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.

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

Stats, LLC

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."

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

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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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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.

Hernandez belts 3 HRs; Dodgers win NL pennant

CHICAGO -- By the time Enrique Hernandez stepped to the plate in the ninth inning on Thursday night, Game 5 of the National League Championship Series was already a blur.

By the time the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated in a champagne-soaked room after clinching their first pennant since 1988, Hernandez -- who had sparked an 11-1 victory over the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs with three home runs -- was still foggy on the details on how the Dodgers had arrived in their celebratory moment.

Hernandez, whose three homers included a grand slam, drove in seven runs, providing Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw with more than enough offensive support to land Los Angeles in the World Series for the first time in 29 years.

"It's unbelievable," Hernandez said. "It's amazing."

Los Angeles closed out the NL Championship Series in five games. The Dodgers will face either the New York Yankees or Houston Astros in the World Series, with Game 1 scheduled for Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

Staked to an early comfortable lead, Kershaw (1-0) allowed one run, three hits and a walk while striking out five in six innings.

Hernandez capped the scoring in the ninth inning with a two-run blast as the Los Angeles left fielder tied a league championship series record with his seven RBIs.

"Tonight was his night to shine, and Clayton started the night and throwing a gem," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "For him to start and pitch the way he did, and for (Hernandez) to have a huge night -- three homers tonight -- just providing so much energy for us, and we fed off that tonight."

The Dodgers scored first for the first time in the series and jumped out to a 9-0 lead after three innings. Hernandez followed up his second-inning solo home run with a grand slam in the third after the Dodgers loaded the bases off Cubs starter Jose Quintana with four straight hits.

After Quintana was lifted in the third, reliever Hector Rondon struck out Logan Forsythe for the first out of the inning. Hernandez then lifted his second homer of the night into the basket above the right field wall to break the game open.

Justin Turner, who was named NLCS co-most valuable player along with Chris Taylor, also had an RBI single in the inning.

"It's a different guy every single night," Turner said of the multiple contributions the Dodgers got offensively. "Literally, (it's) a different guy in the lineup making that big swing."

Quintana surrendered six runs on six hits in two-plus innings. He walked one and fanned one as the Cubs' season ended in the NLCS for the second time in three years.

"We started out with a target on our back last year...but we were able to go through the whole thing," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "(We) got the World Series under our belt. (We) came back this year and (were) met with some kind of mental adversity is the best way I could describe it. It's baseball adversity.

"I thought we did a great job of overcoming."

The Dodgers padded their lead in the fourth on Forsythe's two-run double off John Lackey.

Kris Bryant finally got the Cubs on the board in the fourth inning when he homered after Kershaw had held Chicago without a hit for 3 1/3 innings.

By then, the Dodgers had built too great of a cushion and never relented until closer Kenley Jansen closed out the win in the ninth with the Dodgers leading by 10 runs. A short time later, the Dodgers celebrated their World Series return after winning for the seventh time in eight games in the postseason.

"We have four more wins to go," Kershaw said. "But we've heard 1988 for so long in L.A., it feels good to say that we're getting to go to the World Series in 2017."

NOTES: Dodgers 3B Justin Turner extended his postseason streak of reaching safely to eight games with a RBI single in the second inning. Turner reached safely in 23 of his past 24 postseason games since Oct. 9, 2015. ... Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw earned his sixth career postseason victory, which tied Burt Hooton for the most in franchise history. ... Cubs president Theo Epstein defended manager Joe Maddon, who was taking heat for some of his decision-making in managing the bullpen during the NLCS. "It's not manager against manager," Epstein said before Thursday's game. "That stuff just gets under the microscope so much this time of year. It's (about) players performing." ... Former Cubs catcher David Ross, who was a member of the 2016 World Series championship team, threw out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday.

LEADING OFF: Cubs face Dodgers’ Kershaw trailing 3-1 in NLCS

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ANOTHER DAY

The Cubs finally broke through for a win against the Dodgers in their NL Championship Series, but now they have to contend with ace Clayton Kershaw in Game 5. Kershaw limited Chicago to two runs over five innings in Game 1, a 5-2 win for Los Angeles. It’s a tough matchup for the Cubs, who are averaging 2.7 runs over nine postseason games — including a 9-8 win over Washington in NLDS Game 5.

Manager Joe Maddon will have work to do managing Chicago’s bullpen. Closer Wade Davis held on for a six-out save in Game 4, but that means the Cubs will have to look elsewhere for the late innings in Game 5. That’s problematic, since Chicago’s other relievers allowed eight runs over the first three games. Of course, Maddon will have to stay in the game long enough to make those calls — he was ejected Wednesday for the second time in the series.

TAKE A BREAK

Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and the slumping Astros get a day off, trailing the Yankees 3-2 in the AL Championship Series. Neither team is planning a workout at Minute Maid Park.

Houston led the majors in batting and scoring this season, but is hitting just .147 overall and has totaled only nine runs in the ALCS. George Springer and Josh Reddick, the 1-2 hitters in the Astros’ lineup, are a combined 2 for 35.

Veterans Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann both spoke to the Astros after a 5-0 loss Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. “Everything is OK. ... We have the home-field advantage,” Altuve said. “They did what they have to do, win their home games. Now it’s our turn.”

FOR HIRE

Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa has left the Diamondbacks’ organization, less than two weeks after Arizona lost the NL wild-card game to Colorado. He served as chief baseball officer in 2015-16 and became chief baseball analyst when the new regime of general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo arrived last spring.

The 73-year-old La Russa won three World Series championships as a manager — two with St. Louis, one with Oakland — worked as an Major League Baseball executive and played in the bigs as an infielder.

Cubs’ Maddon tossed again in NLCS; ump admits he missed call

By JIM LITKE
Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Cubs manager Joe Maddon turned out to be right. Even the umpire said so, later.

Maddon’s prize? He got ejected for the second time in the NL Championship Series.

At least he’ll get one more day in the dugout. Chicago reliever Wade Davis struck out Curtis Granderson on the next pitch after the disputed call and the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 Wednesday night in Game 4 to avoid a sweep.

Maddon lost his argument in the eighth inning over what was originally ruled a swinging strikeout of Granderson. That call was changed to a foul tip after Granderson objected and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts asked the umpires to confer on the field.

Under Major League Baseball rules, the play was not subject to video review.

“After looking at it (on replay afterward), I was dead wrong,” plate umpire Jim Wolf said. “I talked myself into the whole thing.”

Maddon said afterward, “If Granderson hit the next pitch out, I might come running out of the clubhouse in my jockstrap. It was really that bad.”

Wolf — the brother of former big league pitcher Randy Wolf — said afterward he heard “two distinct, separate sounds” on the pitch, believing the first to be the pitch bouncing in the dirt and the second being the pop of the catcher’s mitt. After Roberts appealed and Wolf gathered his crew, he was told by his fellow umps “that the ball did not bounce — it did hit the ground but it did not bounce.”

“I basically talked myself into ‘he did foul tip it,’” Wolf said.

Maddon didn’t buy the “two sounds” explanation at the moment and roared at several members of the crew. He wasn’t buying it afterward, either.

“I’m not going to sit here and bang on umpires. I love a lot of guys on this crew. I’ve know them a long time. But that can’t happen,” he said.

“The process was horrible. ... You have 40-some thousand people, it’s late in the game. The other sound could have come from some lady screaming in the first row.”

Maddon was ejected in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium after a call at home plate was overturned because of the slide rule. He basically acknowledged he was trying to get himself tossed this time around.

After poking more holes in the “two sounds” explanation, he said, “There is no way, no way I’m not getting ejected at that point. I’ve got make my point. Just being honest,” he added.

Crew chief Mike Winters confirmed Maddon had something to say “to everybody, because at that point, the process didn’t matter to him. It just mattered that it didn’t go his way.

“We were trying to calm him down and we tried not to eject him, but he made that impossible,” he said.

Baez bashes two homers as Cubs stay alive

CHICAGO -- Wade Davis peered toward home plate and prepared to throw his 48th and most important pitch of the game Wednesday night.

With a runner on first base, Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger represented the winning run at the plate. Justin Turner and his imposing bat waited on deck.

The Chicago closer unleashed a 92 mph four-seam fastball. It saved both the game and the season for the Cubs, as Bellinger grounded into a game-ending double play.

Chicago held on for a 3-2 win over the Dodgers to stave off elimination in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. Javier Baez hit two home runs and Willson Contreras homered once for the Cubs, who trimmed their series deficit to 3-1.

Game 5 is scheduled for Thursday night at Wrigley Field.

"Great to have this win," said Baez, the second baseman who fielded Bellinger's grounder and whipped a throw to shortstop Addison Russell to start the double play. "Because, if not, we were going home."

Chicago improved to 11-15 when facing elimination.

"I want there to be pressure," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a foul-tip call. "I want there to be a carrot at the end of the stick. I want all of that."

Bellinger and Turner each hit solo home runs for the Dodgers. The defeat snapped a six-game postseason win streak for Los Angeles, which remains one victory shy of reaching the World Series for the first time since 1988.

"We don't expect anyone to lay down," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "It's a very talented group. They're the world champs, and you know they're going to fight to the end. So today, they did.

"We got beat today. And I think the thing is, you can't win them all."

Right-hander Jake Arrieta (1-0) battled into the seventh inning in what might have been his final game with the Cubs. The soon-to-be free agent allowed one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked five and struck out nine.

Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood (0-1) allowed three solo home runs and a single in 4 2/3 innings in his first career postseason start. He walked none and struck out seven.

Davis posted the highest pitch count of his career, in the regular season or postseason, among games in which he earned a save. He allowed a home run to Turner to lead off the eighth and pitched around three walks to record the final six outs.

A bizarre sequence in the eighth as Dodgers center fielder Curtis Granderson appeared to swing and miss at strike three. After plate umpire Jim Wolf conferred with the other umpires, the call was overturned and ruled a foul tip.

Maddon was ejected after a vehement argument with replays being displayed on the video board showing that Granderson did not make contact. Davis officially struck out Granderson on the next pitch, and he also struck out Chase Utley to escape the jam.

"That can't happen," Maddon said. "The process was horrible. ... If Granderson hits the next pitch out, I might come running out of the clubhouse in my jockstrap."

Chicago jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second behind solo home runs from Contreras and Baez.

Contreras stood to admire his monster shot, which traveled an estimated 491 feet and slammed off the video board in left field. Baez pulled a towering blast just inside the left field foul pole.

Los Angeles cut the deficit to 2-1 in the following inning on Bellinger's line-drive shot down the right field line. The homer was Bellinger's first of the series and second of the postseason.

Baez homered again in the fifth to increase Chicago's lead to 3-1. He clubbed a low pitch into the first row of the left field bleachers for the first multi-homer postseason game of his career.

Baez became the fifth Cubs player to homer twice in a playoff game. The last player to do so was Aramis Ramirez in Game 4 of the 2003 NLCS.

"Tonight, I just said to myself not to try too much, and I didn't," Baez said. "And there you have it."

NOTES: Cubs 2B Javier Baez entered the night in an 0-for-20 postseason skid. ... Dodgers OF Yasiel Puig hit safely for the fifth time in seven postseason games. ... Cubs OF Albert Almora Jr. batted in the leadoff spot for the first time in the series and went 1-for-4. ... Dodgers C Yasmani Grandal made his series debut and went 0-for-1 with three walks. ... Cubs C Willson Contreras and Dodgers 3B Justin Turner became the third and fourth players to homer off the left field video board in 2017.

A year after 1st title since 1908, Cubs trail Dodgers 3-0

By ANDREW SELIGMAN
Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Schwarber had fans roaring, thinking the Chicago Cubs just might be ready to tighten the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Turns out, his home run in the first inning was about all they had to cheer.

Yu Darvish shut down Chicago after Schwarber went deep, putting the Cubs on the verge of being swept in the NLCS for the second time in three years after Tuesday’s night’s 6-1 loss.

After knocking out Los Angeles last fall on the way to their first World Series championship since consecutive titles in 1907 and 1908, hopes of another parade are just about dashed.

“Tomorrow is a Game 7. We have three or four Game 7s in a row coming up right now,” manager Joe Maddon said.

Jake Arrieta will try to keep the series going when he opposes Dodgers lefty Alex Wood on Wednesday night. Arrieta can become a free agent this winter, so it might be his final start for Chicago. And unless the Cubs get their offense and struggling bullpen in order, the season could come to a close.

Chicago has been in tough spots before, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat Cleveland in seven games for the World Series title last year. The Cubs also pulled out a wild victory at Washington in Game 5 of the Division Series this month after failing to close out the Nationals at Wrigley Field.

“I don’t think there’s any need to change anything,” said Kris Bryant, who had two hits after going 1 for 8 through the first two games of the series. “I think we can even play more loose because ... no one’s expecting us to come back except the guys in this room.”

It was Bryant who asked “why not us?” after the Cubs won Game 5 to send the 2016 World Series back to Cleveland and start their historic comeback. It will take another epic effort to knock off Los Angeles, particularly the way they are hitting.

The Cubs are batting .160 with four extra-base hits through three games.

“Of course we expected more,” Maddon said. “It’s somewhat surprising. I don’t want to use the word disappointing.”

Batting second, Schwarber hit an opposite-field drive to left-center for a 1-0 lead in the first.

“Hey, whenever you jump out to an early lead, you want that to be the momentum,” Schwarber said. “Any way that you can get the crowd into it — the players are enjoying it, I’m enjoying it, whatever it is — you want that to be momentum.”

Darvish took the Cubs and the crowd right out of it, holding Chicago to one run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks couldn’t match him.

The right-hander gave up four runs and six hits, including solo homers to Andre Ethier and Chris Taylor. It was his second straight shaky start after outpitching Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg in a dominant effort to win Game 1 of the NLDS.

Los Angeles led 3-1 with runners on first and second and none out in the sixth when Carl Edwards Jr. — erratic in the playoffs after a strong season — relieved Hendricks and walked Austin Barnes with one out. Joc Pederson flied out and Edwards walked Darvish on four pitches. After Taylor struck out to end the rally, boos came ringing from the Wrigley Field stands.

Struggling reliever Mike Montgomery gave up two more runs in the eighth. With runners on first and second, pinch-hitter Charlie Culberson struck out, only for the pitch to ricochet off catcher Willson Contreras’ arm for a passed ball that allowed Logan Forsythe to score. With runners at the corners, Kyle Farmer followed with a sacrifice fly.

“That’s a great ballclub over there,” Cubs shortstop Addison Russell said. “They’re doing things right.”

The Cubs could be on the way out, after barely squeezing past Washington. They experienced more drama on their way out west after that draining series.

Their cross-country flight to Los Angeles made an unscheduled stop in Albuquerque because Jose Quintana’s wife, Michel, experienced an irregular heartbeat. The team remained on the ground for five hours to change pilots.

Quintana joined his teammates in Los Angeles on Friday night and started Game 1 the following night.

The Cubs could be excused for feeling a bit drained. Though Schwarber shot down that idea, saying, “We’re not running out of gas at all,” Russell notices some signs of fatigue.

“I wouldn’t say we’re running out of gas,” he said. “I would just say some things here and there are a little bit fatigued. But we put the right guys out there every single day."

LEADING OFF: Dodgers seek sweep; Yanks try to solve Keuchel

Associated Press

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

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BRING OUT THE BROOMS

One win from their first World Series appearance in 29 years, the Los Angeles Dodgers go for a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Championship Series at Wrigley Field (9:08 p.m. EDT). Los Angeles is 6-0 in this postseason, setting a franchise record for consecutive playoff victories. Another one would give the storied franchise its 22nd pennant. The Dodgers’ only four-game postseason sweep came in the 1963 World Series against the New York Yankees.

HISTORY ON HIS SIDE

With the AL Championship Series tied at two games apiece, Dallas Keuchel pitches for the Houston Astros against Masahiro Tanaka and the New York Yankees (5:08 p.m. EDT). Keuchel is 6-2 with a 1.09 ERA in eight career starts vs. the Yankees, including a pair of scoreless playoff outings. The 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner tossed seven shutout innings and struck out 10 to beat Tanaka 2-1 in Game 1 at Houston. The left-hander has never given up a home run in 57 2/3 innings against the Yankees. “Hopefully, seeing him twice in one series, our guys are able to adjust a little quicker,” New York manager Joe Girardi said.

FRESH ARMS

It’s a matchup of well-rested pitchers when Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood and Cubs righty Jake Arrieta square off in Game 4 of the NLCS. Wood, who had a career-high 16 wins this season, will make his first appearance since Sept. 26. He was lined up for Game 4 of the Division Series, but the Dodgers swept the Diamondbacks in three straight.

“It has its pluses and negatives,” Wood said of the layoff. “I’ve stayed on a semi-regular schedule. I’ve had two (simulated) games in between against a lot of our regular guys in our lineup.”

Arrieta has pitched just 14 1/3 innings since Aug. 30, including four innings of two-hit ball against Washington in Game 4 of the NLDS. The 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner was hampered by a right hamstring injury at the end of the season.

“I think the leg issue is pretty much behind us,” he said.

Arrieta can become a free agent after the World Series, so this could be his final start for the Cubs.

HOME SWEET HOME

Aaron Judge and the wild-card Yankees are 5-0 at home this postseason heading into Game 5 of the ALCS against the Astros. The winner heads to Houston needing one win to reach the World Series, so Yankee Stadium figures to be rocking again. “Every home game has been special,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I just feel like the fans are back. And I see things that I haven’t in a while, and it reminds me a lot of when I was playing here.” New York has won 18 of its last 21 home games.

LAST CHANCE

Last season, the Cubs eliminated the Dodgers in the NLCS on the way to their first World Series title since 1908. But in the rematch this year, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and their teammates have been shut down at the plate by Los Angeles pitching. Trailing 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, Chicago needs a win to avoid being swept in the NLCS for the second time in three years. “We have three or four Game 7s in a row coming up right now,” manager Joe Maddon said.

CATCHING ON

Gary Sanchez is expected back behind the plate to catch Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka after backup Austin Romine caught Sonny Gray in Game 4 of the ALCS on Tuesday. Sanchez was the designated hitter and broke out of his slump with three RBIs, including a two-run double that snapped an eighth-inning tie. New York rallied from four runs down for a 6-4 victory over Houston that evened the best-of-seven series 2-all.