Enrique Hernandez led the offense for the Dodgers hitting his first career postseason home run in the second inning. He didn’t stop there, adding a grand slam in the third that put the Dodgers in the driver’s seat with a seven-run lead. Once more for good measure, Hernandez hit a third one out in the top of the ninth to carry the team back to Dodger’s Stadium to take on Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday....
Delivering his longest outing since late August, Arrieta threw 6 2/3 one-run innings while striking out nine to stave off an NLCS sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. An unenviable task for a starting pitcher, but Arrieta has been there before, pitching the Cubs through the 2015 wild-card game against the Pirates and in Game 6 of last year’s World Series “It’s not an ideal situation, but … I enjoy it,” Arrieta said after the Cubs’ 3-2 Game 5 win over Los Angeles....
ALCS Game 3 final score: Yankees 8, Astros 1 (Houston leads series 2-1) The drama of Games 1 and 2 was absent Monday from Game 3 of the ALCS between the Astros and Yankees, as New York jumped out to a big early lead and never looked back in an 8-1 win at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees got themselves back into the series after losing the first two games in Houston, and will look to tie things up in Game 4 on Tuesday evening....
The game was billed as a historic pitchers’ duel between the Mets’ Jacob deGrom and the Dodgers’ Zack Greinke, but each starter had a rough first inning before settling down. Daniel Murphy then emerged as a Game 5 hero by clubbing a solo homer off Greinke in the sixth to give the Mets a lead that stood up. MORE: Top NLDS photos | MLB postseason schedule | Ethier directs rant at Mattingly...
But here the Mets are, on the doorstep of the NL Championship Series against the Cubs after a gutty 3-2 win over the Dodgers on Thursday night. That’s the only word that applies, first to deGrom for lasting six innings with diminished stuff and, second, to Murphy, who hit the game-winning home run off Greinke. The blast capped off a three-hit night that, if not historic, will at least turn the second baseman into a cult hero in Flushing....
A short walk from Fenway Park is Ortiz’s gift to the rest of us. No, it’s not the newly-named David Ortiz Bridge over Interstate 90 between the ballpark and Kenmore Square. It’s on Boylston Street, at a burrito shop called Boloco — Boston Local Company — and it is called Big Papi’s Kitchen Burrito. There’s not a whole lot to it: a special “Big Papi’s Kitchen” salsa is paired with guacamole, pinto beans, hot sauce, sour cream, brown rice, lettuce, cheddar cheese and the meat of your choice....
One strike away from victory, Allen walked Dustin Pedroia. Again one strike away from victory, Allen gave up a line drive single to Jackie Bradley Jr. There was no action in the Cleveland bullpen, and Terry Francona had already used his two other top relievers, Andrew Miller and Bryan Shaw. It was all happening, not only for the Red Sox, but for David Ortiz, who had come out of the game in the eighth for a pinch-runner when he represented the tying run on second base....
The Mets got a crash course in that earlier this week; their season ended at the hands of a team that was straight garbage for the back half of 2016 solely because Madison Bumgarner is an October-triggered wrecking ball. It’s unfair, in terms mathemetical and otherwise, that the Giants advanced. It’s ridiculous. They don’t deserve it. MORE: The 50 best players in the MLB postseason It’s also kind of great....
Except it wasn’t clear enough for the umpires, who called Bohm safe in Atlanta and then again in MLB’s New York replay center. And that led to a second NL East game in four days being decided by a blown or missed call that was upheld by replay. In real-time, it looked as though Bohm successfully slid around Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who was blocking the plate. But then came the multiple replay angles showing Bohm’s foot hovering over the dish as he was being tagged on his back leg....
Eh, not really. But in February, in a time before coronavirus, MLB officially announced several rule changes that aimed to correct some of MLB’s ongoing pace of place issues while simultaneously throwing a monkey wrench in managing and team-building strategies. Of course, with a 60-game season happening this year, there’s a whole swath of different questions to ask and rules in place for a shortened year. While all the new rules in place look a bit more severe, when you think about them and really break it down, they’re not so bad....
Punishments for the players suspended for domestic violence have to be more harsh, and deterrents for the teams acquiring players suspended for domestic violence have to exist. Because this entire situation could have easily been avoided. That’s not to absolve the Astros. The organization has acted poorly, every step of the way. From assistant GM Brandon Taubman’s reprehensible comments shouted in the direction of three female reporters, to the responses from the Astros — which included smearing the integrity of Sports Illustrated reporter Stephanie Apstein — it’s been somehow almost worse, which is a difficult bar to shimmy under....
Arizona has acquired pitcher Zac Gallen from the Marlins, the team announced Wednesday. Gallen, 23, has been fantastic in limited time in the Marlins’ rotation posting a 1-3 record with a 2.72 ERA in seven games (seven starts) and 36 1/3 innings pitched. He also struck out 43 batters after he went 9-1 with a 1.77 ERA to start the year in Triple-A. The Marlins have received Jazz Chisholm in return....
U-T San Diego’s Jeff Sanders reports the AL East-leading Blue Jays have discussed acquiring Headley. Toronto can use infield help, with third baseman Juan Francisco struggling after a hot stretch and second baseman Brett Lawrie on the disabled list. Headley, though, is playing through his own health issues, Sanders notes. He’s dealing with a herniated disk in his back, and he has had calf, knee and arm ailments this year....
REPORTED BY: CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. MORE: Best landing spots for Justin Upton | Where should Papelbon go? THE DETAILS: After selling off Craig Kimbrel and Justin Upton on the eve of opening day, the Braves are looking to continue the rebuild. Heyman reports they are hoping for a mid-range prospect for Uribe and want the acquiring team to pick up the roughly $3 million remaining on his deal....
The word from Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal on Thursday was that LA is talking with the Padres, among other teams, about outfielder Matt Kemp. Catcher Yasmani Grandal could be part of the package going from San Diego to LA, and the Dodgers would pay a chunk of the $95 million remaining on Kemp’s contract through 2019. MORE: Orioles also eyeing Kemp | Dodgers in on Jon Lester | Greinke on the move?...
Johnson saved a total of 101 games in 2012 and 2013, leading the American League both seasons. But he also led the league in blown saves in 2013, and the Orioles are "trying hard to trade" him, Rosenthal reports. He is arbitration eligible and is likely to make more than $10 million in 2014 given his high save totals of the last two years. Kenley Jansen is the Dodgers' closer, so L....
On that same hand, the Phillies showed a lot of life last week, sweeping three games in Atlanta and then winning the first two of their four-game stop in St. Louis. Many expected that road trip to be the end of their dalliance with contention, but it most definitely wasn’t. The success might have shifted the thinking in Philadelphia’s front office, especially for general manager Ruben Amaro. “Everybody figured that after this road trip, we’d be done,’’ Amaro told USA Today....
The 31-year-old starter “is on the Yankees’ list of potential acquisitions,” but “the chances of his heading to New York do not appear especially good,” according to a report from The Athletic. The report adds: The Rangers are “increasingly likely” to move Minor before the July 31 trade deadline, according to an earlier report from MLB Network. “I feel like ever since I signed it’s been a topic,” Minor said last week about the rumors, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram....
Guccione will host Cordova, his parents and siblings Sunday at Coors Field, where the Rockies will play the Dodgers. Cordova is the 13-year-old umpire who was at the center of a brawl involving adults at a game between 7-year-olds in Lakewood, Colo., on June 15. “This is my state, this is where my heart is,” Guccione, a Colorado native, told The Denver Post on Thursday. “So when I saw the incident that happened, I was concerned....
