of the wildest nights in postseason history?

Yes, it was — barely — and the Houston Astros won a World Series game for the first time in their 56 seasons.

Charlie Culberson hit a two-out homer in the bottom half off Chris Devenski, who then struck out Yasiel Puig in a tense, nine-pitch at-bat for the win. The Astros outlasted the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 in a Hollywood thriller Wednesday to tie the Series at one game apiece.

“Wasn’t that the best game ever!?” Alex Bregman proclaimed to no one in particular in the Astros clubhouse.

On a night of dramatic swings and a World Series-record eight home runs, Marwin Gonzalez stunned the Dodger Stadium crowd with a solo shot off dominant Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen on an 0-2 pitch in the ninth that made it 3-all.

George Springer hit a two run homer in the 11th inning to propel the Houston Astros to a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series. The Series is now tied 1-1. (Oct. 26)

Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa hit consecutive home runs against Josh Fields in the 10th to build a 5-3 Astros lead, with Correa flipping his bat to celebrate.

But there was more. Much, much more.

“This is an instant classic and to be part of it is pretty special,” Astros starter Justin Verlander said.

Puig homered off Ken Giles starting the bottom of the 10th and Enrique Hernandez knotted the score 5-5 with a two-out RBI single .

Devenski entered and, with Hernandez at second, made a wild pickoff throw that appeared headed toward left-center field before it struck second base umpire Laz Diaz. An incredulous Hernandez put both hands on his helmet, unable to advance, and was stranded when Chris Taylor flied out.

“We were pretty unlucky at the beginning of the game when Taylor dove in center field and (the ball) hit him in the face or head,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “I felt like the baseball gods were returning the favor, by having an umpire standing in the way there.”

Cameron Maybin, who had entered in the 10th, singled leading off the 11th against losing pitcher Brandon McCarthy, a surprise addition to the Dodgers’ World Series roster who was pitching for the first time since Oct. 1. Maybin stole second and Springer hit a drive to right-center for a 7-5 lead, just the third 11th-inning home run in the Series after shots by Kirby Puckett in 1991 and David Freese in 2011.

Springer, an All-Star leadoff man, broke out of his slump with three hits and a walk after going 0 for 4 with four strikeouts in the Series opener Tuesday. His decisive drive made the Astros the first team to hit three extra-inning home runs in a postseason game.

Devenski retired Corey Seager and Justin Turner on lineouts in the bottom half. Puig checked his swing on a 2-2 pitch — the Astros jumped when first base umpire Gerry Davis signaled no swing — and Puig fouled off two more. Devenski threw his fifth straight changeup, and Puig swung over it as the Astros ran onto the field to celebrate after finally closing out a back-and-forth game that lasted 4 hours, 19 minutes.

“It was an emotional roller coaster,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who removed starter Rich Hill after he threw only 60 pitches in four solid innings and struck out seven.

After another steamy night in a Santa Ana heat wave, the series shifts to Texas and resumes Friday night at Houston’s Minute Maid Park, where the retractable roof has not been open for a game since June 9. Lance McCullers Jr. starts for the Astros and Yu Darvish for the Dodgers, who acquired him from Texas at the July 31 trade deadline.

Houston is 2-5 on the road in the postseason but 6-0 at home, where the Astros have outscored the Red Sox and Yankees by a combined 31-7.

“We didn’t expect these guys to lay down. It’s a very good ballclub over there,” Roberts said. “We’ll be ready to go.”

Before Gonzalez’s home run, the Dodgers had an 85 percent chance of winning, according to Fangraphs. After Correa’s long ball, the Astros were a 93 percent favorite.

Verlander, wearing an undershirt, entered the dugout at one point and screamed at his teammates that the game was not over.

“All of a sudden, two runs seemed like it was the Grand Canyon,” he said. “I was just trying to remind these guys two runs is nothing.”

Bregman’s RBI single in the third gave Houston its first lead of the Series, a hit that might have turned into a three-run, inside-the-park homer had the ball not caromed off the bill of Taylor’s cap directly to left fielder Joc Pederson.

Los Angeles had just two hits through seven innings but led 3-1 behind Pederson’s fifth-inning solo homer and Seager’s tiebreaking, two-run drive in the sixth against Verlander. It was Pederson’s first home run since July 26.

Jansen entered with a 3-1 lead trying for his first six-out save in a year after Bregman doubled leading off the eighth against Brandon Morrow, a ball that ticked off the glove of a diving Puig in the right-field corner. Furious that he didn’t make what would have been a sensational catch, Puig slammed his mitt to the ground.

Correa’s RBI single off Jansen ended a record 28-inning postseason scoreless streak by the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Gonzalez, choking up on the bat, seemed an unlikely candidate for a tying homer. He had not driven in a run in his 45 plate appearances since Houston’s playoff opener, and the blown save was just the second for Jansen this year. The Dodgers had been 98-0 in 2017 when leading after eight innings, including the postseason.

“I didn’t make my pitch,” Jansen said. “You can’t beat yourself up about that.”

As the slanting sun illuminated the green hills of Elysian Park behind center field and the ochre-tinted San Gabriel Mountains beyond, retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch . The 89-year-old, who left the booth in 2016 after his 67th season, charmed the crowd when he began “somewhere up in heaven, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges are laughing their heads off” at his presence on the mound. He feigned an arm injury and turned the ritual over to Fernando Valenzuela, who helped the Dodgers win their 1981 title.

The game-time temperature was 93 degrees — down 10 degrees from the opener. Celebrities in the sellout crowd of 54,293 included golfers Tiger Woods and Fred Couples, and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.

Houston improved to 10-0 in nine starts and one relief appearance by Verlander, the 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner obtained in a trade from Detroit at the Aug. 31 deadline to be eligible for the Astros’ postseason roster.

Afterward, players were exhausted.

“When that last out is made, you finally breathe,” Springer said. “That’s an emotional high — emotional high to low to high again. But that’s why we play the game. And that’s the craziest game that I’ve ever played in. And it’s only Game 2."

LEADING OFF: Verlander tries to keep Astros from 0-2 hole

Associated Press

A look at what’s happening all around the majors today:

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ACE IN THE HOLE

After dropping the World Series opener at Dodger Stadium, the Astros are confident they can rebound in Game 2 — with good reason. Justin Verlander is on the mound, and he’s perfect in a Houston uniform.

The ALCS MVP is 4-0 with a 1.46 ERA this postseason, including his first career relief appearance. He is 9-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 67 strikeouts in nine outings for the Astros since agreeing to a trade from Detroit that was completed only seconds before the Aug. 31 midnight deadline for postseason eligibility.

“We think we can win every single game he pitches. I don’t know there’s any better compliment for a starting pitcher,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. “I expect his best, and that’s what he’s delivered since the day he became an Astro.”

HUSHED HOUSTON HITTERS

Houston’s batters are looking for a breakout after getting three-hit in the Series opener. It was an especially tough night for George Springer, who went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts from the leadoff spot in a game started by Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.

Springer, who hit 34 homers this season and made his first All-Star team, batted .412 with a homer and two doubles in the Division Series against Boston but only .115 (3 for 26) in the ALCS vs. the Yankees. Hinch said Springer will be right back in the leadoff spot for Game 2.

The bright spot Tuesday was a solo homer by Alex Bregman, but the five batters below him in the order — Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Yuli Gurriel, Brian McCann and Marwin Gonzalez — were a combined 1 for 16. They weren’t exactly tough outs, either — Correa was 0 for 3 with a strikeout and only saw five pitches. The Astros are batting just .176 since the start of the ALCS.

HILL TO RELY ON

Just over two years after pitching for the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League, Rich Hill will start for the Dodgers in Game 2. The 37-year-old left-hander used the Ducks as a springboard back into the majors, and after going 12-8 with a 3.32 ERA for Los Angeles this season, he’s about to make his first Series start.

“A couple years ago, I was using a bucket in independent ball as a toilet,” he recalled last weekend.

This will be Hill’s third start this postseason — he’s allowed three runs in nine innings and is yet to get a decision.

Keuchel: Dodgers’ leadoff HR kind of hit us in the jaw

By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dallas Keuchel stepped on the rubber for the moment he had anticipated ever since he was a kid: throwing his first pitch of the World Series.

And then Chris Taylor turned on a thigh-high 88 mph fastball and sent it high into the left-field pavilion, 447 feet away. Keuchel turned around and looked, stunned by the scorching start on an unseasonably hot night.

“Kind of hit us in the jaw,” he said. “I never expected that.”

Then with the score 1-1 with two outs in the sixth inning, Justin Turner lifted an 87 mph cutter at the letters that landed just over the left-field wall for a two-run homer, perhaps boosted by the warm air on a 103-degree night.

On a night when Clayton Kershaw faltered on only one pitch — a tying home run to Alex Bregman starting off the fourth — two slipups was one too many.

Keuchel, the left-hander with the bushy beard and intense gaze, took the loss as the Houston Astros were beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 Tuesday night.

“Keuchel was really good tonight,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “He was just a pitch or two less than Kershaw. He wasn’t as fancy with the punch-outs.”

Keuchel had allowed one previous home run on his opening pitch, to Starling Marte on July 26, 2012, in the first plate appearance of the Pittsburgh outfielder’s big league career. Taylor had the mindset to swing aggressively at the four-seam fastball.

“Makes it fun when you jump on it like that,” Taylor said.

Keuchel allowed just one runner past first in the next four innings, helped by three double plays, but his downfall began with a five-pitch walk to Taylor with two outs in the sixth.

Keuchel got ahead of Turner 1-2 in the count, but the power-hitting third baseman with the unruly red beard turned on a cutter. Marwin Gonzalez drifted back but ran out of room.

“If it’s 10 degrees cooler, that’s probably a routine fly ball in left field,” Turner said.

Keuchel looked at the videoboard, hand on his left hip, as Turner circled the bases. He did not react when he was removed with two outs in the seventh inning and teammates patted him on the back when he returned to the dugout.

“Kind of frustrated at myself for not making a little bit better pitch,” Keuchel said. “The launch angle was really high. It wasn’t hit extremely hard by any means. It just got out.”

Even though he homered in his World Series debut, the 23-year-old Bregman took little joy at tying the score.

“What I imagined is us winning, and that’s why we can’t wait to get here tomorrow and play,” he said.

Houston players quickly turned their attention to Wednesday, when Justin Verlander starts for Houston against Rich Hill.

“He’s been lights out,” George Springer said.

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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

Kershaw, Dodgers sizzle in World Series opener

LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw's intimidation started early Tuesday, well before first pitch, when he came out to "warm up" wearing a jacket as Southern California temperatures soared well over 100 degrees.

Kershaw's pregame routine was not to be trifled with, especially since it was his first World Series appearance, and his in-game performance looked just as familiar.

The Dodgers ace struck out 11 over seven innings, and Chris Taylor and Justin Turner homered as Los Angeles won Game 1 of the World Series 3-1 over the Houston Astros.

Brandon Morrow pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for the save as the Dodgers came out on top in their first World Series game in 29 years.

The Astros are now 0-5 in their World Series history. They were swept in 2005 by the Chicago White Sox.

It was vintage Kershaw as he allowed no walks and three hits, including a home run by Alex Bregman. The owner of a 2.36 ERA in nearly 2,000 regular-season innings, Kershaw has dominated plenty of times in the fashion he did Tuesday. However, the postseason has been a different animal altogether for the three-time Cy Young Award winner.

With the Tuesday outing, Kershaw improved to 7-7 with a 4.21 ERA in the postseason. The 11 strikeouts were one shy of his career playoff best. Opponents might have gotten to Kershaw in earlier playoff rounds, but his record is now spotless after one World Series appearance.

"Well, I don't know if you can decipher between a postseason start and a World Series start," Kershaw said. "The adrenaline, I feel like every game is so much more magnified. You can't really tell the difference between another postseason (game) or a World Series start. But definitely feels good to say it was the World Series, and it feels good to say we're 1-0. And we have to come back tomorrow and do it again."

The Dodgers got all the offense they needed courtesy of co-National League Championship Series co-MVPs Taylor and Turner.

Taylor hit Astros starter Dallas Keuchel's first pitch of the game some 447 feet into the left field seats, raising the decibel level even higher from a crowd of 54,253 at Dodger Stadium.

Taylor became the fourth player in World Series history to lead off Game 1 of the World Series with a home run, joining Kansas City's Alcides Escobar (2015), Boston's Dustin Pedroia (2007) and Baltimore's Don Buford (1969).

"That's some of the fastest bat speed you'll see in the big leagues," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Taylor. "I don't know how it measures out. By the eye, it's pretty impressive. He jump-started them tonight on the first pitch. He got a first-pitch fastball to hit."

After Bregman's blast in the fourth, Turner drove one just over the wall in left field in the sixth for a two-run shot that also scored Taylor. Turner's four home runs this postseason are one shy of the club record for a single postseason set by Davey Lopes in 1978.

Turner has 26 postseason RBIs with the Dodgers, tying Duke Snider for the franchise record. No Dodger has ever recorded more RBIs than the 14 Turner has recorded in these playoffs.

After a strikeout and a foul out in his first two at-bats, Turner said he adjusted from a 34 1/2-ounce bat to one that was 33 1/2 ounces. The in-game adjustment worked.

"That was probably just as loud as it was on the walk-off homer (in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs)," Turner said. "That's the most electric I've ever seen (Dodger Stadium), which it should be as it's the first World Series here in 29 years. Our fans are fired up, pumped, and the buzz around the city is crazy."

Kershaw, utilizing a sharp slider, dominated early, striking out five in his first three innings. He didn't give up a hit until Josh Reddick's single in the third inning.

In the fourth, Kershaw's issue with the long ball this postseason surfaced when Bregman homered to left for his third of the playoffs. It was the seventh home run that Kershaw has given up this postseason. Kershaw still struck out the side in the fourth.

"I think (Houston) is a really good hitting team," Kershaw said. "They hit a lot of homers and don't strike out. There's little room for error. So it's important for me to establish pitches, be able to throw multiple things for strikes, and thankful I was able to do that tonight.

"I made a few mistakes -- obviously Bregman got me -- then I threw one down the middle to (Carlos) Correa that he popped up; that could've gone a long way, too. For the most part, though, I'll take it."

Bregman went 1-for-4 to raise postseason average to .196. Five of his eight hits in the playoffs have been for extra bases.

Despite striking out four times, George Springer will be back in the leadoff spot in Game 2, Hinch said.

"He had a tough night at work, and a lot of our guys did," Hinch said. "I know George has struggled. If he hits the first pitch (Wednesday) into the gap, or hits a single, or hits the ball out of the ballpark, you'd be amazed how good he feels."

NOTES: Astros RHP Justin Verlander, the AL Championship Series MVP, will start Game 2 on Wednesday against Dodgers LHP Rich Hill. ... The Dodgers added SS Corey Seager and RHP Brandon McCarthy to the World Series roster, dropping OF Curtis Granderson and C Kyle Farmer. Seager missed the NL Championship Series with a back injury. ... The Astros did not make any changes from their roster in the ALCS. ... Houston 3B Alex Bregman, at 23 years, 208 days, became the youngest American League player to hit a home run in a World Series since Manny Ramirez (23 years, 148 days) in 1995. ... Astros SS Carlos Correa became the seventh native of Puerto Rico to bat cleanup in a World Series game, joining teammate Carlos Beltran.