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Tag: Professional baseball

  • Rays place closer Pete Fairbanks on injured list with nerve-related issues

    Rays place closer Pete Fairbanks on injured list with nerve-related issues

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.  — The Tampa Bay Rays placed struggling closer Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list with nerve-related issues before Monday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers.

    What You Need To Know

    • Tampa Bay closer Pete Fairbanks has periodically been experiencing numbness in his fingers

    • The Rays have added him to their 15-day injured list

    • Fairbanks has gone 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in eight games

    • Tampa Bay recalled reliever Kevin Kelly from Class AAA Durham to fill Fairbanks’ spot

    Fairbanks has experienced numbness in his fingers at times over the past few years, and the problem flared up again on Saturday and Sunday.

    “Felt like he had a little bit of a zinger in his hand just playing catch,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “Got treatment the entire day on Saturday. We were still optimistic that he was going to be good to go on Sunday, but it repeated itself Sunday before the game.”

    Fairbanks has had tests on his shoulder and arm, with additional testing to be done.

    “We’ll continue to kind of check boxes to see if we can narrow it down,” Cash said. “Not sure where it’s going to go, but felt like it was time to rest and run some imaging from his neck to shoulder all the way down to the fingers to see if we can see anything.”

    Fairbanks has had a frustrating season, going 0-2 with a 9.00 earned run average in eight games. The right-hander has allowed eight runs — seven earned — over seven innings.

    The Rays recalled reliever Kevin Kelly from Class AAA Durham to take Fairbanks’ spot on the roster.

    Cash plans to fill the closer role by looking at matchups, with Colin Poche, Jason Adam, Shawn Armstrong and Garrett Cleavinger all expected to get chances.

    Spectrum Sports Staff

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  • Waguespack and 5 relievers combine on a 6-hitter and Rays beat Giants 2-1

    Waguespack and 5 relievers combine on a 6-hitter and Rays beat Giants 2-1

    BY MARK DIDTLER

    Updated 10:18 PM EDT, April 12, 2024

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jacob Waguespack and five relievers combined on a six-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Friday night.

    Waguespack gave up one run and four hits over four innings in his first start since Sept. 25, 2019, and fourth appearance this season. Garrett Cleavinger (2-0) followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

    Phil Maton, Colon Poche, Jason Adam and Pete Fairbanks — who worked the ninth to get his third save in as many chances — closed out the Rays’ fifth win in six games. Fairbanks retired the final two batters with a runner on third.

    “Really good job from the bullpen from the start really, including Waguespack, he kind of set the tone,” Poche said.

    Tampa Bay has five starting pitchers on the injured list and the Rays’ bullpen entered with an AL-worst 6.43 ERA.

    San Francisco has three extra-base hits, including one Friday, over the last three games and gone without a homer in seven straight. The Giants went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position against Tampa Bay.

    “Just didn’t get great at-bats in those situations,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.

    Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead on Amed Rosario’s RBI double. Rosario was awarded third when third baseman Matt Chapman was called for obstruction on the Rays’ second basemen’s slide.

    “That’s going to look funny all year,” Melvin said, “It’s the first time we’ve seen it called like that.”

    Harold Ramirez scored on Rosario’s hit after beating out an infield single.

    “I didn’t know he was that fast,” Rosario said through a translator.

    Melvin was ejected by plate umpire Clint Vondrak for arguing after Jorge Soler was called out on strikes on a pitch by Poche with two on to end the top of the seventh.

    “He’s been calling the top of the zone the whole game and he called that one, which has not been called and it looked like it was way below the zone in that situation,” Melvin said. “For me, it was pretty egregious.”

    San Francisco starter Keaton Winn (0-3) nearly worked out of a base-loaded, no-out jam in the second with a pair of strikeouts, but walked Yandy Díaz on a 3-2 pitch. He avoided further damage by retiring Randy Arozarena on a grounder.

    Winn allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out six.

    San Francisco tied it at 1 in the third when Jung Hoo Lee singled, stole second and went to third on catcher Ben Rortvedt’s throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch.

    TRAINER’S ROOM

    Giants: RHP Alex Cobb (left hip surgery) could throw off a bullpen mound next week. … LHP Robbie Ray (Tommy John surgery) is throwing off a mound and is expected back sometime after the All-Star break.

    Rays: 2B Brandon Lowe (right oblique strain) was placed on the 10-day IL and INF-OF Niko Goodrum was recalled from Triple-A Durham.

    UP NEXT

    Giants RHP Logan Webb (0-1) and Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-1) are Saturday’s starters.

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

    Associated Press

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  • Tropicana Field sporting new striped turf for new season

    Tropicana Field sporting new striped turf for new season

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Even with plans for a new stadium in the works, fans will see some upgrades at Tropicana Field when they enter the doors on Opening Day.

    In the off season, the turf was replaced by a striped field. The stripes are meant to resemble a mowed grass field, similar to the Rays’ spring training facility and many other major league ballparks around the country.


    Instead of the traditional rubber pellets, the turf is lined with a half-inch thick pad that’s backfilled with sand and topped with ground up coconut husk. The warning track is slightly different, and topped with ground walnut shells to create a different sound and feel for the players.

    “In years past, you can only rely on your peripheral vision to see where the red is,” Director of Field Operations Dan Moeller explained. “But now they can feel the difference.”

    The Rays donated more than 75,000 square feet of the old turf to the city of St Pete and Hillsborough County to be used for soccer fields and batting cages.

    Earlier this year, the Rays discovered that the cupula structure on the top of the field’s dome had to be repaired and replaced. GMF Steel Group took on the project and decided after examining the dome that the best way to replace the cupula was using a helicopter and working from the outside.

    “You could, in theory if something went wrong, you could damage the stadium and there could be a big problem before Opening Day,” President Andy Norman explained. “We also had to make sure it wasn’t going to fall apart and then fall through the roof or near any of the workers nearby.”

    On a morning in early March, the group completed the project, and the dome is ready for Opening Day.

    Click on the video link above to watch the story.

    Angie Angers

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  • MLB Spring Training boosts economy in Lakeland

    MLB Spring Training boosts economy in Lakeland

    LAKELAND, Fla. — MLB Spring Training is in full swing in Florida with the first week of games already underway.

    It’s an economic boost in the Bay area for towns near the beach, but spots further inland are seeing the benefit of baseball fans’ business, too.

    Good luck getting a table inside Charlie’s Family Restaurant by Dee a couple hours before the first pitch of a Detroit Tigers game in Lakeland.

    It’s packed in here, and if Delicia Ebare, who’s the ‘Dee’ in the name of the restaurant, doesn’t stay clocked in, things can get overwhelming.

    “We’ve been staying on top of it this morning, more so,” she said. “But if you breathe the wrong way, you’ll get behind.”

    Charlie’s has been right across the street from TigerTown since 1996, where the Detroit Tigers’ spring training facility is located.

    It’s Ebare’s 27th year serving Tigers fans and says it’s pretty much like this daily for the two months major league baseball is here.

    “Usually, around the beginning of February, we’ll start getting people coming and going over to the stadium,” Ebare said.

    Whether it’s Detroiters or folks supporting the visiting team, the important thing for spots like Charlie’s is the money they bring with them.

    According to previous reports from the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, spring training brings in over $50 million to the city’s economy.

    It creates must-stop shops like Charlie’s for people looking for a bite before teams take the field.

    “It brings a lot of revenue for the whole area, and it gets us seen,” Ebare said. “Like I said, traffic gets backed up and we’re in a small area, you know, shopping center. So, people get to see us when they’re stopped at the lights.”

    Not to mention, with more people moving to Florida, having the Tigers take the field in Lakeland for the 88th straight year adds even more to do in this growing part of the state.

    “Lakeland is growing, so we’re catching up with the rest of the surrounding cities,” Ebare said.

    Loading up the local economy is creating as much excitement for folks in Lakeland as it does for Tiger fans when their team loads up the bases on the field.

    Nick Popham

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  • Play Ball! Grapefruit League games begin this weekend

    Play Ball! Grapefruit League games begin this weekend

    TAMPA, Fla. — Major League Baseball Spring Training begins in Florida this weekend with teams, including the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees, playing their first games of the season on Saturday.

    Florida is playing host to 13 MLB teams this year for Spring Training, including several that call the Tampa area their spring training homes.

    What You Need To Know

    • MLB Spring Training games start across Florida this weekend

    • The Tampa Bay Rays will play their first game Saturday against the Atlanta Braves

    • The New York Yankees will play their first game Saturday against the Detroit Tigers

    • Florida is playing hosts 13 MLB teams for spring training this year
    • Bay News 9 Spring Training guide 2024 

    The New York Yankess in Tampa are a big draw for fans traveling from New York. Some of those fans stay in Tampa for several weeks each year.

    In Tampa’s Midtown, Senior Sales Manager for Aloft Midtown Nancy Jennings says hotel bookings have been solid since January.

    In fact, she says, booking a room right now requires at least a month or two lead time.

    “Our February, we are looking at an occupancy for the month at around 90%, and our expected, possibly in March, to be more than 90%” said Jennings. “So that’s 90% of the month, which is a lot of sold out nights.”

    The influx of MLB Spring Training fans isn’t just good for local hotels. 

    Local bars, restaurants, and shops also benefit from spring training visitors.

    The Red Sox, Orioles, Pirates, Twins, Cardinals, Mets, Marlins, Phillies and Blue Jays will all play their first spring training games Saturday, along with the Rays and Braves and the Yankees and Tigers.

    Check the Bay News 9 Spring Training Guide for game times, ballpark maps and ticket information. 

    Jason Lanning

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  • AP source: Aaron Judge, Yankees reach $360M, 9-year deal

    AP source: Aaron Judge, Yankees reach $360M, 9-year deal

    SAN DIEGO — Aaron Judge has issued his ruling: Court remains in session in the Bronx.

    Judge is staying with the New York Yankees on a $360 million, nine-year contract, according to a person familiar with baseball’s biggest free agent deal ever.

    The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the AL MVP’s contract had not been announced.

    Judge, who hit an American League record 62 homers last season, will earn $40 million per year, the highest average annual payout for a position player. The contract trails only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million pact with the Los Angeles Dodgers for biggest in baseball history. Trout and Betts were already under contract when they signed those deals.

    The Yankees made a long-term offer to Judge before last season that was worth $213.5 million over seven years from 2023-29. But the outfielder turned it down in the hours before opening day in April.

    The 6-foot-7 Judge bet on himself — and won.

    Judge surpassed Roger Maris’ AL home run mark to power New York to an AL East title. He also tied for the major league lead with 131 RBIs and just missed a Triple Crown with a .311 batting average.

    New York was swept by Houston in the AL Championship Series, but Judge became the first AL MVP for the Yankees since Alex Rodriguez in 2007.

    By rejecting the Yankees’ preseason offer, Judge gained $146.5 million and an extra two guaranteed seasons. The Northern California native also visited with the San Francisco Giants last month, and there likely were more teams monitoring the market for the slugger who turns 31 in April.

    Judge’s decision will have a domino effect on several teams and free agents. His status held up at least some of New York’s offseason plans — given the size of the contract — but general manager Brian Cashman made it clear his team would wait patiently while Judge contemplated his options.

    In the end, that approach worked.

    “So we’ll wait, we’ll wait for this process to play out,” Cashman said Monday at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego. “And that means staying active in the conversations and negotiations.”

    Judge, 30, was selected by New York in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft and made his big league debut in 2016, homering in his first at-bat.

    A year later, he was one of baseball’s breakout stars. He hit .284 with 52 homers and 114 RBIs in 2017, winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. The four-time All-Star has 220 homers and 497 RBIs in seven big league seasons.

    “A guy of his stature and his greatness hopefully spends his entire career into Monument Park and into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee,” New York manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday.

    The average annual value of Judge’s deal trails only New York Mets pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, at $43.3 million. Verlander’s deal was reached Monday and hasn’t been announced, but a person familiar with it told the AP he would earn $86.7 million over two years.

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    Blum reported from Qatar.

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    AP Baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Bonds, Clemens Hall of Fame bids now on even shakier ground

    Bonds, Clemens Hall of Fame bids now on even shakier ground

    SAN DIEGO — Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were rejected by baseball writers in their bids for the Baseball Hall of Fame ten times. On Sunday, the duo chased by steroid suspicions got another rebuke from a panel that included many of their peers.

    The door hasn’t formally shut on their Cooperstown chances. But the latest letdown means the pair — with eight MVPs and seven Cy Young Awards between them — may never be celebrated with the sport’s greatest individual honor.

    Fred McGriff was the only player elected Sunday to the Hall of Fame by a 16-member contemporary era committee, one of several groups credentialed to seal a player’s enshrinement. McGriff was chosen unanimously, while neither Bonds or Clemens received more than three votes.

    When it comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame, there are several potential avenues to induction, but it can be a very bumpy road for all but the most straightforward cases.

    HOW CAN PLAYERS BE ELECTED TO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME?

    Players are first considered by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America no sooner than five calendar years after their big league career ends. A BBWAA screening committee creates the annual ballot, and members who have been active baseball writers for at least 10 years are eligible to vote.

    Players on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list cannot appear on BBWAA ballots, the mechanism by which Pete Rose has been excluded from consideration. Voters are instructed to base their decisions on “the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

    The result of this year’s writers’ vote — which requires 75% for induction — will be announced Jan. 24.

    Players are removed from the BBWAA ballot if they receive less than 5% of the vote. They also are taken off after 10 appearances. Bonds (66%), Clemens (65%) and Curt Schilling (58.6%) fell well short in their final chances on the BBWAA ballot last January.

    Once a player is no longer being considered by the BBWAA, his case shifts to the Hall’s committee system — divided into the contemporary and classic eras. The contemporary era committee considers candidates whose careers were primarily from 1980 on. The classic panel examines players who had their most significant impact on the game prior to 1980.

    The committees rotate yearly. The contemporary committee approved McGriff on Sunday at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego. Another contemporary committee meets next year to consider managers, executives and umpires. The classic committee votes in December 2024.

    The ballot for each panel consists of eight candidates selected by a BBWAA-appointed historical overview committee. There is no limit when it comes to how often a candidate can appear on an era ballot.

    Rose also is ineligible for era ballots because of his inclusion on MLB’s ineligible list.

    The 16 members of each era committee — comprised of Hall of Famers, executives and writers — are appointed by the Hall’s Board of Directors. Voters can select as many as three candidates, and the support of 75% of ballots cast are required for induction.

    WHAT NOW FOR BONDS, CLEMENS AND SCHILLING?

    The next time Bonds, Clemens and Schilling could be considered would be by a contemporary committee for the 2026 Hall of Fame class.

    Bonds and Clemens look like no-doubt Hall members on the backs of their baseball cards, and Schilling has a strong case, as well.

    A seven-time NL MVP, Bonds set the career home run record with 762 and the season record with 73 in 2001. A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens went 354-184 with a 3.12 ERA and 4,672 strikeouts. Schilling went 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA in 20 seasons, winning the World Series with Arizona in 2001 and Boston in 2004 and 2007.

    But Bonds and Clemens have been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, and support for Schilling dropped after he made hateful remarks toward Muslims, transgender people, reporters and others. Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs, and Clemens maintains he never used PEDs.

    Schilling got seven votes Sunday, and it’s possible a future committee may swing in his favor. For Bonds and Clemens, that now seems unlikely.

    There was a thought that maybe Bonds and Clemens would get more sympathy from their peers than writers for their suspected steroid use during an era tarnished by the stain of PEDs. That clearly wasn’t the case.

    This year’s contemporary committee included Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas and Alan Trammell, plus executives Paul Beeston, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Theo Epstein, Dave St. Peter, Derrick Hall and Ken Williams; and media members Steve Hirdt, LaVelle Neal and Susan Slusser. Chipper Jones was supposed to be on the committee but missed Sunday’s vote due to COVID-19. He was replaced by Hall.

    The Hall of Fame did not reveal all down-ballot totals, saying only that Bonds and Clemens received fewer than four votes — a strong indication that unless new evidence exonerates them from PED charges, they might never get their day in Cooperstown.

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    Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Texas Rangers ink free-agent ace Jacob deGrom to 5-year deal

    Texas Rangers ink free-agent ace Jacob deGrom to 5-year deal

    ARLINGTON, Texas — Free-agent ace Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers agreed to a five-year contract Friday.

    The two-time Cy Young Award winner leaves the New York Mets after nine seasons — the past two shortened by injuries.

    After making his first start last season in early August, deGrom went 5-4 with a 3.08 ERA. He helped the Mets reach the playoffs, then opted out of his contract to become a free agent.

    Texas announced the signing Friday night after the 34-year-old deGrom passed his physical.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Gaylord Perry, two-time Cy Young winner, dies at 84

    Gaylord Perry, two-time Cy Young winner, dies at 84

    GAFFNEY, S.C. — Baseball Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a master of the spitball who wrote a book about using pitch, died Thursday. He was 84.

    Perry died at his home in Gaffney at about 5 a.m. Thursday of natural causes, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said. He did not provide additional details.

    The native of Williamston, North Carolina, made history as the first player to win the Cy Young in both leagues, with Cleveland in 1972 and San Diego in 1978 just after turning 40.

    Perry went 24-16 in his debut season with Cleveland after 10 years with the San Francisco Giants. He was 21-6 in his first season with the Padres in 1978 for his third and final 20-win season.

    “Before I won my second Cy Young I thought I was too old — I didn’t think the writers would vote for me,” Perry said in an article on the National Baseball Hall of Fame website. “But they voted on my performance, so I won it.”

    Perry, who pitched for eight major-league teams from 1962 until 1983, was a five-time All-Star who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991.

    He had a career record of 314-255, finished with 3,554 strikeouts and used a pitching style where he doctored baseballs or made batters believe he was doctoring them.

    His 1974 autobiography was titled “Me and the Spitter,” and he wrote it in that when he started in 1962 he was the “11th man on an 11-man pitching staff” for the Giants. He needed an edge and learned the spitball from San Francisco teammate Bob Shaw.

    Perry said he first threw it in May 1964 against the New York Mets, pitched 10 innings without giving up a run and soon after entered the Giants’ starting rotation.

    He also wrote in the book that he chewed slippery elm bark to build up his saliva, and eventually stopped throwing the pitch in 1968 after MLB ruled pitchers could no longer touch their fingers to their mouths before touching the baseball.

    According to his book, he looked for other substances, like petroleum jelly, to doctor the baseball. He used various motions and routines to touch different parts of his jersey and body to get hitters thinking he was applying a foreign substance.

    Perry was ejected from a game just once for doctoring a baseball — when he was with Seattle in August 1982. In his final season with Kansas City, Perry and teammate Leon Roberts tried to hide George Brett’s infamous pine-tar bat in the clubhouse but was stopped by a guard. Perry was ejected for his role in that game, too.

    After his career, Perry founded the baseball program at Limestone College in Gaffney and was its coach for the first three years.

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    This story has been corrected to show that Perry was 84 when he died, not 88.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros wins his third American League Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote

    Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros wins his third American League Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote

    Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros wins his third American League Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote

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  • AP source: Rizzo, Yankees agree to $40M, 2-year contract

    AP source: Rizzo, Yankees agree to $40M, 2-year contract

    A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that first baseman Anthony Rizzo is staying with the New York Yankees, agreeing to a $40 million, two-year contract

    NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo is staying with the New York Yankees, agreeing Tuesday to a $40 million, two-year contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

    The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical.

    Rizzo gets $17 million in each of the next two seasons, and the deal for the first baseman includes a $20 million team option for 2025 with a $6 million buyout. Rizzo had opted out of his previous contract with New York, giving up a $16 million salary for 2023.

    Since joining the Yankees at the 2021 trade deadline, Rizzo had provided needed left-handed power for New York and has taken advantage of the right field short porch at Yankee Stadium.

    Now 33, Rizzo hit .224 with 75 RBIs and had 32 home runs for the fourth time in his career. While the Yankees led the major leagues with 254 home runs, just 77 were by left-handed batters.

    His agreement is the first major offseason move for the Yankees, who are attempting to re-sign star right fielder Aaron Judge.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Today in History: November 14, crash kills Marshall team

    Today in History: November 14, crash kills Marshall team

    Today in History

    Today is Monday, Nov. 14, the 318th day of 2022. There are 47 days left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Nov. 14, 1970, a chartered Southern Airways DC-9 crashed while trying to land in West Virginia, killing all 75 people on board, including the Marshall University football team and its coaching staff.

    On this date:

    In 1851, Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale” was published in the United States, almost a month after being released in Britain.

    In 1910, Eugene B. Ely became the first aviator to take off from a ship as his Curtiss pusher rolled off a sloping platform on the deck of the scout cruiser USS Birmingham off Hampton Roads, Virginia.

    In 1915, African-American educator Booker T. Washington, 59, died in Tuskegee, Alabama.

    In 1940, during World War II, German planes destroyed most of the English town of Coventry.

    In 1965, the U.S. Army’s first major military operation of the Vietnam War began with the start of the five-day Battle of Ia Drang. (The fighting between American troops and North Vietnamese forces ended on Nov. 18 with both sides claiming victory.)

    In 1969, Apollo 12 blasted off for the moon.

    In 1972, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 1,000 level for the first time, ending the day at 1,003.16.

    In 1973, Britain’s Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey. (They divorced in 1992, and Anne remarried.)

    In 1996, singer Michael Jackson married his plastic surgeon’s nurse, Debbie Rowe, in a ceremony in Sydney, Australia. (Rowe filed for divorce in 1999.)

    In 1997, a jury in Fairfax, Virginia, decided that Pakistani national Aimal Khan Kasi (eye-MAHL’ kahn KAH’-see) should get the death penalty for gunning down two CIA employees outside agency headquarters. (Five years later on this date, Aimal Khan Kasi was executed.)

    In 2013, former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger was led off to prison to begin serving a life sentence at 84 for his murderous reign in the 1970s and ’80s. (Bulger was killed Oct. 30, 2018, hours after arriving at a federal prison in West Virginia.)

    In 2020, Donald Trump supporters unwilling to accept Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory gathered in cities across the country including Washington, D.C., where thousands rallied; after night fell in the nation’s capital, demonstrators favoring Trump clashed in the streets with counterprotesters, resulting in injuries to demonstrators and police officers and charges against nearly two dozen people.

    Ten years ago: President Barack Obama, in his first news conference since winning a second term, challenged congressional Republicans to let taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans, saying that would ease the threat of another recession as the nation faced a “fiscal cliff.” Israel said it had killed the leader of Hamas’ military wing in a wave of airstrikes launched in response to days of rocket fire out of Hamas-ruled Gaza. Baseball’s Cy Young Awards went to Tampa Bay’s David Price in the American League and R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets in the National League.

    Five years ago: Three UCLA basketball players who’d been detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting returned home; they were then indefinitely suspended from the team. Papa John’s Pizza apologized for comments made by CEO John Schnatter (SHNAH’-tur), who had blamed sluggish pizza sales on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the House would require anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training for all members and their staffs; the announcement came hours after two female lawmakers spoke about sexual misconduct involving sitting members of Congress.

    One year ago: A 9-year-old Dallas boy became the youngest person to die from injuries sustained during a crowd surge at the Astroworld music festival in Houston nine days earlier; a family attorney said Ezra Blount died at a Houston hospital, where he’d been placed in a medically induced coma after he suffered serious injuries in the crush of fans during a performance by rapper Travis Scott. (The crowd surge left 10 people dead.) Libya’s election agency said Seif al-Islam, the son and one-time heir apparent of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, had announced his candidacy for the country’s December presidential election.

    Today’s Birthdays: Actor Kathleen Hughes is 94. Former NASA astronaut Fred Haise is 89. Composer Wendy Carlos is 83. Britain’s King Charles III is 74. Rock singer-musician James Young (Styx) is 73. Singer Stephen Bishop is 71. Blues musician Anson Funderburgh is 68. Pianist Yanni is 68. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is 68. Former presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett is 66. Actor Laura San Giacomo (JEE’-ah-koh-moh) is 61. Actor D.B. Sweeney is 61. Rapper Reverend Run (Run-DMC) is 58. Actor Patrick Warburton is 58. Rock musician Nic Dalton is 58. Country singer Rockie Lynne is 58. Pop singer Jeanette Jurado (Expose) is 57. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling is 56. Rock musician Brian Yale is 54. Rock singer Butch Walker is 53. Actor Josh Duhamel (du-MEHL’) is 50. Rock musician Travis Barker is 47. Contemporary Christian musician Robby Shaffer is 47. Actor Brian Dietzen is 45. Rapper Shyheim is 45. Rock musician Tobin Esperance (Papa Roach) is 43. Actor Olga Kurylenko is 43. Actor-comedian Vanessa Bayer is 41. Actor Russell Tovey is 41. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is 29. Actor Cory Michael Smith is 36. Actor Graham Patrick Martin is 31. NHL forward Taylor Hall is 31.

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  • Alvarez blasts Baker, Astros to World Series title vs Phils

    Alvarez blasts Baker, Astros to World Series title vs Phils

    HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez hit a moon shot that sent Space City into a frenzy, and the Houston Astros to their second World Series title.

    While the stain on Houston’s first championship might never completely fade, Alvarez’s majestic three-run homer helped fashion a fresh crown for the Astros — and the first for Dusty Baker as manager — in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 on Saturday night.

    “What happened before, it doesn’t ever pass over completely,” said Baker, the veteran manager hired by the Astros in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal. “But we have turned the page and hopefully we’ll continue this run.”

    Alvarez blasted a ball over the 40-foot batter’s eye in center field during the sixth inning immediately after Phillies starter Zack Wheeler was pulled with a 1-0 lead.

    As Alvarez’s 450-foot shot sailed, Astros starter Framber Valdez jumped and wildly screamed in the dugout while the crowd of 42,958 went crazy waving orange rally towels.

    “When I was rounding second base, I felt the whole stadium moving,” Alvarez said through a translator.

    The 73-year-old Baker finally got his first title in his 25th season as a manager. He’s spent the past three with the Astros after they hired him to help the team regain credibility after their trash can banging scheme cost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs, and made Houston the most reviled team in baseball.

    “I wasn’t here in 2017, but it’s definitely a weight off of everybody’s shoulders. Ain’t nobody can say (anything) now,” said closer Ryan Pressly, who finished the Series with another scoreless inning.

    Baker, who won a World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers and had been to the Fall Classic twice before as a skipper, is the oldest championship manager in any of the four major North American sports. The win came 20 years after a near-miss, when he came within five outs of taking the title while guiding the San Francisco Giants.

    “What’s next? I said if I win one, I want to win two,” Baker said afterward.

    Houston’s coaching and training staffs circled around Baker after Nick Castellanos flied out to end it, jumping up and down, and chanting “Dusty! Dusty! Dusty!” in the dugout before they joined the players on the field.

    Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña was the World Series MVP after getting another key hit, a single to set up Alvarez’s homer.

    The 25-year-old star born in the Dominican Republic also won a Gold Glove award and AL Championship Series MVP — Peña is the first hitter to win those three awards in a career, and he did it all in his first season, per OptaSTATS.

    Jerseys worn by Peña and Baker during the Series were headed to the Hall of Fame.

    A year after watching the Atlanta Braves clinch the World Series title at Minute Maid Park, Justin Verlander and the Astros went 11-2 in the postseason and became the first team to seal the championship at home since the 2013 Boston Red Sox.

    Alvarez homered for the first time since going deep in the first two games this postseason. Christian Vázquez added an RBI single later in the inning to make it 4-1.

    Valdez earned his second win of this Series. He had been in the dugout only a few minutes after throwing his 93rd and final pitch while striking out nine over six innings.

    But the lefty had walked off the mound with the wild-card Phillies up 1-0 on Kyle Schwarber’s homer leading off the sixth.

    Schwarber, who hit his third homer in the past four games, rounded the bases waving his raised empty hand in the same motion as the fans with their towels.

    But by the time Schwarber batted in the eighth, the NL’s home run leader was reduced to bunting, trying for a hit to stir a dormant Phillies offense. His bunt went foul with two strikes, resulting in a strikeout.

    In the sixth, Houston got two runners on base against Wheeler for the first time in the game, when Martín Maldonado was hit by a pitch, Jose Altuve grounded into a forceout and Peña singled.

    Phillies manager Rob Thomson went to left-handed reliever José Alvarado to face the lefty slugger for the fourth time in the series — Alvarez had popped out twice and been hit by a pitch the first three times.

    “I thought Wheels still had really good stuff. It wasn’t about that. It was just I thought the matchup was better with Alvarado on Alvarez at that time,” Thomson said.

    And Alvarado had allowed only three homers to lefty hitters in his six big league seasons, until his 2-1 pitch, when Alvarez crushed the 99 mph sinker.

    “It’s kind of a dirty inning and I thought, I mean, going into the series it was always kind of Alvarado on Alvarez,” Thomson said. “It was the sixth inning and I felt like the normal back end of the bullpen guys could get through it.”

    Alvarez hadn’t homered since Game 2 of the AL Division Series against Seattle, when his two-run shot in the sixth inning put them up to stay. That came after his game-ending, three-run shot in Game 1 for an 8-7 win.

    Houston won an American League-best 106 games and reached its fourth World Series during a span in which it made it to the AL Championship Series six seasons in a row. The Astros made their only other World Series appearance in 2005, while still in the National League, and were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox.

    This was their third ALCS and second consecutive World Series since former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers revealed after the 2019 season, when he had gone from Houston for two years since being part of their 2017 championship, that the team had used a camera in center field to steal signs and signal hitters on which pitches to expect by banging on a garbage can.

    “That will probably never go away but I think this just proves how good this team is and how good it’s been for a long time,” Astros owner Jim Crane said on the field afterward.

    Philadelphia was 22-29 when Joe Girardi was fired in early June and replaced by bench coach Thomson, the 59-year-old baseball lifer getting his first chance a big league manager — he was on the Yankees big league staff for 10 seasons with Girardi, and was part of their last World Series and title in 2009.

    The Phillies finished the regular season 65-46 under Thomson, their 87 wins good for the sixth and final spot in the NL playoffs, on the way to their first World Series since 2009.

    UP NEXT

    Phillies: In less than five months, the Phillies will be back in Texas to begin their 2023 regular season, about 250 miles away for the opener of an interleague series March 30 against the Texas Rangers.

    Astros: Whether or not Baker and/or general manager James Click are back — neither is signed past this season — the World Series champs will play their 2023 season opener at home March 30 against the Chicago White Sox.

    ———

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  • Astros’ Peña 1st rookie hitter to win World Series MVP

    Astros’ Peña 1st rookie hitter to win World Series MVP

    HOUSTON — Jeremy Peña’s key to success was keeping his head dry.

    Capping a freshman season like no other, he became the first rookie position player to win a World Series MVP award Saturday night after hitting .400 in the Houston Astros’ six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

    “The hardest part was just blocking everything that’s not part of the game,” Peña said. “There’s a saying that you can’t sink a ship with water around. It sinks if water gets inside. So I just try to stay strong and keep the water outside my head.”

    Peña also won a Gold Glove and was the AL Championship Series MVP. The 25-year-old shortstop became the first hitter to win those three prizes in a career, according to OptaSTATS — and he did it all in his rookie season.

    “It has a lot to do with my family, my upbringing,” he said.

    Peña praised Dusty Baker, the Astros’ 73-year-old manager. When Baker made his major league managerial debut for San Francisco on April 6, 1993, the leadoff hitter for the other team was Peña’s father, St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Gerónimo Peña.

    “Dusty Baker’s a legend in the sport,” Jeremy Peña said. “Not just because he’s been around. He’s had success at this game. He brings the best out of his players. He gives you the confidence to just go out and play hard and let the game take care of itself.”

    Peña singled to chase Phillies starter Zack Wheeler in Game 6, giving the Astros two baserunners for the first time. Yordan Alvarez followed with a go-ahead, three-run homer that sent Houston to a 4-1 victory.

    Peña finished the postseason with a .345 batting average, four homers, eight RBIs and a 1.005 OPS. He also became the first rookie shortstop to win a Gold Glove, as well as the first to homer in the World Series.

    Just 24 when he was handed the starting job at the beginning of the season after Carlos Correa left as a free agent, Peña became the third rookie at any position to earn World Series MVP, joining a pair of right-handed pitchers: the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Larry Sherry in 1959 and Miami’s Liván Hernández in 1997.

    Peña’s 18th-inning homer completed a Division Series sweep at Seattle and he hit a go-ahead drive off Noah Syndergaard in Game 5 of the World Series. His Game 2 jersey is headed to the Hall of Fame.

    “You have to make tough decisions in this job, and Jeremy’s making it look like it was an easy decision, and it wasn’t,” Houston general manager James Click said. “Carlos is a great player, and he’s been a huge part of this franchise. But to do what Jeremy did, to step in and elevate his game in the playoffs, it just speaks to his hard work, his character and the talent that he has. There’s not that many special guys on the planet that can do what he just did.”

    Peña became the ninth player to win MVP of a League Championship Series and the World Series in the same season. He batted .353 with two homers and four RBIs against the Yankees in the ALCS.

    The only other player to win an LCS MVP award, World Series MVP and a Gold Glove during their career was pitcher Orel Hershiser, who took all three prizes with the Dodgers in 1988.

    Peña hit .291 with 22 homers and 63 RBIs during the regular season and likely will finish high in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Seattle outfielder Julio Rodríguez is the favorite.

    Others to win LCS and World Series MVP in one year were Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell (1979), St. Louis’ Darrell Porter (1982), Hershiser (1988), Hernández (2003), Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels (2008), the Cardinals’ David Freese (2011), San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner (2014) and the Dodgers’ Corey Seager (2020).

    Only four other rookies were LCS MVPs: Baltimore right-hander Mike Boddicker in 1983, Hernández in 1997, St. Louis right-hander Michael Wacha in 2013 and Tampa Bay outfielder Randy Arozarena in 2020.

    Peña thought back to last year’s Game 6 loss to Atlanta at Minute Maid Park, where he joined the Astros but was inactive.

    “These guys were left with a bitter taste in their mouth last year,” he said. “Me being in the dugout last year, I didn’t want to experience that again.”

    ———

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  • Best vs best: MLS Cup final pits LAFC, Philadelphia Union

    Best vs best: MLS Cup final pits LAFC, Philadelphia Union

    LOS ANGELES — Major League Soccer’s playoff system rarely rewards the league’s best regular-season teams with the championship celebration they would get in most other top domestic leagues.

    This season, the identity of the league’s best team will be crystal-clear when the MLS Cup is raised Saturday.

    Los Angeles FC and the Philadelphia Union were the top teams in their respective conferences all year long, and they finished the regular season with identical point totals. They’ve survived the playoff gauntlet to play for both franchises’ first MLS Cup title in a rare instance of the best truly facing the best.

    “I think it’s two teams that deserve to be here, the best two teams in the regular season,” Philadelphia captain Alejandro Bedoya said.

    For the first time in 19 years, MLS’ two conference leaders are playing for the title. They’ll meet at Banc of California Stadium amid the roiling, raucous fan atmosphere created for LAFC, which is seeking the crowning achievement to its half-decade of success since joining MLS in 2018.

    “I said from the first day, this club is special,” LAFC captain Carlos Vela said. “This is a really good chance for us, for myself to do something good for them and get something back for fans, for the club, for families, for everybody that’s involved in this club. We have to enjoy it and bring everything, because it’s the most important game of this club.”

    LAFC will attempt to become only the second team in the past 11 years to win both the Supporters’ Shield as the regular season’s top team — the championship standard in nearly all other top soccer leagues — and the postseason playoff trophy. Just seven of the league’s first 26 regular season champions also won the MLS Cup final.

    Philadelphia and LAFC were the two highest-scoring teams in the league this season while topping their respective conferences and finishing with 67 points apiece. LAFC won the Supporters’ Shield because it had two more victories, but Philadelphia had a far superior goal differential.

    These two teams have reached their league’s pinnacle together by taking dissimilar paths. They’ve been two of MLS’ most consistently successful teams over the past half-decade, winning three of the past four Supporters’ Shield trophies.

    Philadelphia’s foundation is built on the products of its innovative player academy, and the Union bolster their lineup with under-the-radar transfer acquisitions. The Union’s starting lineup costs a fraction of LAFC’s group, but under the innovative strategic mind of longtime coach Jim Curtin, they have built a durable core that fits perfectly into an aggressive style of play.

    While the Philadelphia Phillies play in the World Series and the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles reign atop the overall NFL standings, the city’s scrappy soccer team is trying to grab its own trophy.

    “Growing with the club since I (arrived) there in 2014, the club has really come a long way,” said Andre Blake, the Union’s star Jamaican goalkeeper. “I think the biggest thing is the culture has changed, and we are really more of a club that’s never satisfied. We always want to win. We’re not just OK with being in the league. We want to be one of those clubs that every time you talk about the MLS, our name pops up.”

    LAFC has made a splash from its start with Mexican star Vela, but the club has made smart acquisitions from unusual spots across the globe to build a powerhouse roster. After missing the playoffs last season, LAFC roared back to dominance under first-year coach Steve Cherundolo, the German-trained native Californian who instilled a flexible, detail-oriented tactical mindset.

    Vela has been solid as usual, but LAFC’s best player has been Cristian Arango, who has scored a whopping 30 goals in 51 matches since signing out of Colombia’s domestic league last year.

    “We are in a position to do something good, to really say we made something special,” Vela said.

    The Hollywood team with co-owners including Will Ferrell and Magic Johnson also landed two more major stars this year, signing Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini and Welsh forward Gareth Bale at midseason.

    While the 38-year-old Chiellini has been a solid contributor in central defense and a strong leader, LAFC has reached the final with a minimal contribution from Bale. The Welsh superstar scored two quick goals after joining the club, but he has played only five minutes since Sept. 18 and none since Oct. 2 while dealing with an unspecified injury, possibly prioritizing his fitness for Wales’ first World Cup appearance in 64 years later this month.

    Just as he often was at Real Madrid, Bale is largely a hobbled spectator while his club chases trophies. Yet Bale also has a knack for delivering on big stages, making him a compelling factor in the MLS Cup final.

    “One of them barely plays, but he’s a big guy, right?” Bedoya said with a grin when asked to evaluate LAFC’s big-name additions. “That’s a headline. But no, it’s a team that has incredible talent. We all know that. That’s no disrespect to him. He’s a fantastic player.”

    ———

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  • Astros rookie star Peña delivers again in World Series win

    Astros rookie star Peña delivers again in World Series win

    PHILADELPHIA — Jeremy Peña trotted around third base, looked toward the Houston dugout and gave the most casual two-handed shrug you’ll ever see on a ballfield.

    Like it was any routine game in May.

    Only this was November. In the World Series. In the biggest game of his life.

    Yep, this Peña postseason just kept getting better and better.

    Showing the polish and poise of a proven veteran, the 25-year-old Peña put on quite an all-around performance Thursday night. He became the first rookie shortstop to homer in the World Series, added two key singles and made a critical leaping catch in a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5.

    “Rookie or not rookie, it doesn’t matter,” Peña said. “We’re in the World Series. You just go out and play. Go compete and let the best man win.”

    Having already won the AL Championship Series MVP award and a Gold Glove in the last two weeks, the emerging star from the Dominican Republic helped Houston move one win away from the ultimate prize — the World Series trophy.

    Ahead 3-2 in the matchup with the Phillies, it’s hard to imagine now the Astros started the season with many fans wondering how in the world they would replace All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa, who signed with Minnesota as a free agent.

    “I never saw it as having to fill shoes,” Peña said. “I just had to come in and be myself, play my game. But at the end of the season, once we accomplish our goal, which is to go all the way, then I’ll sit down and reflect on the journey. But there’s still work to do and we’ve got to lock in.”

    Again proving the biggest moments in baseball aren’t too big for him, the expressive and exuberant Peña grounded a hard RBI single up the middle in the first inning, then reached high to spear Nick Castellanos’ liner to thwart a potential rally in the third.

    In the fourth, Peña lofted a go-ahead, solo drive into the left-field seats for a 2-1 lead and chased Phillies starter Noah Syndergaard.

    “It felt good off the bat but I didn’t know if it was enough,” Peña said. “I was running normal and then when the umpire signaled, that’s when I started jogging.”

    Peña pointed his right index finger high as he approached second base and slapped his hands together after crossing the bag. He gave a shrug moments later — shades of Michael Jordan, maybe — and put his hands together to form a heart after touching home plate.

    No wonder manager Dusty Baker and the Astros love him so much.

    “Well, he came into camp as a young player. He had his eyes open. He always paid attention. You could tell he was very attentive and confident, but quiet,” Baker said. “Boy, he’s played remarkably well. Boy, I mean, he’s really carried us for a while here through this postseason, and that’s especially tough for a young player, a young shortstop. And I’m just glad we have him.”

    Peña showed he could play small ball, too, adeptly delivering a hit-and-run single that set up a much-needed insurance run in the eighth.

    The three-hit show made Peña 8 for 21 (.381) with a pair of doubles to go along with the homer in the World Series.

    That’s all come after he was 7 for 16 (.353) with two home runs and two doubles in the four-game sweep of the Yankees in the ALCS.

    “I just go out and enjoy it, have fun, play hard, play my game, and then just trust my preparation,” Peña said. “There’s a lot of preparation that’s gone into this.”

    He credited his Houston teammates for helping him keep his composure under pressure in close games this time of year.

    “They prepare for every single game. It rubs off on you. They have a sense of calmness because they have been here I guess four years out of the last six,” Peña said. “So you just gravitate towards them and just go out and compete and have fun.”

    The Astros thought they saw something special as Peña batted .253 with 22 home runs during the regular season while excelling on defense.

    This October — and November — the Astros and the baseball world have seen just how special.

    “I talked to him earlier in the year about being ready, especially in a clutch situation, and to remain aggressive. And he works at it. He works at his game,” Baker said.

    “Every once in a while these guys come along — not that often. But it just goes to show you, I mean, his future is very, very bright.”

    ———

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  • Wife of Phillies’ Hoskins puts beers on her World Series tab

    Wife of Phillies’ Hoskins puts beers on her World Series tab

    PHILADELPHIA — Jayme Hoskins is tapped in to Philly sports fans.

    The wife of Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins has let fans crush some World Series beers on her tab. Jayme Hoskins has turned into a baseball barfly and let the free beers fly during recent Phillies’ postseason games.

    The beer runs are nearly as popular as the ones the Phillies poured on against the Astros in Game 3, a 7-0 drubbing that included a homer from Rhys.

    Wearing a red Phillies blazer with “Hoskins” printed on the back, Jayme had fans chanting her name Wednesday night as she sidled up to the closest bar to right field on the concourse before Game 4.

    She had previously tweeted out section 104 as the corner bar of her choice at Citizens Bank Park and sent out a hint she could be found there again about 30 minutes before first pitch — and her husband set to take the field at first base.

    “If you know anything about baseball and it’s quirks then you know where beers are about to be,” she tweeted.

    One bartender painted Hoskins “No. 17″ in red on her cheek and wore the first baseman’s “Ring the Bell” T-shirt. Another exclaimed, “she wants 50 more?” when Jayme ordered another round.

    Yes, of 50. At $17 a pop.

    Hoskins may as well have been Rhys as fans mobbed her for selfies, and she took a knee for a group photo with dozens of World Series suds suckers. She was polite — she is a Phillies fan, after all — and asked the drinkers to have their IDs ready and to say “please” and “thank you” to the servers sliding out Buds at a faster rate than her husband is crushing postseason homers.

    She sent her first “beer here!” tweet when the Phillies clinched the NL pennant in Game 5 of their Championship Series against San Diego. She joked on Twitter that someone should buy her a beer.

    Hoskins said she then decided, “No, I’m buying you all a beer.”

    She kept up the boozy tradition — the couple hosted a charity event this year at Philly’s Yards Brewery — and has no plans to stop for Game 5 on Thursday night

    “I’ve been hearing about Red October for about seven years,” she said. “It has not disappointed in any way. It’s been amazing.

    “And I know it’s not over!”

    Joseph Connolly of South Philly, wearing a Bryce Harper jersey, sipped his first free Hoskins beer at the first World Series game of his life. The 28-year-old Phillies fan read Hoskins’ tweets and, ahem, just happened to linger in the area at the same time frame as her tweets from previous beer giveaways.

    “It’s one of the more generous things you could ever do,” he said.

    Rhys Hoskins was on board with his wife playing baseball bartender.

    “Whatever it takes right now, really,” he said before Game 4. “She’s having a lot of fun with it. Obviously, the fans are enjoying it, too.”

    Hoskins, though, just might pass on one of those Budweiser tall boys. The slugger’s beer of choice: Yuengling.

    ———

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  • TV audience for World Series Game 3 on Fox down 2.7%

    TV audience for World Series Game 3 on Fox down 2.7%

    Philadelphia’s 7-0 win over Houston in Game 3 of the World Series was seen by 11,162,000 viewers on Fox, down 2.7% from last year’s third game

    PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies’ 7-0 win over Houston in Game 3 of the World Series was seen by 11,162,000 viewers on Fox, down 2.7% from last year’s third game.

    Atlanta’s 2-0 victory over the Astros last season was seen by 11,469,000. That game was on a Friday night, while this year’s Game 3 was on a Tuesday.

    This year’s audience was up 34% from the 8,339,000 for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-2 win over Tampa Bay in 2020, the lowest-rated World Series.

    Including Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms, this year’s Game 3 was viewed by 11,373,000. The game, which began at 8:05 p.m. EDT and ended at 11:13 p.m., drew a 29.1 rating and 56 share in Philadelphia and a 21.9/47 in Houston.

    Game 3 was postponed by rain on Monday night.

    The first three games this year averaged 11,179,000 viewers on Fox, up 2% from the three-game average of 10,964,000 last year and an increase of 25% from the three-game average of 8,977,000 in 2020.

    The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in to a broadcast. The share is the percentage viewing a telecast among those households with TVs on at the time.

    ———

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  • Eagles are largest of 8 road favorites in Week 9

    Eagles are largest of 8 road favorites in Week 9

    Jalen Hurts and the undefeated Eagles are looking for the first 8-0 start in franchise history while the rest of Philadelphia is focused on beating another team from Houston.

    When the Eagles (7-0) visit the Texans (1-5-1) on Thursday night, the Phillies will host the Astros in Game 5 of the World Series. It will be a potential Series-clinching game for the Phillies if they can win Game 4 Wednesday night.

    The Eagles rarely take a backseat to another team in Philly, but they understand they haven’t accomplished anything yet.

    “Dawg mentality is that nothing matters of what happened before,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “We’re ready to go get ready to go 1-0 this week. That’s something that it’s just a mindset that we have as an organization.”

    The Eagles are the largest among eight road favorites in Week 9. They’re 13 1/2-point favorites, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

    Pro Picks considers this a second bye in three weeks for the Eagles.

    EAGLES, 34-13

    Los Angeles Rams (plus 3) at Tampa Bay

    Tom Brady and the Buccaneers (3-5) are struggling. They’ve lost five of six, the offense can’t score, the defense is poor and coaching has been a problem. The Rams (3-4) have their own issues, but Aaron Donald could dominate a weak interior offensive line in a rematch from last January.

    UPSET SPECIAL: RAMS, 22-20

    Los Angeles Chargers (minus 3) at Atlanta

    The Chargers (4-3) are supposed to be championship contenders. The NFC South-leading Falcons (4-4) are supposed to be rebuilding. This week both teams play like it.

    BEST BET: CHARGERS, 31-20

    Green Bay (minus 3) at Detroit

    Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have lost four in a row and are 3-5 for the first time since Brett Favre was in Green Bay. The Lions (1-6) have lost five in a row after the “Hard Knocks” hype. The Packers are due for a breakout win.

    PACKERS, 30-23

    Seattle (plus 1) at Arizona

    Kyler Murray has been a major disappointment and the Cardinals (3-5) are 11-17 at home under coach Kliff Kingsbury. Seahawks QB Geno Smith is thriving in his first full season as a starter since 2014, leading Seattle (5-3) to first in the NFC West.

    CARDINALS, 27-24

    Miami (minus 5) at Chicago

    The Dolphins (5-3) reloaded at the trade deadline, bolstering both sides of the ball. The Bears (3-5) were sellers and buyers.

    DOLPHINS, 24-20

    Carolina (plus 7 1/2) at Cincinnati

    Joe Burrow and the Bengals (4-4) need a rebound like the Panthers (2-6) after the Browns whipped them.

    BENGALS, 27-16

    Las Vegas (minus 1 1/2) at Jacksonville

    The Jaguars (2-6) have lost five straight. The Raiders (2-5) went from nearly knocking off eventual AFC champion Cincinnati in the playoffs to last place.

    JAGUARS, 20-17

    Indianapolis (plus 5 1/2) at New England

    This isn’t Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady anymore.

    PATRIOTS, 23-20

    Buffalo (minus 12 1/2) at New York Jets

    The Bills (6-1) outscored the Jets 72-27 last season. But these aren’t the same old Jets.

    BILLS, 28-17

    Minnesota (minus 3 1/2) at Washington

    The Commanders (4-4) have won three in a row, including two straight with Taylor Heinicke. Kirk Cousins beat his former team the only other time he faced them.

    VIKINGS, 24-19

    Tennessee (plus 12 1/2) at Kansas City

    Chiefs coach Andy Reid is 20-3 after a regular-season bye. The Titans (5-2) have won five in a row. One streak will end.

    CHIEFS, 27-17

    Baltimore (minus 2 1/2) at New Orleans

    The Ravens (5-3) are aiming for two straight road wins against the NFC South opponents. It won’t be easy against the Saints (3-5).

    SAINTS, 26-24

    2022 RECORD

    Last Week: Straight up: 7-8. Against spread: 7-8.

    Season: Straight up: 71-52. Against spread: 65-57-1.

    Thursday Night: Straight up: 5-3. Against spread: 4-4.

    Monday Night: Straight up: 5-4. Against spread: 4-5.

    Best Bet: Straight up: 6-2. Against spread: 6-2.

    Upset Special: Straight up: 3-5. Against spread: 4-4.

    ———

    Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robmaaddi

    ———

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  • Harper, Phillies tie World Series mark with 5 HR, top Astros

    Harper, Phillies tie World Series mark with 5 HR, top Astros

    PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper bashed a home run on the first World Series pitch he saw in Philadelphia, and then figured out how the Phillies could hit a few more.

    The $330 million star offered quiet advice to Alec Bohm — and then it got really loud in Philadelphia.

    As for those whispers in May that the Phillies were finished? Forget about ’em. The secret has long been out: these Phillies are for real.

    Now, they’re two wins away from their first World Series championship since 2008.

    Harper hammered his sixth postseason home run, whispered an assist to Bohm before his solo shot and the Phillies tied a World Series record with five homers to rout the Houston Astros 7-0 Tuesday night and take a 2-1 Series lead.

    Brandon Marsh also homered, and Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins hit back-to-back shots in the fifth inning to chase Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. Philadelphia used the long ball to end the long wait for its first World Series home win since Game 5 of the 2009 World Series.

    Those Phillies couldn’t finish the job.

    Ranger Suárez tossed three-hit ball over five shutout innings and inched this year’s team closer to getting it done.

    Harper, Bohm, Marsh and the rest of the Phillies on the last team to qualify for the playoffs are two wins away from ending the season as the last team standing. With a sparkling 6-0 record at Citizens Bank Park this postseason, the Phillies just may not return to Texas.

    “It’s our fan base. I mean, plain and simple.” Harper said. “They keep us going, keep us fired up.”

    Another red, raucous, resolute crowd of 45,712 let the Astros have it from the first pitch with chants of “Cheater! Cheater!” for Jose Altuve and “Check the Bat! Check the Bat!” for Martin Maldonado.

    The fans — already amped from the jump after another sliding catch by right fielder Nick Castellanos in the first — didn’t wait long to go wild for the home run barrage.

    With leadoff hitter Schwarber on first base, Harper repeated his flair for playoff power when he ripped a two-run shot off McCullers into the right field seats for the fast lead. That made Harper 2 for 2 on home run swings in Philly — he sent the Phillies to the World Series with a two-run drive in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series to beat San Diego.

    Harper crossed the plate and again exclaimed “This is my house!” before he ripped off his helmet, exposed his Phillie Phanatic headband and was mobbed by teammates in the dugout.

    Harper’s homers shake the stadium to the point they should be measured on the Richter scale rather than in feet — and they seem as automatic these days as a Phillie Phanatic spin on his ATV. Harper has hit four postseason homers that gave the Phillies the lead and showed that, yes, Bryce Bombs do go off in November, the first time more World Series games will be played in this month than October.

    Oh, and Harper might have a second career as a homer whisperer.

    Harper beckoned Bohm from the on-deck circle and back to the dugout for a quick word of advice.

    Maybe Harper saw McCullers tipping his pitches?

    “I think that’s just general conversation,” Harper said. “Trying to get as much information as we can from each other. We just tried to have the best at-bats we could.”

    Whatever the quiet counseling was, it worked, and Bohm lined his first postseason homer leading off the second inning and the 1,000th in World Series history into the left field seats for 3-0 lead.

    So c’mon, Alec, fess up, what did Bryce tell you?

    “That’s between us,” Bohm said on TV with a shrug and a big smile.

    Marsh took the baton on the long-ball relay and knocked one into the right field seats that was dropped by a young kid from Delaware. The home run stood after a brief review — as it seems nothing can interfere with Philadelphia’s playoff push — and it was 4-0.

    With that, McCullers had allowed four homers to his first nine batters. The right-hander who got his left triceps inked with nods to Houston got absolutely tattooed by the Phillies.

    Schwarber, the NL home run champion, again dumped a two-run shot into a thicket of English ivy, Arborvitae and Holly beyond center field, and Hoskins connected on solo shot for a 7-0 lead that ended McCullers’ night.

    McCullers became the first pitcher to give up five home runs in a World Series game.

    “I don’t really get hit around like that, so I was a little bit in disbelief,” McCullers said.

    Suárez, the scheduled Game 4 starter before Game 3 was postponed a day by rain, delivered with the performance of his career and shut down the big bats in the AL champs’ lineup.

    He needed only two pitches to get the first two outs of the game and struck out Yordan Alvarez to end the first. The few jams he got into, Suárez worked his way out, notably in the second when he whiffed Chas McCormick and left two runners stranded. He retired Altuve to end the fifth on a soft foul pop with two runners on base.

    Four relievers each tossed a scoreless inning to finish the five-hitter.

    THE CHAMPS ARE HERE

    Philly sports champions Mike Schmidt, Julius Erving, Brandon Graham and Bernie Parent threw first pitches to 2008 World Series champions Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino. Country music star Tim McGraw, son of the late Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, received a huge ovation and wore his dad’s No. 45 McGraw jersey. McGraw closed the 1980 World Series with a strikeout.

    UP NEXT

    The Phillies send RHP Aaron Nola (2-1, 4.57 ERA in the postseason) to the mound against Houston RHP Christian Javier (1-0, 1.35 ERA) in Game 4. Nola was done after 4 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the World Series, though he retired the final six batters he faced and left in a tie game after the Phillies rallied from an early 5-0 deficit — and won 6-5.

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