ReportWire

Tag: MLB World Series

  • Ohtani is unanimous MVP for 4th time in winning NL honor as Judge edges Raleigh for 3rd AL accolade

    Shohei Ohtani likes winning Most Valuable Player awards. He loves winning the World Series even more.

    The two-way Japanese star did both for a second season in a row for the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning his fourth career MVP on Thursday night while unanimously earning the National League honor. He’s just the second to win four MVPs after Barry Bonds with seven and the only player to win unanimously more than once.

    Considering Ohtani is 31, overtaking Bonds doesn’t seem out of the question. Especially if it leads to more Fall Classic opportunities.

    “If I’m playing well as an individual that means I’m helping the team win, so in that sense, hopefully I can end up with a couple more MVPs,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning games.”

    In the American League, Aaron Judge became the New York Yankees’ fourth three-time winner, edging Seattle’s Cal Raleigh with 17 first-place votes to 13 for the switch-hitting catcher. The vote was the closest for an MVP since the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout topped Houston’s Alex Bregman by 17-13 in 2019.

    Judge, who won the AL award in 2022 and 2024, joined Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle as three-time MVPs with the Yankees. The 33-year-old outfielder led the majors with a .331 batting average and 1.144 OPS while hitting 53 homers.

    When asked about his place in MLB and Yankees lore, Judge acknowledged he’s in rare company.

    “It’s tough for me to wrap my head around,” Judge said. “It’s mind blowing from my side of things, because I play this game to win, I play this game for my teammates, my family, all the fans in New York.”

    Later he added: “You’ve got to pinch yourself every single day. It’s truly an incredible honor.”

    Ohtani won a MVP for the third straight year, his second in the NL with the Dodgers after two in the AL with the Angels. He became the first to win in each league twice after getting the AL honor in 2021 and 2023. Ohtani signed with the crosstown Dodgers the following offseason and won NL MVP in 2024 during his first season in Chavez Ravine. He’s also won the World Series in both his seasons with the Dodgers.

    Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber finished second in the NL with 23 second-place votes and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto was third with four.

    Ohtani hit .282 and led the NL with a 1.014 OPS. He also had 55 homers, 102 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

    The right-hander returned to pitching in June after missing 1 1/2 seasons on the mound because of an elbow injury. He struck out 62 batters over 47 innings, slowly increasing his workload while preparing for the postseason.

    Ohtani continued to shine in October with arguably the greatest single game in MLB history. He hit three homers while striking out 10 over six dominant innings on Oct. 17, leading the Dodgers over Milwaukee to finish an NL Championship Series sweep.

    Schwarber, who earned a $50,000 bonus for finishing second, hit an NL-best 56 homers and led the big leagues with 132 RBIs for Philadelphia.

    Soto overcame a slow start to the season to have his typically stellar offensive output. The four-time All-Star — who signed a $765 million, 15-year deal last December — had 43 homers, 105 RBIs and an NL-best 38 stolen bases. He received a $150,000 bonus for finishing third in the MVP voting.

    Judge is the first AL player to win back-to-back MVPs since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera it in 2012 and 2013.

    Raleigh, nicknamed “Big Dumper,” led the big leagues with 60 homers, the most for a player primarily a catcher. He started 119 games behind the plate and another 38 at designated hitter.

    The 28-year-old also had a career-high 125 RBIs, leading the Mariners to one of their best seasons in franchise history. Judge said he got to know Raleigh a little during the All-Star break and the catcher asked for some leadership tips.

    “Cal’s a special player,” Judge said. “I could sit here and talk all night about the player he is, but really the kind of leader and person he is really stuck out to me at the All-Star Game.”

    Cleveland’s José Ramírez finished third in the AL.

    Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo was fourth in the NL voting, earning him $2.5 million annual salary increases in 2028 and 2029 along with the price of Arizona’s 2030 club option.

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  • Prince Harry apologizes to Canada over ‘Hat Gate.’ Duke sorry for wearing Dodgers cap

    LONDON — LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry went to Toronto for events marking the end of World War I and found himself on an apology tour for offending Canadians.

    Speaking to a military charity on Thursday night, the Duke of Sussex sought to once again address the “blue-hatted elephant in the room.” He was referring to his widely ridiculed choice to wear a Los Angeles Dodgers cap at a World Series game in Los Angeles against the Toronto Blue Jays.

    It was seen as a major snub in Canada, a British Commonwealth nation, where his father, King Charles III, is the head of state. He was blasted on social media in the Great White North.

    Harry apologized for the blunder and tried to put a humorous spin on the incident he referred to as “Hat Gate.”

    “When you’re missing a lot of hair on top, and you’re sitting under floodlights, you’ll take any hat that’s available,” he joked in an interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV.

    He then donned a Blue Jays cap that happened to be an arm’s length away.

    The incident was perceived by some as a test of his allegiance between his birthplace and his adopted home in the U.S. The prince and his wife, Meghan, stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to Canada briefly before settling in California.

    The appearance of Harry and Meghan at Game 4 of the series — that LA went on to win in seven games — also rankled some Dodgers fans who were upset at their prime position behind home plate.

    The couple sat in the first row – in front of LA royalty — Dodgers great Sandy Koufax and LA Laker star Magic Johnson, who is a part owner of the team.

    Harry said the couple, who live about an hour west of Los Angeles in the ritzy coastal enclave of Montecito, had been invited to the game by the team owner.

    He felt “under duress” and wore the hat as a polite gesture, something he told the Toronto audience that he thought Canadians — known for their civility — would support.

    Harry was in Canada for two days of events and meetings in advance of Remembrance Day on Tuesday that honors armed forces members who died in the line of duty.

    “I am truly sorry for wearing a Dodgers cap,” he said to applause at a dinner for the True Patriot Love Foundation, a charity for Canadian service members and veterans.

    He then played up his connections to the country, including the fact that his actor wife — before they married and when she was known as Meghan Markle — lived so long in Toronto filming the show “Suits” that many thought she was Canadian.

    “Hopefully you can forgive her as a native Californian for her Dodger’s loyalty, even if for just one evening,” he said. “But all jokes aside, this city has always meant a great deal to me — you provided me a wife.”

    Harry insisted that he was rooting for the Jays for the final three games of the series — an admission that he told CTV might make his return to LA more difficult.

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  • Key moments from the Dodgers’ wild World Series Game 7 win over the Blue Jays

    TORONTO — Late homers by Miguel Rojas and Will Smith rallied the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings Saturday night — one of the wildest Game 7s in World Series history.

    Los Angeles overcame 3-0 and 4-2 deficits and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to become baseball’s first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees won three titles in a row.

    Here are the top moments from the epic Game 7:

    The Blue Jays took an early 3-0 lead when Bichette connected against Ohtani for his first homer since Sept. 2 — a few days before sustaining a left knee injury that sidelined him until the World Series and still hampered him throughout.

    Ohtani was pitching on three days of rest, and although he was up to 100.9 mph with his fastball, his command was shaky and he appeared to run out of steam in the third. After fielding Nathan Lukes’ sacrifice bunt, he threw a wild pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and allowed Bichette’s homer on the next pitch, his 51st and last of the night.

    Both benches and bullpens cleared after Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski hit Giménez on the right hand with a pitch in the fourth inning. Wrobleski had already thrown two high-and-inside fastballs to Giménez with his first and fourth pitches before hitting him with a 96.4 mph fastball with one out.

    After the players returned to their benches and bullpens, the umpires huddled briefly before crew chief Mark Wegner issued a warning to both teams. Play resumed after a four-minute break between pitches.

    Max Muncy trimmed Toronto’s lead to 4-3 with a solo homer in the eighth, and that also guaranteed Ohtani would bat in the ninth. But the two-way superstar didn’t have to be the hero, after all.

    Rojas hit the first tying home run in the ninth inning or later of a World Series Game 7, according to Stats Perform. His one-out drive off Jeff Hoffman was just his second home run since the All-Star break and his second in 20 career postseason games.

    Blake Snell allowed two Toronto baserunners, prompting Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to bring in Yoshinobu Yamamoto a day after he threw 96 pitches in a Game 6 victory. Yamamoto hit Alejandro Kirk with a pitch, loading the bases, before the Dodgers escaped with two helter-skelter defensive plays.

    With the infield playing in to prevent the winning run, Rojas fielded Daulton Varsho’s grounder to second base and nearly fell over. He gathered himself and threw home, but the toss briefly pulled Smith off the plate. Smith’s toe barely reconnected with the plate in time to get the forceout, a call confirmed by video review.

    Then center fielder Andy Pages, who had just been inserted off the bench to provide better defense, collided with left fielder Kiké Hernández while catching Ernie Clement’s long fly on the left-center warning track. Pages held on for the final out of the inning despite knocking Hernández to the ground.

    Los Angeles loaded the bases with one out in the 10th inning, but Seranthony Domínguez got two quick outs to escape. Giménez threw out Mookie Betts at home plate on Pages’ grounder to shortstop, then Guerrero fielded Hernández’s grounder to first and flipped to Domínguez covering the bag on a close play.

    Smith set a record for most innings caught in a single World Series with 74, and he helped ensure he wouldn’t have to catch a 75th with his solo shot in the 11th.

    Smith hit a 2-0 slider from Shane Bieber into the Blue Jays’ bullpen in left field, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night. It was the first extra-inning homer in a World Series Game 7.

    Guerrero doubled off Yamamoto leading off the bottom of the 11th and advanced to third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s sacrifice bunt, and Toronto got the potential winning run on base when Addison Barger walked.

    Yamamoto then induced a game-ending 6-6-3 double play from Kirk, cementing the Dodgers’ second consecutive title and his World Series MVP award.

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  • Shohei Ohtani starts World Series Game 7 against Toronto

    TORONTO — Dave Roberts needed few words to tell Shohei Ohtani he was starting baseball’s biggest game: Game 7 of the World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Toronto Blue Jays.

    “Shohei, we don’t have long conversations,” the Dodgers manager said Saturday, 2 1/2 hours before the final game of the year.

    Max Scherzer was slated to be on the mound for Toronto, only the fourth pitcher to start multiple winner-take-all Game 7s. The Dodgers were trying to become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees and the Blue Jays were hoping for their first title since 1993.

    Ohtani is batting .318 in the World Series with three homers, five RBIs and eight walks. The unprecedented two-way star is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA after striking out six and walking one in his Game 4 start, when he threw 93 pitches.

    His only prior outing on three days’ rest was on April 21, 2017, when he allowed two hits over seven innings and struck out 11 in a 2-0 win over Kansas City. His start at Boston on April 17 was cut short by a rain delay after two innings and 31 pitches.

    Every other major league start by Ohtani has been with five or six or more days’ rest.

    “As far as innings, not sure,” Roberts said. “It depends how he comes out, how he looks, how he’s throwing, how he’s feeling. So I just kind of want to withhold kind of expectation and kind of read and react.”

    Starting Ohtani made more sense than using him in relief.

    Under a rule adopted for the 2022 season, pitchers who start games in the batting order can remain in the game as a designated hitter after leaving the mound. If Ohtani would start the game only as a DH and then would take the mound, the Dodgers would lose their DH and pitchers would have to bat in that slot if Ohtani was relieved.

    Roberts said the rule was a factor in having Ohtani start.

    “You don’t kind of pigeon hole him in his usage,” he said.

    Roberts anticipated the other dozen pitchers on his roster would be available. That included Tyler Glasnow, who threw three pitches in getting the final three outs of the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory in Game 6, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches over six innings for the win.

    Scherzer was joining Bob Gibson (1964, ’67, ’68) and Lew Burdette and Don Larsen (both 1957 and ’58) in starting multiple winner-take-all Game 7s in the World Series.

    Scherzer also started the last World Series Game 7 in 2019, boosted by a cortisone injection for an irritated nerve near his neck. Mad Max didn’t have a clean inning and left after five trailing by two runs before his Washington Nationals rallied to win 6-2 in Houston.

    A 41-year-old right-hander and three time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer allowed three runs and five hits over 4 1/3 innings in Game 3 on Monday, which the Dodgers won in 18 innings.

    Toronto manager John Schneider said 22-year-old rookie Trey Yesavage was likely to appear in relief on two days’ rest after throwing 104 pitches over seven innings in the Blue Jays’ Game 5 win.

    “We kind of have targeted spots in the lineup that we want him to face, and you got to kind of see when that is. It could be early, it could be late,” Schneider said.

    Yesavage made three relief appearances this year in the minors, two for Triple-A Buffalo and one for Double-A New Hampshire.

    “I think it’s cool that he’s a little bit versed in it,” Schneider said. “Obviously, different stage tonight than it is pitching in Triple-A, but I think he’s shown he can handle it, so he’ll be ready to go.”

    Yesavage entered to start an inning in all three relief appearances.

    “I’m going to try to give him a clean inning. I’m not sure it’s going to happen, with anyone really tonight, but that would be ideal.” Schneider said. “I think whenever a guy is used to starting an inning, you kind of want to do that with him, but I think he understands that that may not happen tonight.” ___

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  • Dodgers force World Series to decisive Game 7 by holding off Blue Jays 3-1

    TORONTO — A two-run lead was starting to slip away from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ninth inning — along with their chance to force the World Series to Game 7.

    And then Kiké Hernández turned what might have been a tying, two-run single by Andrés Giménez into the first game-ending left field-to-second base double play in postseason history.

    “The crazy thing is I had no idea where the ball was because it was in the lights the whole time,” Hernández said after preserving a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6 on Friday night.

    Instead of getting a World Series-winning, three-run homer like the one Joe Carter hit off Philadelphia’s Mitch Williams to capture the title in Game 6 in 1993, the Blue Jays were pushed to Game 7 and the Dodgers kept alive their chance to become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.

    Max Scherzer will start Game 7 for Toronto against a Dodgers pitcher still to be determined — perhaps two-way star Shohei Ohtani, perhaps Tyler Glasnow. The October Classic will end in November for the 10th time.

    “It’s the two best words in sports: Game 7,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.

    Yoshinobu Yamamoto beat Toronto for the second time in a week by allowing one run in six innings, and slumping Mookie Betts hit a two-run single in a three-run third against Kevin Gausman that included Will Smith’s go-ahead double.

    George Springer, back after missing two games with a sore right side, hit an RBI single in the bottom half, and the Dodgers held that 3-1 lead going to the ninth.

    Roki Sasaki hit Alejandro Kirk on the left wrist with an 0-2 splitter leading off and Addison Barger followed with a drive that landed at the base of the left-center wall. In a seldom-seen rarity, the ball lodged there instead of caroming back into play.

    Both runners crossed the plate as many in the Rogers Centre crowd initially thought Toronto had tied the game, but the rule book is clear that a ball lodged in a fence is a ground-rule double. The runners were placed at second and third, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in Glasnow, who was lined up to start Game 7 on normal rest.

    “I just felt that Roki wasn’t as sharp, and I just felt we needed some swing-and-miss and Glasnow was the guy. So I had him loose, kind of looming,” Roberts said.

    Glasnow escaped with just three pitches, earning the first save of the Series.

    Ernie Clement popped up his initial offering to first base. Giménez took a ball and hit the next 247 feet to the opposite field, in short left.

    Hernández said he decided to play more shallow than the Dodgers’ scouting card called for. He ran 52 feet and while on the run made a catch that had only a 40% probability, then delivered a one-hop throw to second baseman Miguel Rojas that doubled up Barger.

    “For a split second as Glasnow threw the ball, the crowd got quiet and I was able to hear that the bat broke,” Hernández said. “So I just got a really good jump on the ball and I came in and halfway there, the ball got in the lights. And I was just like, not the right time to stop to see where the ball is, just keep going.

    “It’s going to hit me in the face — but I’m not stopping,” Hernández remembered thinking. “I’m not pulling up. And at the very end, the ball came out of the lights and went into my glove.”

    Barger had gotten about halfway to third before scrambling back, and he reached second base too late with his headfirst slide.

    “I was being too aggressive, trying to score, try to tie that game if that ball drops,” Barger said.

    Even after the umpire signaled out, players had to wait 60 seconds for the call to be upheld by the replay room in New York.

    Rojas had been inserted into the lineup for his first start since Oct. 6 in an effort by Roberts to spark the Dodgers’ offense, which is batting .191 after winning with just four hits.

    “Pretty epic ending there,” Rojas said.

    Yamamoto was not quite as sharp as in his Game 2 four-hitter, the first World Series complete game in a decade. Rookie reliever Justin Wrobleski struck out Giménez to strand a runner at second in the seventh and Sasaki got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth when Bo Bichette fouled out and Daulton Varsho grounded out.

    Then came the first game-ending double play in World Series history in which an outfielder had a putout or assist, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

    “Man, we live for Game 7, so here we go,” Roberts said.

    Yamamoto, winner of three MVP awards in Japan, improved to 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA in five postseason starts and has a 1.20 ERA in his two Series outings.

    Tommy Edman doubled with one out in the third for the Dodgers’ first hit. Ohtani was intentionally walked for the fifth time in the Series and Smith hit an RBI double off the left-field wall on a high splitter. Freddie Freeman walked, bringing up Betts.

    With Los Angeles seeking its third title in six seasons, Roberts dropped the slumping Betts from second to third in the batting order in Game 5 and then to fourth in Game 6 — the lowest Betts had hit since 2017.

    Betts fell behind 1-2 in the count, fouled off two pitches and laced Gausman’s third straight fastball between shortstop and third for a 3-0 lead. That ended an 0-for-13 stretch with the bases loaded for the Dodgers that dated to the Division Series.

    “He could hit me seventh, I don’t care. I just want to win,” said Betts, already a three-time champion. “Whatever we do, however we get there, I’ll jump on whoever’s back to go. We all get a ring, that’s all I care about.”

    Scherzer and Glasnow started Game 3, won by the Dodgers 6-5 in 18 innings. A 41-year-old right-hander, Scherzer will become the fourth pitcher to start multiple World Series winner-take-all Game 7s after Bob Gibson (1964, ’67, ’68), Lew Burdette and Don Larsen (both 1957 and ’58). Scherzer allowed two runs over five innings for Washington against Houston in 2019, and the Nationals rallied for a 6-2 win.

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  • George Springer back in Blue Jays’ lineup for World Series Game 6 against Dodgers

    TORONTO — George Springer was back in the Toronto Blue Jays’ lineup for Game 6 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night after missing two games with an injury to his right side.

    Springer was set to lead off as designated hitter for the Blue Jays, who led the Series 3-2 and were one win from their first title since 1993.

    “Once you get confirmation that there’s nothing terribly wrong, it’s kind of ‘What can you tolerate?’” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s somehow, at age 36, made significant progress in the last 48 hours.”

    Bo Bichette, still regaining his fitness after a sprained knee that sidelined him for seven weeks, was at second base.

    Springer strained his right side while taking a swing in Game 3 and immediately left the game after the first pitch of his plate appearance.

    “It wasn’t great,” Schneider said of Springer’s exit. “He’s tough. I think any hitter, when you kind of feel something there, you get a little worried. I think that kind of scares guys a little bit but I’m really happy that he’s back.”

    Schneider said the Blue Jays don’t believe Springer can aggravate or worsen his pain by playing.

    “That’s kind of how we’re approaching it,” Schneider said. “There’s always some risk, too. There’s a difference between being injured and hurting. He’s not injured right now. But yeah, there’s always a risk.”

    Springer worked out in the batting cage and again on the field before Game 5. He was preparing to pinch run for Bichette in the ninth inning, but Bichette grounded out.

    “He was pretty close two days ago,” Schneider said of Springer. “It was just trying to balance another day and a half of rest or would he be all right. If we needed him, he was going to come into the game in some capacity. He’s a gamer, man. Ready to go.”

    Springer has the second-most leadoff homers in major league history with 63, trailing only Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson’s 81.

    Springer hit a three-run homer in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against Seattle on Oct. 20, playing a major role in sending the Blue Jays to their first World Series since 1993.

    That came three days after he was struck on the right kneecap by a 95.6 mph pitch from Seattle’s Bryan Woo during the ALCS, forcing him out of Game 5. Springer returned in Game 6.

    Springer was the World Series MVP for the Houston Astros in 2017, when he tied a Series record by hitting five homers against the Dodgers. Los Angeles fans have booed him at Dodger Stadium since that Astros title was later tainted by the revelation of their illegal sign stealing.

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    Associated Press freelancer writer Ian Harrison contributed to this report.

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  • With Gausman and Yamamoto, the splitter is back in the spotlight for World Series Game 6

    TORONTO — Mr. Splitty has returned.

    Showcased by World Series Game 6 starters Kevin Gausman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, split-finger fastballs have been used for 6.8% of postseason pitches this year, more than double last year’s 2.4% and up from 1.5% when pitch tracking started in 2008.

    “There’s so many good pitches in today’s game — there’s so many good sweepers and sliders and cutters,” Gausman said. “I think the split is almost kind of a just a little bit different of an animal. You can recognize the spin and you can still have a pretty ugly swing on it if the metrics are right.”

    Toronto used splitters a big league-high 9.3% of the time during the regular season, according to MLB Statcast. That was the highest percentage of any team since pitch tracking started in 2008, topping 7.8% by Minnesota in 2023 and Baltimore this year.

    Gausman has thrown his splitter 41.4% of the time in the postseason, followed on the Blue Jays by fellow starter Trey Yesavage (27.7%), closer Jeff Hoffman (25.9%) and relievers Seranthony Domínguez (16.7%) and Yariel Rodríguez (8.6%).

    Roki Sasaki, shifted from rotation to relief, tops the Dodgers at 45.9%, followed by Yamamoto at 24.7% and Shohei Ohtani at 7.4%.

    “Roger Craig is smiling somewhere,” New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, referring to the late pitching coach and manager, among the splitter’s most prominent proponents. “With all these cameras and technology and stuff, you’re really able to outfit guys with what they should be doing based on how their body moves.”

    Bruce Sutter, Jack Morris and John Smoltz utilized the splitter during careers that earned induction into the Hall of Fame.

    Splitters are throw with index and middle fingers spread wide, intended to have substantial downward break.

    Sutter credited his reaching the Hall to learning the splitter from Fred Martin, a big leaguer from 1946-50 who became a Chicago Cubs minor league instructor.

    “He told me to spread my fingers apart and throw it just like a fastball,” Sutter said during his Hall induction speech in 2006. “There were players throwing forkballs at the time and a few guys were using it for a changeup, but nobody was throwing what he called the split finger. It was a pitch that didn’t change how the game was played but developed a new way to get hitters out.”

    Craig taught the splitter to Morris as pitching coach of the Detroit Tigers and to Mike Scott when he was with the Houston Astros. Roger Clemens learned how to throw it from Scott at a charity golf event in 1986 and started calling the pitch “Mr. Splitty.”

    Usage dropped after the pitch gained a reputation for causing elbow injuries. Just 1.4% of regular-season pitches were splitters when tracking started. The percentage climbed to 2.2% in 2023, 3.1% in 2024 and 3.3% this year.

    “Going back a few years, I think certain people thought they couldn’t throw it, they couldn’t actually get their fingers wide enough,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Pitch design has changed, and I think guys have figured out different ways to grip it, like, Gaus’s is different than Trey’s, Trey’s is different than Seranthony’s, Yariel’s is different than — they all hold it a little bit differently. So I think pitchers have just gotten to the point where they understand that pitch works against certain swing types that are pretty prevalent in the league and they figured out ways to kind of manipulate to get the same action.”

    Gausman’s 37.6% splitter usage during the season was third behind Detroit’s Rafael Montero (46.9%) and Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran (39.7%) among those who threw at least 1,000 pitches.

    Among starting pitchers who threw at least 100 splitters, Yamamoto held batters to a .136 average, third behind Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (.119) and Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach (.132).

    Batters had a .181 average against Gausman’s splitter, down from .230 vs. his fastball and .342 against his slider.

    “One of the few pitches I thoroughly believe a hitter can know it’s coming and still get out,” Gausman said. “I’ve always felt like the changeup is the best pitch in the game because it looks like a fastball, and anything that looks like a fastball and isn’t is really good.”

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  • Shohei Ohtani could be used as an opener or even as an outfielder in Game 7

    TORONTO — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will consider using Shohei Ohtani as an opener or even as an outfielder in Game 7 if Los Angeles forces the World Series against Toronto to the limit.

    The two-way star threw 93 pitches in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss in Game 4 and could be available as a reliever this weekend in Toronto.

    However, if Ohtani entered as a reliever after starting the game as a designated hitter, the Dodgers would lose their DH. He can remain in the game as a DH if he also is the starting pitcher.

    “I think we would consider everything,” Roberts said Thursday, a day ahead of Game 6. “It’s more of just kind of doing whatever we can to get through tomorrow and then pick up the pieces and then see what’s the best way to attack a potential Game 7. So everything should be on the table and will be, for sure.”

    Roberts said he planned to discuss options with Ohtani later Thursday.

    Ohtani has never pitched in relief during his Major League Baseball career. He made a handful of relief appearances in Japan for the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, mostly as a rookie in 2013. He closed out Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic final against the United States, striking out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out.

    Ohtani is batting .250 with eight homers, 14 RBIs and 14 walks in the postseason for a 1.109 OPS and is 2-1 on the mound with a 3.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18 innings.

    If Ohtani entered as a reliever after starting as a DH, he would need to play a position to remain in the game once his mound appearance is over.

    He made seven outfield appearances with the Angels in 2021, the year before a rule was changed allowing starting pitchers to stay in games at DH after being removed from mound appearances.

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  • US World Series viewers drop 14% for first two games of Dodgers-Blue Jays matchup

    U.S. viewers for the first two games of the World Series between the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays dropped 14% from last year’s matchup between Los Angeles and the New York Yankees, but Canadian and Japanese audiences set records

    LOS ANGELES — U.S. viewers for the first two games of the World Series between the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays dropped 14% from last year’s matchup between Los Angeles and the New York Yankees, but Canadian and Japanese audiences set records.

    Last year’s first two games averaged 14.55 million and this year’s first two averaged 12.5 million on Fox, Fox Deportes, Fox One streaming, the Fox Sports app and Univision, Major League Baseball said Tuesday.

    MLB said the combined 32.6 million viewers for the opener in the U.S., Canada and Japan were its highest since the Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year title drought by beating Cleveland in Game 7 of the 2016 Series.

    Toronto’s 11-4 win in Game 1 averaged 13,305,000 and Los Angeles’ 5-1 victory in Game 2, which did not include Univision coverage, averaged 11.63 million, Fox said.

    Los Angeles’ 6-3, 10-inning win in last year’s opener that ended with Freddie Freeman’s grand slam was seen by 15.2 million, the most-watched Series game since 2019. The Dodgers’ 4-2 victory in Game 2 last year was viewed by 13.44 million.

    Game 1 this year drew 7 million viewers in Canada and Game 2 was watched by 6.6 million, the two most-watched Blue Jays games on Sportsnet. The network is owned by Rogers Communications Inc., the parent company of the Blue Jays.

    The opener also was broadcast with French-language commentary on TVA Sports and drew 502,000, that network’s most-watched game.

    This year’s opener averaged 11.8 million on NHK-G, the most-viewed World Series game in Japan televised by a single network, and Game 2 averaged 9.5 million on NHK-BS for a two-game Japanese average of 10.7 million.

    The two-game average in the U.S., Canada and Japan was 30.5 million.

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  • Blue Jays manager to Shohei Ohtani: We want our hat back — and your dog’s jacket

    TORONTO (AP) — While most of baseball is saying hats off to Shohei Ohtani, Toronto manager John Schneider wants a cap back from the two-way star.

    Before signing a $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-way star met with Blue Jays officials on Dec. 4, 2023, at the team’s spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida.

    Ohtani will be the opening batter of the World Series, leading off for the defending champion Dodgers against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday night after his unprecedented performance in the NL Championship Series.

    “I hope he brought his hat, the Blue Jay hat that he took from us in our meeting. I hope he brought it back, finally,” Schneider said Thursday.

    “And the jacket for Decoy,” he added, a reference to Ohtani’s dog, a Nederlanse kooikerhondje. “It’s like, give us our stuff back already.”

    Ohtani smiled when asked about the headgear.

    “It’s in my garage,” he said through a translator.

    Ohtani helped lead the Dodgers to last year’s title, hitting .310 with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases.

    Back to pitching in a limited role this season as he returned from elbow surgery, he batted .282 with 55 homers, 102 RBIs and 20 steals while going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts, striking out 62 in 47 innings.

    Last Friday, he homered three times while pitching six shutout innings and striking 10 against Milwaukee as the Dodgers completed a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series.

    Absent Ohtani, the Blue Jays had the finances to give first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500 million, 14-year contract that starts next year, and he helped Toronto reach the World Series for the first time since 1993.

    “He’s a great player,” Schneider said. “But that aside, I think that we have a great team and just an unbelievable cast of characters and players. I think things worked out the way they’re meant to work out.”

    Schneider isn’t sure how close the Blue Jays came to signing Ohtani.

    “When we met with him, you felt good about it, and you felt good about the feedback he was giving about our organization and opportunity here,” he said. “But you never really know what a player’s feeling in free agency, and there’s a lot of things that have to line up for them personally, too, so you can’t really think about what if. You think about the 26 (players) that we have.”

    Ohtani praised the Blue Jays.

    “It’s an unfortunate reality as a free agent that you get to really pick one team,” he said. “The decision had to be made, but again, this organization has been superb. They have a lot of awesome people.”

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  • Barger, Varsho and Kirk lead homer barrage as Blue Jays rout Dodgers 11-4 in World Series opener

    TORONTO — Addison Barger launched the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, Alejandro Kirk added a two-run homer in a nine-run sixth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays overwhelmed the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 in the opener Friday night.

    “That’s the epitome of our offense,” said Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement, who laced a tiebreaking single in the sixth. “It’s a collective effort and everybody just doing their job.”

    Daulton Varsho started Toronto’s comeback from a 2-0 deficit with a two-run drive in the fourth off two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.

    “I’ve faced him before plenty of times. He’s obviously dominated me,” Varsho said. “It’s one of those guys where you’ve got to get your best swing off and whatever happens, happens.”

    The longball barrage was fitting as the Fall Classic returned to Toronto for the first time since 1993, when Joe Carter hit the second walk-off homer to end a World Series. And in an unusual tie to that night 32 years ago, Varsho is named after Darren Daulton, the Philadelphia Phillies catcher Mitch Williams was throwing to when Carter connected.

    Shohei Ohtani hit his first Series home run for the heavily favored Dodgers, seeking to become the first repeat champion since the New York Yankees took three titles in a row from 1998-2000. Los Angeles was trailing by nine when he went deep off Braydon Fisher for a two-run shot in the seventh, his fourth homer in two games.

    Fans angry that Ohtani spurned the Blue Jays to sign a $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December 2023 chanted: “We don’t need you!” when he came to the plate in the ninth.

    “Don’t poke the bear,” Toronto pitcher Chris Bassitt said.

    Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is at Rogers Centre on Saturday night.

    “They bring it every night,” Clement said, referring to Blue Jays fans. “The last few months, honestly, they’ve been selling this place out and giving us a ton of energy. We’re lucky to have these fans.”

    Playing after a one-week layoff following its National League Championship Series sweep, Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead against 22-year-old rookie Trey Yesavage on RBI singles by Kiké Hernández in the second and Will Smith in the third.

    Yesavage made his fourth postseason start — one more than his regular-season career total. At 22 years, 88 days old he became the second-youngest pitcher to start a World Series opener behind Brooklyn’s Ralph Branca at 21 years, 267 days in 1947 at Yankee Stadium.

    Yesavage made some key pitches during his four innings, leaving the bases loaded in the second by retiring Ohtani on a groundout and stranding a runner at third the next inning when he struck out Max Muncy.

    Seranthony Domínguez got the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings.

    Varsho’s homer was the first off Snell by a left-handed hitter since Juan Soto connected for the Yankees on June 2 last year. Snell gave up a career-high five hits on changeups and allowed five runs, eight hits and three walks in five-plus innings.

    “Blake just didn’t have good fastball command,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There were just a couple bad walks in there.”

    Snell pitched in the Series for the first time since 2020 with Tampa Bay, when he was removed in the sixth inning of Game 6 while pitching a shutout against the Dodgers. Los Angeles rallied against the Rays’ bullpen for its first championship since 1988.

    Now the Dodgers are chasing their third title in six years.

    Coming off a seven-game ALCS against Seattle that ended Monday, Toronto got 14 hits and key contributions from Bo Bichette and Varsho, who combined with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to become the first trio of sons of former major leaguers to start for one team in a Series game.

    Returning from a sprained left knee that had sidelined him since Sept. 6, Bichette played second base for the first time in six years and favored the knee. He singled in the first, ranged to the left side of the infield to field a grounder and save a run, then with the score 2-2 drew a full-count walk from Snell starting the sixth.

    Twelve batters went to the plate in the inning. Clement singled off reliever Emmet Sheehan for a 3-2 lead, pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes drew a bases-loaded walk and Andrés Giménez added an RBI single.

    Barger greeted left-hander Anthony Banda with a 413-foot drive to right-center on a hanging slider to put Toronto ahead 9-2.

    “Just a blackout moment. Just crazy,” Barger said. “I was choking up a little bit, just trying to put the ball in the air and get a run in.”

    Kirk, who singled off the right-field wall a pitch before Varsho’s homer, added his fourth home run of the postseason.

    “We just didn’t make pitches when we need to to keep that game close,” Roberts said. “We need to be better.”

    Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman start Saturday night. Yamamoto won Game 2 of the Series last year, allowing one run and one hit over 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 victory over the Yankees and is coming off the first postseason complete game in eight years, a three-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers. Gausman will be making his Series debut.

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  • Rookie Trey Yesasave to start World Series opener for Blue Jays, just his 7th big league game

    Rookie Trey Yesasave will start Friday night’s World Series opener for the Toronto Blue Jays against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Blake Snell, giving the 22-year-old more postseason starts than career regular-season outings

    TORONTO — TORONTO (AP) — Rookie Trey Yesasave will start Friday night’s World Series opener for the Toronto Blue Jays against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Blake Snell, giving the 22-year-old more postseason starts than career regular-season outings.

    Yesavage, who debuted on Sept. 15, will be making his fourth postseason start.

    Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Thursday he wasn’t ready to announce his Game 2 starter from among Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber.

    Selected 20th overall in last year’s amateur draft from East Carolina University, Yesavage began the season at Class A Dunedin, was promoted to High-A Vancouver on May 20, Double-A New Hampshire on June 12 and Triple-A Buffalo on Aug. 12.

    He was 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA in three starts in September, striking out 16 in 14 innings, helped by a devastating splitter, with seven walks.

    Yesavage beat the New York Yankees with 5 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings in Game 2 of the Division Series as he struck out 11, lost Game 2 of the AL Championship Series when he allowed five runs in four innings, then won Game 6 of the ALCS on Sunday when he gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

    Gausman threw 19 pitches in relief in Game 7 of the ALCS on Monday against Seattle, three days after he tossed 91 pitches in his Game 5 start.

    “It made sense to hold Kevin for a day,” Schneider said, not committing to Gausman for Game 2 on Saturday or Game 3 on Monday at Dodger Stadium.

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  • Baseball could be in the midst of a Dodgers dynasty

    TORONTO — TORONTO (AP) — Baseball could be in the midst of a Dodgers dynasty, a much-debated word reserved for teams achieving sweeping success.

    By beating Toronto in the World Series that starts Friday night, Los Angeles would capture its third title in six years.

    “Just winning one is hard,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “If you can get three in a matter of five, six years, I guess you could say it is one. But I think it’s the sustained winning that the Dodgers have done for so long and then obviously to cement it with some championships, I think, yeah, I guess you can call this if we do it a modern-day dynasty.”

    Baseball has no widely accepted definition.

    Most give pantheon status to the 1949-53 New York Yankees (five straight titles), the 1936-39 Yankees (four), the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics (three) and the 1998-2000 Yankees (three) — the last team to win consecutive championships. The Dodgers are the first defending champion to reach the World Series since the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies.

    “The Dodgers have had an incredible, historic run, winning 12 out of the 13 division championships, and the one time they didn’t they won 106 games,” Emmy-winning commentator Bob Costas said. “That compares to what the Braves did in the ’90s and early 2000s. It’s historic and it’s an incredible run of excellence, but is it a dynasty? That’s a more difficult word to define.”

    Would beating the Toronto change his opinion?

    “I think a title this year moves them closer to that,” he said.

    Mookie Betts, who has been with the Dodgers since 2020, said he’s more concerned about preparing for games than contemplating the team’s historical place.

    “If you’re thinking about going to the postseason and obviously having a chance to win World Series year after year, I guess that would kind of qualify as some type of dynasty, but I don’t know what it takes to call it that,” he said.

    Since the expansion era started, the only consecutive titles have been won by the 1961-62 Yankees, the mid-70s A’s, the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds, the 1977-78 Yankees, the 1992-93 Toronto Blue Jays and the late-century Yankees.

    Earlier back-to-back titles also were won by the 1907-08 Chicago Cubs, 1910-11 Philadelphia A’s, 1915-16 Red Sox, 1921-22 New York Giants, 1927-28 Yankees and 1929-30 A’s.

    John Thorn, Major League Baseball’s official historian, thinks sustained success is sufficient to earn the dynasty honorific, even if every year didn’t result in a title.

    “I think a dynasty is today defined by consecutive pennants or division titles won, not by World Series championships,” he wrote in an email. “So I think the Atlanta Braves of recent years, the Detroit Tigers of 1907-09, or the Giants of 1911-1913, are in. Three straight WS appearances, rather than three straight titles, does it for me.”

    Los Angeles won the title during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and that year’s expanded playoffs, then beat the Yankees in a five-game Series last year. Winning this year would for some make them comparable to the Yankees, who won four in seven years from 1956-62, and the Dodgers, who took three in seven seasons from 1959-65.

    Teams with three titles in a four- or five-year span include the 1910-13 Philadelphia Athletics, the 1915-18 Boston Red Sox, the 1942-46 St. Louis Cardinals and the 2010-14 San Francisco Giants.

    “It just kind of puts us on a Mount Rushmore of sports organizations,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The legacy, dynasty talk, a lot of that I feel is is meant for other people that aren’t playing, and let them have those debates, where it’s our job to kind of put those topics on the table.”

    Betts considers each championship a boost toward the sport’s highest individual accomplishment.

    “Obviously, my end goal and the goal of probably everyone is to be in the Hall of Fame one day, and so I think that definitely helps the case,” he said.

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  • Judge remains without World Series ring as Yankees’ title drought reaches 16 years

    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge walked slowly from first base to the Yankees’ dugout after Cody Bellinger ended the game with a strikeout, then turned his head to watch the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate on New York’s infield.

    “You don’t like seeing it and it kind of leaves an impression,” Judge said. “Make sure this doesn’t happen next year.”

    New York’s 16th consecutive season without a World Series championship ended Wednesday night with a 5-2 loss to Toronto, which won the AL Division Series 3-1 and advanced to a matchup against Seattle or Detroit for the American League pennant.

    An hour after the game, Giancarlo Stanton walked over to Judge, seated by his locker in the quiet clubhouse, and put a consoling arm around the captain’s shoulder.

    “Didn’t execute when we needed to,” Stanton told reporters a few minutes later. “Timely at-bats, timely pitches, we just didn’t do it as well as they did.”

    Judge hit .500 with seven RBIs in seven postseason games, including .600 (9 for 15) with one homer, six RBIs, four walks and a 1.617 OPS against the Blue Jays. But a year after losing a five-game World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees are still looking for championship No. 28.

    “This has been a tough year for me personally,” manager Aaron Boone said after his eighth season without a title. “It’s terrible. It hurts.”

    Now 33 and perhaps on the verge of his third AL MVP award, Judge has had eight unfulfilling trips to the playoffs in 10 big league seasons.

    Instead of moving alongside Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Derek Jeter in adding to the Yankees’ championship collection, Judge remains in the same category as Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield — star players also known for not winning a World Series in the Bronx.

    “It doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen, and he and I wholeheartedly believe that it will,” Boone said. “You keep working your tail off to get back to this position and punch through.”

    Judge won his first AL batting title this season by hitting .331 with 114 RBIs and 53 home runs — reaching 50 for the fourth time. He is on a Hall of Fame track with a .294 career average and 368 homers, and he has a .235 postseason average with 17 homers and 41 RBIs in 65 games.

    “It’s almost like we take it for granted because he only had 50-something homers and not 60,” said Paul Goldschmidt, a seven-time All-Star who joined the Yankees for this season. “Took it to a whole new level. He’s the best that I’ve ever been around. He’s also just the greatest teammate I’ve been around, the best leader.”

    It is unclear whether Judge’s right elbow, both of Stanton’s elbows and shortstop Anthony Volpe’s left shoulder might need surgery.

    “We’ll do some work on it and get it right,” Judge said.

    Asked whether an operation could be needed, he responded: “I’m not a doctor. I don’t know.”

    A year after an AL East title and a five-game World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees had a winning record for the 33rd straight season. But they finished second to Toronto in the division on a tiebreaker, then rallied to win their best-of-three Wild Card Series against archrival Boston after losing the opener.

    New York was outscored 34-19 by the Blue Jays and outhomered 9-4, a surprise for an offense that led the major leagues with 274 homers and scored a big league-high 50.2% of its runs on longballs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

    And just like last year, defense precipitated the demise. Second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. allowed Andrés Giménez’s hard one-hopper to skip off his glove for an error instead of turning it into an inning-ending double play, and Nathan Lukes hit a two-out, two-run single off Devin Williams for a 4-1 lead in the seventh.

    “Just missed it,” Chisholm said an hour after the final out. “Been thinking about that since the play happened, still thinking about it now. Still can’t get it out of my head.”

    Judge’s supporting cast needs a remake. New York’s 4.37 bullpen ERA ranked 23rd out of 30 teams. The team’s 7-8-9 batters combined to hit just .224 with a .687 OPS. Volpe batted .212 during the season and .192 in the playoffs with 16 strikeouts in 26 at-bats.

    “I’m sure there will be a lot of sleepless nights,” Volpe said.

    Goldschmidt and outfielder Trent Grisham can become free agents along with Williams, Luke Weaver, Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough plus pitcher Paul Blackburn, infielder Amed Rosario and outfielder Austin Slater.

    Bellinger is likely to turn down his $25 million player option in favor of a $5 million buyout, and the Yankees probably will decline a $5 million option on oft-injured right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga. They could exercise a $3 million option on Hill.

    “It just sucks for the guys that this might be their last time wearing pinstripes, not getting a chance to have a long run with them and getting the championship,” Judge said.

    He urgently wants to keep chasing that ring.

    “I want to get back out there right now,” Judge said. “I wish spring training was in a couple of weeks so we can kind of get this going.”

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  • Yankees blow 5-run lead with epic defensive meltdown as Dodgers rally to clinch World Series

    Yankees blow 5-run lead with epic defensive meltdown as Dodgers rally to clinch World Series

    NEW YORK — Just when it appeared Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees were right back in this World Series, they all but handed away the trophy.

    An epic meltdown of defensive miscues, beginning with Judge’s embarrassing error in center field, helped the Los Angeles Dodgers rally in a five-run fifth inning that tied the score at 5.

    Young shortstop Anthony Volpe and ace pitcher Gerrit Cole also committed costly mistakes. New York’s bullpen squandered a one-run lead in the eighth, and the Dodgers held on for a 7-6 victory Wednesday night in Game 5 that wrapped up their eighth championship and second in five years.

    “This is like, as bad as it gets,” Cole said. “It’s the worst feeling that you can have.”

    Finally back in their first World Series since 2009, the Yankees didn’t last long.

    It was the latest autumn failure for baseball’s most successful franchise — one that used to own October.

    Not anymore. Not lately, at least. And in the Yankees’ universe, 15 years is a long time between titles.

    “We didn’t get the job done,” Judge said. “We made some mistakes along the way that hurt us.”

    On deck, an offseason of uncertainty as New York tries to retain free agent slugger Juan Soto, who is expected to have several eager suitors and command a massive contract.

    “I’m really happy with the city, with the team, how these guys do, but at the end of the day, we will see,” Soto said. “We’re going to look at every situation, every offer that we get and take a decision from there.

    “I feel like every team has the same opportunities,” he added. “I don’t want to say anybody has any advantage because at the end of the day we’re going to look at what they have and how much they want me.”

    Judge wants Soto back in the Big Apple.

    “I think everybody in this room wants him back,” the captain said. “You could look at the stats and what he did on the field, I think it was the type of leader he is in this clubhouse. He just does a lot of the little things that people don’t notice that truly make him one of the best players if not the best player in the game. … I definitely would love to see him in pinstripes for quite a long time.”

    After losing the first three games to LA, the Yankees won 11-4 in Game 4 behind Volpe to prevent a sweep. That left them looking to become the first of 25 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to force a Game 6, which would have been back at Dodger Stadium.

    And they got off to a rollicking start, too, with back-to-back homers by Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the first inning. Giancarlo Stanton went deep leading off the third, and the Bronx Bombers had a 5-0 cushion.

    “You feel pretty confident with your ace up there and a five-run lead, but you know, that’s baseball, man,” left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “They played the better baseball in this World Series.”

    Cole cruised through four hitless innings, pitching around a leadoff walk in the fourth with the help of a remarkable catch by Judge as he crashed hard into the left-center fence.

    California, here we come, right?

    Wrong.

    “I’m heartbroken,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The ending is cruel.”

    Kiké Hernández opened the fifth with a single, then Judge dropped Tommy Edman’s easy fly to center, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. It appeared Judge took his eye off the ball, which he tried snagging with just his glove hand.

    “You can’t give a good team like that extra outs,” Judge said. “It starts with me there on the line drive coming in, misplayed that. So that doesn’t happen, then I think we’ve got a different story tonight.”

    Will Smith followed with a grounder to the right of Volpe, who fielded it cleanly in the hole and tried to get the lead runner at third base. But he bounced a hurried throw that glanced off Chisholm’s glove for another error, loading the bases.

    After a mound visit, Cole buckled down and struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani as the sellout crowd of 49,263 at Yankee Stadium roared.

    And it looked as though Cole had wriggled out of the jam when Mookie Betts grounded a slow squibber to first baseman Anthony Rizzo. But because the ball was spinning so much, Rizzo waited back on it. Cole initially broke to cover first base, then stopped. And when Rizzo scooped up the ball, Cole was nowhere close.

    Cole pointed toward first, but by then Rizzo had no chance to beat the speedy Betts to the bag. He was credited with an infield single that shaved New York’s lead to 5-1.

    “I took a bad angle to the ball,” Cole said. “I wasn’t sure really off the bat how hard he hit it. … By the time the ball got by me, I was not in a position to cover first.”

    World Series MVP Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run single, matching a Fall Classic record with 12 RBIs, and Teoscar Hernández tied it with a two-run double over Judge’s head in left-center.

    “We didn’t take care of the ball well enough in that inning,” Boone said in an understatement.

    With the five-run advantage gone in a flash, the end almost felt inevitable.

    Stanton put the Yankees back in front 6-5 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, but reliever Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases with none out in the eighth on two singles and a four-pitch walk.

    A catcher’s interference call on Austin Wells also hurt as Lux and Betts came through with sac flies off closer Luke Weaver to give the Dodgers a 7-6 lead that right-handers Blake Treinen and Walker Buehler refused to relinquish.

    In the clubhouse afterward, Cole summed up the collapse with two words.

    “It’s brutal,” he said.

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  • Yamamoto shuts down Yankees as Dodgers win 4-2 for 2-0 lead in World Series

    Yamamoto shuts down Yankees as Dodgers win 4-2 for 2-0 lead in World Series

    LOS ANGELES — Yoshinobu Yamamoto walked back to his dugout and made the slightest tip of his cap to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the World Series.

    Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6 1/3 innings, Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight night and Los Angeles beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Saturday for a 2-0 Series lead.

    But the Dodgers will head to New York uncertain whether Shohei Ohtani can play after their biggest star partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide at second base.

    “We’re going to get some tests at some point tonight, tomorrow, and then we’ll know more in the next couple days,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The strength was great. The range of motion good. So we’re encouraged.”

    Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández also went deep off starter Carlos Rodón, who tied a Yankees World Series record by allowing three home runs.

    New York was held to one hit before the ninth, when the Yankees closed to 4-2 on Giancarlo Stanton’s one-out RBI single against Blake Treinen. Anthony Volpe struck out with the bases loaded, and Alex Vesia came in to retire pinch-hitter Jose Trevino on a first-pitch flyout for his first postseason save.

    “Thinking back to my front yard at my house, that’s what we would envision,” Vesia said.

    Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Forty-five of 56 teams holding 2-0 World Series leads have gone on to win the title.

    “No one said it’s going to be easy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s a long series, and we need to make it a long series now. We won’t flinch.”

    Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He is 1 for 9 in the Series and is hitting .150 with six RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 40 postseason at-bats.

    “Just expanding the zone. That’s really what it really comes down to,” Judge said. “I think it’s trying to make things happen instead of letting the game come to you. … Plain and simple, I’ve got to start swinging at strikes.”

    Yamamoto turned down the Yankees last December and joined the Dodgers for a $325 million, 12-year contract, a record for pitchers, teaming with Ohtani to create record interest in Major League Baseball back in Japan.

    The rookie right-hander threw seven scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium on June 7 but was sidelined from June 15 to Sept. 10 because of a strained rotator cuff. This was his finest start since the injury.

    Yamamoto gave up Juan Soto’s third-inning homer, then retired his last 11 batters.

    “He was made for those moments,” Hernández said. “He was doing it in Japan before he got here, and as soon as he got here, he was doing it here.”

    Yamamoto struck out four and walked two with a five-pitch array that included curveballs, splitters, sliders and cutters. He improved to 2-0 in four postseason starts.

    “It was kind of a mixed feeling because I was very (much) looking forward to it and happy, but then after I felt that I started trying to focus,” Yamamoto said through a translator.

    Soto’s fourth postseason homer, on an inside fastball, was the only run Yamamoto permitted in two starts and 13 1/3 innings against the Yankees this year.

    Soto also singled off the right-field wall in the ninth and scored on Stanton’s one-out base hit off the third-base bag. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, loading the bases.

    But the rally ended there.

    “This is everything to me, playing on the highest stage with literally the two biggest teams you can play for, biggest franchises, most history,” Vesia said.

    A night after Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in Series history to transform a 3-2 deficit with two outs in the 10th inning into a 6-3 win, Edman put the Dodgers ahead with a solo shot in the second.

    After Soto tied the score, Mookie Betts singled with two outs in the bottom half and Hernández, in a 3-for-27 slide, homered into the right-center pavilion. Freeman, who before Friday hadn’t gone deep since since Sept. 16, worked the count full and homered to right-center again.

    Playing on a sprained right ankle, Freeman has homered in four straight Series games dating to Atlanta’s last two games against Houston in 2021. That is one shy of the record held by Astros outfielder George Springer.

    Freeman had six days off entering the World Series.

    “I was able to calm my ankle down,” he said. “So hopefully with the flight tonight — I’ve been swelling a lot on flights — so, hopefully tomorrow we can get it down and get in a good spot for Game 3.”

    All three Dodgers homers came on fastballs from Rodón, whose 31 longballs allowed during the regular season tied for second-most in the major leagues. Los Angeles had back-to-back Series homers for just the second time, after Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager connected against Yankees lefty Ron Guidry for a 2-1 win in Game 5 in 1981.

    Rodón gave up four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. He got just one swing and miss on his fastball.

    Los Angeles took a 2-0 Series lead for the first time since 1988, when Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homer against Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley won the opener and Orel Hershiser followed with a three-hit shutout. The Yankees are 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when they rebounded to win three straight at home and lost Games 6 and 7 at Arizona.

    Ohtani’s MRI and a determination of his availability will be anxiously awaited by the Dodgers and their fans.

    “Not only the dugout, but the whole stadium went silent,” Hernández said. “Hopefully he’s OK and the day off tomorrow will help him get back on the field Monday.”

    UP NEXT

    Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt and Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler start on Monday. Schmidt has a 3.86 ERA in a pair of postseason starts, no-decisions in Game 3s against Kansas City and Cleveland. Buehler also has started a pair of Game 3s, allowing six runs over five innings in a 6-5 loss to San Diego and pitching four innings in an 8-0 win at the New York Mets.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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  • Texas Rangers win first World Series title with 5-0 win over Diamondbacks in Game 5

    Texas Rangers win first World Series title with 5-0 win over Diamondbacks in Game 5

    Mitch Garver broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh, Nathan Eovaldi threw six gritty innings and the Texas Rangers are World Series champs for the first time in their 63-year franchise history after beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0…

    ByDAVID BRANDT AP baseball writer

    November 1, 2023, 11:05 PM

    Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll (7) steals second base as Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) reaches to tag him during the first inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

    The Associated Press

    PHOENIX — Mitch Garver broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh, Nathan Eovaldi threw six gritty innings and the Texas Rangers are World Series champions for the first time in their 63-year franchise history after beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

    The Rangers finished with a postseason-record and nearly unfathomable 11-0 record on the road, capping the Fall Classic with three straight wins in the desert.

    One night after Texas took a 10-run lead by the third in a Game 4 snoozer, it finished the Series by outlasting the Diamondbacks in a white-knuckle pitchers’ duel through eight innings, piling on four runs in the ninth for good measure.

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  • Semien’s 5 RBIs, Seager’s home run lead Rangers over Diamondbacks 11-7 for 3-1 World Series lead

    Semien’s 5 RBIs, Seager’s home run lead Rangers over Diamondbacks 11-7 for 3-1 World Series lead

    PHOENIX — Adolis García gathered Texas Rangers hitters in a clubhouse side room Tuesday afternoon and told them his World Series was over.

    Max Scherzer was finished, too, injuries costing the American League champions their top slugger and potential Game 7 starting pitcher.

    “Pull together guys. Let’s finish it!” Travis Jankowski recalled García saying.

    Rangers batters not only bonded, they whipped through the Arizona Diamondbacks like a desert storm.

    Marcus Semien’s two-run triple and three-run homer powered Texas to a 10-run lead by the third inning, Corey Seager hit another long home run and the Rangers won 11-7 to move ahead three games to one in the World Series.

    “That took a lot of guts for him to come out there and speak,” Seager said of García. “He was vulnerable. He wants to be out there. He told us he loved us.”

    Texas improved to a record 10-0 on the road this postseason and closed within one win of the first title in the 63-season history of a franchise that started as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961.

    Nathan Eovaldi tries to clinch the third all-wild card Series on Wednesday night against Zac Gallen in a rematch of Game 1 starters.

    “We’ve got our top guy on the mound now,” Semien said. “He’s a guy who’s been waiting for this moment the entire year.”

    Forty-two of 49 previous teams to take 3-1 leads have gone on to win the World Series. The most recent club to overcome a 3-1 deficit was the Chicago Cubs against Cleveland in 2016.

    Rangers batters built a 10-0 cushion by becoming the first team in Series history with consecutive five-run innings. Seager’s third two-run homer of the Series capped the second, Semien’s drive punctuated the third and Jonah Heim added an eighth-inning shot.

    Texas scored its first 10 runs with two outs, battering an Arizona staff that needed four pitchers to get its first eight outs. Miguel Castro’s wild pitch brought home the first run, and an error by Gold Glove first baseman Christian Walker — the first by either team in the Series — led to five unearned runs in the third.

    “This was nothing that we saw coming,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It all came unraveled on us there in a matter of two innings.”

    Seager and Semien, All-Star middle infielders signed as free agents for $500 million combined before the 2022 season, have six RBIs each in the Series. Seager, the first shortstop with three Series homers, has four long balls in his last five games dating to the AL Championship Series. After leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to the 2020 title, he could join Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson as the only two-time World Series MVPs.

    Jankowski, replacing García in right field, singled in the second and hit a two-run double in the third in his first Series at-bats.

    “I was locked in last night waiting, preparing to start. I didn’t get the official news until 2 o’clock today,” Jankowski said. “Shoot, I’ve been ready to go 15 years ago.”

    Andrew Heaney, a 32-year-old lefty with his fifth big league team, earned the win by allowing four hits in five innings. Six relievers followed, with closer José Leclerc getting the final out.

    “We had a 10-run lead. It’s a lot easier to go out there, attack the strike zone and not feel so confined to having to make perfect pitches,” Heaney said.

    There was a festive mood at Chase Field, where the roof was open for the second straight night and some fans arrived in Halloween costumes.

    Josh Jung doubled off opener Joe Mantiply leading off the second and in came Castro, who gave up García’s winning homer in the 11th inning of Game 1. Jung advanced on a groundout and put Texas ahead when Castro bounced a changeup off the plate for a wild pitch.

    Semien hooked a slider that landed about 18 inches fair and bounced into the left-field corner for a two-run triple and a 3-0 lead.

    “Looking for the outside corner. It didn’t do what I want to do. It just kind of stayed in the zone there,” Castro said through a translator.

    Seager hit Kyle Nelson’s slider 431 feet off a video board above the right-center wall for his sixth postseason homer.

    “Made a mistake to the wrong hitter,” Nelson said. “The plan was to carefully pitch around him.”

    In the first World Series to open with three errorless games, Arizona’s defense cracked at an inopportune time. After singles by Jung and Nathaniel Lowe with one out in the third, Luis Frías relieved and Heim hit a sharp grounder to Walker, who had a chance for a double play but dropped the ball on the transfer as he looked to throw to second.

    Jankowski doubled and Semien sent a fastball at the letters over the left-field wall for his first homer since Sept. 27.

    “I hadn’t jogged around the bases in a while,” Semien said.

    Heim had been 0 for 12 before his homer against Ryne Nelson.

    TEAM HALLOWEEN

    Rangers players gathered with their families at the team hotel at 10 a.m. About two dozen children were in costume, with Jankowski’s two sons and daughter dressed as a falcon, Spider-Man and Bingo from “Bluey.”

    “I’m sure they’re all sugared up now, which is great,” Jankowski said after the game, breaking into a wide smile.

    LATE SURGE

    Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth for Arizona and a three-run homer in the eighth against Chris Stratton. Tommy Pham had a sacrifice fly in the eighth, and Gabriel Moreno delivered a two-run single in the ninth.

    STREAKING

    Arizona’s Ketel Marte had two hits, extending his record postseason hitting streak to 20 games.

    TRAINER’S ROOM

    García (left oblique) and Scherzer (back spasm) were removed from the Texas roster a day after getting hurt. INF/OF Ezequiel Durán and LHP Brock Burke were added, and Burke was charged with three runs in the eighth. … Seager appeared to twist one or both ankles on his home run swing. He was removed for for a pinch runner after doubling in the ninth and said he was fine. … Rangers rookie Evan Carter was hit on the right pinkie by a pitch in the ninth.

    UP NEXT

    Eovaldi is 4-0 with a 3.53 ERA in five starts this postseason. He left with a 5-3 deficit in Friday’s opener, allowing five runs and six hits over 4 2/3 innings.

    Gallen gave up three runs and four hits over five innings in the opener and is 2-2 with a 5.27 ERA in five postseason starts, yielding six homers in 27 1/3 innings.

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  • Listen to Every Diamondbacks-Rangers Matchup on SiriusXM

    Listen to Every Diamondbacks-Rangers Matchup on SiriusXM

    The 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers kicks off tonight, October 27, at 8:03pm ET. Tune in to live play-by-play of every matchup for both teams’ home and away feeds, plus the national feed, on SiriusXM.

    Listen to the Diamondbacks broadcast on the SiriusXM App & web player

    Listen to the Rangers broadcast on the SiriusXM App & web player

    Listen to the National broadcast on the SiriusXM App & web player

    World Series Preview

    The Arizona Diamondbacks have shown they are a force to be reckoned with. Led by their dynamic pitching staff, which boasts one of the best rotations in the league, and a potent offense featuring stars like Ketel Marte and Eduardo Escobar, the D-backs are looking to bring a World Series championship back to the desert.

    On the other side of the diamond, the Texas Rangers are no strangers to postseason glory. With a mix of seasoned veterans and emerging young talents, they’ve defied expectations to reach this stage. Slugger Joey Gallo and ace pitcher Lance Lynn have been instrumental in the Rangers’ journey to the World Series, and they’re eager to clinch their first title since 2011.

    The matchup is poised to be an intriguing battle of strengths. Arizona’s pitching staff, known for their precision and versatility, will be tasked with stifling the Rangers’ explosive offense. Meanwhile, Texas will need to find a way to crack the code of the Diamondbacks’ pitchers while navigating their own pitching challenges.

    Home Field Advantage?

    With 90 wins during the regular season, the Rangers have home field advantage now that the league has reverted back to awarding it the team with more wins (the D-backs won 84 games last season).

    World Series Schedule: Diamondbacks vs. Rangers

    Friday, October 27

    World Series Game 1: Rangers vs. Phillies/Diamondbacks, 8:03pm ET

    Saturday, October 28

    World Series Game 2: Rangers vs. Phillies/Diamondbacks  8:03pm ET

    Monday, October 30

    World Series Game 3: Phillies/Diamondbacks vs. Rangers, 8:03pm ET

    Tuesday, October 31

    World Series Game 4: Phillies/Diamondbacks vs. Rangers, 8:03pm ET

    Wednesday, November 1

    World Series Game 5*: Phillies/Diamondbacks vs. Rangers, 8:03pm ET

    Friday, November 3

    World Series Game 6*: Rangers vs. Phillies/Diamondbacks, 8:03pm ET

    Saturday, November 4

    World Series Game 7*: Rangers vs. Phillies/Diamondbacks, 8:03pm ET

    *-if necessary

    Check out other ways to listen – including our Spanish-language broadcast – and learn more about SiriusXM’s 2023 World Series coverage.


    Matt Simeone

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  • Former Boston Red Sox pitcher and 2-time World Series champion Tim Wakefield dies at age 57 | CNN

    Former Boston Red Sox pitcher and 2-time World Series champion Tim Wakefield dies at age 57 | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Longtime Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield died Sunday morning at age 57, the team announced in a news release.

    No cause of death was provided, though the team issued a statement earlier this week acknowledging that the former pitcher was battling a “disease,” and requesting privacy for the Wakefield family.

    “Our hearts are broken with the loss of Tim Wakefield,” the Red Sox posted on X on Sunday. “Wake embodied true goodness; a devoted husband, father, and teammate, beloved broadcaster, and the ultimate community leader. He gave so much to the game and all of Red Sox Nation.”

    Red Sox legend and baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz posted a photo on Instagram of him hugging Wakefield, writing, “I can’t describe what you mean to me and my family, my heart is broken right now because l will never be able to replace a brother and a friend like you.”

    “He was real. He was CLASS. This is truly horrible news,” longtime Boston sportswriter Bob Ryan wrote on X.

    Wakefield was drafted out of college as a first baseman but when his career stalled he turned to a rarely thrown pitch to make the majors. He became a right-handed starting pitcher famous for being one of the few big leaguers to feature a knuckleball and in his career he won 200 games,

    Wakefield played two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates before beginning a 17-year stint with the Red Sox. He won a pair of World Series championships with the Red Sox, including their win in 2004 after a historic rally in the American League Championship Series and their subsequent MLB title in 2007.

    He was the recipient of the 2010 Roberto Clemente Award recognizing “extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

    In 1995, Wakefield finished third in voting for the Cy Young Award and was selected as American League Comeback Player of the Year by the Sporting News.

    His 186 victories in his Red Sox career are just six behind team record-setters Young and Roger Clemens. Wakefield’s 3,006 innings and 430 starts are club records.

    At his retirement announcement in February 2012, Wakefield said all he ever wanted to do was to help the Red Sox be champions.

    “There have been many ups and downs along the way, but one thing is for sure, every time I stepped on that field I gave everything I had. All I ever wanted to do was win. And the bigger goal was to win a World Series for this great city,” he said. “So, finally, after 86 years we were able to do that (in 2004) and the greatest thrill for me was to share it with all the players before us, but more importantly was sharing it with generations and generations of Red Sox fans.”

    Following his 19-year career, Wakefield remained involved with the Red Sox organization, spending a total of 29 years with the club as a player, special assistant and broadcaster. Wakefield also served as the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation.

    “Tim’s kindness and indomitable spirit were as legendary as his knuckleball,” said Red Sox owner John Henry. “He not only captivated us on the field but was the rare athlete whose legacy extended beyond the record books to the countless lives he touched with his warmth and genuine spirit. He had a remarkable ability to uplift, inspire, and connect with others in a way that showed us the true definition of greatness. He embodied the very best of what it means to be a member of the Boston Red Sox and his loss is felt deeply by all of us.”

    MLB commissioner Rob Manfred called Wakefield a “respected teammate” and “one of the most unique pitchers of his generation.” His knuckleball was thrown with the tips of his index and middle fingers firmly planted on the leather cover and pushing the ball from his hands with the thumb and ring finger. That prevented the ball from spinning and made its path to the batter unpredictable and often bewildering.

    Manfred sent condolences of behalf of major league officials to his family, former teammates and friends.

    “We will continue to support our partners at Stand Up To Cancer in the memory of Tim and all those who are in the fight against this disease,” Manfred said in a statement.

    The Pirates said of Wakefield, “He was a great man who will be dearly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”

    Wakefield’s medical condition was not publicly known until Curt Schilling, a former teammate on the Red Sox, shared it on his podcast. Schilling was immediately and widely criticized for doing so, and the Red Sox released a statement clarifying that the information was “shared… without [the Wakefield family’s] permission.”

    Wakefield is survived by his wife, Stacy, and their children, Trevor and Brianna.

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