Dodgers seek first World Series crown since '88 against Red Sox

BOSTON -- A classic showdown between two of Major League Baseball's oldest clubs opens Tuesday when the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers meet to open the 114th World Series.

Boston will try to cap a team-record 108-win season with a championship trophy and capture a fourth in 15 seasons and ninth overall starting Tuesday at historic Fenway Park.

"It's huge to be able to continue the trend of winning," Boston outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr, said. "You want to be part of something great. Obviously we want to win it all. And we've got to win four more."

The Dodgers chase their first crown in 30 years and seventh overall after losing to Houston in last year's World Series, one win shy of a title.

"We've got a tough series against the Red Sox coming up," said Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger. "We know how hard it is to make the World Series. To do it two years in a row is really special."

Red Sox star left-hander Chris Sale will pitch the opener despite being hospitalized a week ago with a stomach ailment. Sale went 12-4 with a 2.11 earned-run average this season.

Dodgers southpaw Clayton Kershaw, hoping to shatter a history of underperforming in big games, is expected to pitch the opener despite throwing Saturday's last inning in a playoff win at Milwaukee.

It's baseball's first version of the Boston-LA rivalry made famous in NBA Lakers-Celtics 1980s title showdowns and it comes in Fenway Park, the oldest venue in the major leagues dating to 1912, half a century before Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers, whose history dates to the 1880s and includes a move from Brooklyn to California 60 years ago, and Red Sox, in their 118th campaign, met in the 1916 World Series, which Boston won thanks in part to 13 scoreless innings pitched by legend Babe Ruth in a 2-1 Red Sox victory.

"I think it's great for baseball," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Two storied franchises going head-to-head. It's going to be a great series."

- Grinding out the hits -

The Red Sox, who had a $240 million payroll, are unbeaten on the road in the playoffs, going 5-0 and outscoring foes 40-13.

"Probably the best team in baseball," Dodgers slugger Yasiel Puig said. "They won the most games. But now they are going to have to face us."

Boston boasts the two top batters in the major leagues in Mookie Betts, who averaged .346 with 32 home runs and 82 runs batted in, and J.D. Martinez, who averaged .330 with 43 homers and 130 runs batted in.

"We take pride in grinding at-bats out," Martinez said. "These guys are great and so fun to be around. I couldn't be happier to go to the World Series with them."

The Red Sox had the winningest major league season since 2001 and are a perfect 7-0 when scoring first in post-season games.

"That's the best team in the game right now. We respect that. We know they are good," Dodgers closing relief pitcher Kenley Jansen said.

"We all stuck together. We never quit. We have one goal and we fell short last year. We just have to play 27 outs and see how it goes."

- Machado will be booed -

Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado, obtained in a July trade with Baltimore, has a history with Boston fans after injuring Dustin Pedroia in a slide that led to an exchange of batters hit by pitchers on both teams. Controversial slides against Milwaukee made him a villain again this month.

"They are always going to boo the best," Machado said after getting jeers from Brewers fans.

Dodgers manager Roberts was traded as a player from Los Angeles to the Red Sox in 2004, when he helped the club win its first World Series title since 1918.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Fenway," Roberts said. "I have a lot of fond memories of the Red Sox and Fenway Park. To be wearing another uniform going in there playing for a World Series championship is going to be special for me."

Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who could become only the fifth rookie manager to win a World Series, played with the Dodgers and later helped Boston to the 2007 Series title.


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Sizzling Kershaw pitches Dodgers to World Series lead

LOS ANGELES -- Seven scorching innings from starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw and home runs from Justin Turner and Chris Taylor lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in game one of the World Series on Tuesday.

The temperature at first pitch of 103 F (39 C) was a record for a Major League Baseball playoff game, and a fitting cauldron for the opening clash in the best-of-seven series between teams that each won more than 100 regular-season games.

Kershaw set the tone by retiring the first three Astros batters.

Then Dodgers centerfielder Taylor smacked a towering homer off the first pitch thrown by Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel to put Los Angeles up 1-0

It was only the fourth leadoff homer ever recorded in a World Series game one.

Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young award-winner, settled down to retire Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig and the duel between Kershaw and Keuchel was on.

Three-time Cy Young award-winner Kershaw, making his first World series start, had faced just one batter over the minimum through the first three innings when Astros third baseman Alex Bregman broke through with a solo homer to lead off the fourth.

It was about the only hiccup for Kershaw, who surrendered three hits in seven innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts.

That's the most by a pitcher in the World Series since 2001 and was one shy of his own playoff record of 12. He threw 57 of his 83 pitches for strikes.

Keuchel delivered a solid performance himself, but after walking Taylor with two outs in the second he surrendered a two-run home run to Turner -- the walkoff hero of the Dodgers' game-two win over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship series.

Astros manager A.J. Hinch lifted Keuchel with two outs in the seventh, after he gave up a deep single to Corey Seager.

Reliever Brad Peacock ended the danger, but the Astros couldn't make a further dent.

Dodgers relief pitcher Brandon Morrow retired the side in the top of the eighth and closing pitcher Kenley Jansen set down three in the top of the ninth to send the crowd of 54,253 at Dodger Stadium into a frenzy.

The Dodgers will try to build on their 1-0 lead when they host game two on Wednesday.

They are in pursuit of a seventh franchise title, but their first since 1988 -- the last time they reached the championship series.

The Astros are seeking a first World Series title, having been swept in their only prior appearance in 2005.

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Pitched battle promises World Series classic

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw and Houston hurler Justin Verlander lead the Dodgers and Astros into the 113th World Series here Tuesday seeking to capture a first Major League Baseball crown.

Kershaw and Verlander, perhaps the two greatest pitchers of their generation, boast a wealth individual honors, but neither has captured the ultimate prize.

Kershaw, the southpaw from Texas whose resume includes one National League Most Valuable Player award, three NL Cy Young award and seven All-Star selections, gets his first chance after helping the Dodgers reach the World Series for the first time since they last won it all in 1988.

Verlander, a former American League Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young award-winner, has pitched in two World Series, as a rookie with the Tigers in 2006 and again with Detroit in 2012 when they were swept by San Francisco.

He's 0-3 in World Series starts -- a record he aims to change with the Astros, the team he joined in a trade from Detroit on August 31 just in time to be included on their post-season roster.

"Obviously he's a premier performer at the highest times, the most intense times," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "And you can't teach that. And you can't buy it. You have to have it or you don't. And Verlander has it."

Verlander is coming off two sensational starts that earned him MVP honors in the American League Championship Series triumph over the New York Yankees.

He held the Yankees to one run over 16 innings, notching 21 strikeouts.

"Verlander, if that dude wasn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer before this post-season, he is now," Astros pitcher Lance McCullers said. "The impact he's brought on this team, the way that he goes about his business after all these years, you cannot say enough about what he's done for us and how he's built his legacy."

Kershaw, who was long unable to translate his regular-season dominance into post-season success, allowed just one run on three hits with five strikeouts in six innings in the final game of the Dodgers' National League Championship Series triumph over the defending champion Chicago Cubs.

 - Four more wins -

He was promptly slated to pitch game one of the World Series on Tuesday by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who says there was no sign that the back trouble that sidelined Kershaw for five weeks would be a problem.

"Physically, Clayton feels good," Roberts said. "Obviously, you saw the emotion after (the clinch). He'll be ready to go game one."

Kershaw called reaching the World Series "an incredibly special moment" but made it clear it wasn't "mission accomplished".

"You know, we have four more wins to go," he said. "We've 1988 so long in LA, it feels good to say that we're getting to the World Series in 2017, and with four more wins, hopefully get to get one home."

The Dodgers are seeking a seventh World Series title while the Astros, in the Fall Classic for just the second time, are in pursuit of their first.

The Dodgers led the major leagues with 104 regular-season wins while the Astros notched 101.

The Dodgers disposed of the Cubs in five games in the NLCS while the Astros were pushed to the brink by the Yankees in the ALCS, falling behind 3-2 in the series before winning the last two games at home to deny New York a 41st World Series berth.

While Houston may not provide the glamour that would have surrounded a Dodgers-Yankees match-up, the Astros' game one starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel believes they'll bring plenty of game.

"Quality ballclub," Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young award-winner said of the Dodgers. "They led the Major Leagues in wins for a reason. They're not to be taken lightly -- but we're not to be either."

- Two teams standing -

The teams do have some post-season history, dating back to the days before realignment landed the Astros in the American League in 2013.

Houston eliminated the Dodgers in a one-game NL West division tiebreaker in 1980, and Los Angeles downed Houston en route to a World Series title in the strike-disrupted 1981 season.

This clash will see the Astros' explosive offense -- which led the majors in runs scored with the second-highest number of home runs -- challenging a formidable Dodgers pitching staff that was beefed up in the wake of last season's playoff loss to the Cubs.

"There's two teams standing," Hinch said. "It's a race to four wins now."

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WORLD SPORTS: Jets beat Dolphins in London, Postol KOs Matthysse

Jets 27, Dolphins 14

The Sports Xchange/Reuters

Running back Chris Ivory ran for a career-high 166 yards and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick passed for 218 yards and one touchdown to lead New York to victory over Miami at Wembley Stadium in London.

Fitzpatrick, who threw for 172 yards in the first half, connected on a 58-yard completion to wide receiver Brandon Marshall on the first play.

Marshall had 107 yards receiving by halftime and finished with 128 on seven receptions for the Jets (3-1). Fitzpatrick was 16-of-29 passing and had one interception.

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Panthers 37, Buccaneers 23

The Sports Xchange/Reuters

The Carolina Panthers converted five turnovers from Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Jameis Winston into 27 points, cruising to a 4-0 record with a win over the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

Quarterback Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes to wide receiver Ted Ginn, and cornerback Josh Norman intercepted two Winston passes, returning one for a touchdown.

Just as the Bucs (1-3) looked to get close before halftime, rookie kicker Kyle Brindza missed two straight field goals before the Panthers pulled away.



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Postol floors Matthysse to win vacant WBC title

Agence France-Presse

Viktor Postol floored Lucas Matthysse with a straight right hand in the 10th round to keep his unbeaten record intact and claim the vacant WBC super lightweight title on Saturday.

The Ukrainian nailed Matthysse with a vicious right hand over a left jab that sent the Argentine to the canvas and ended the fight at the StubHub Center stadium in Los Angeles.

Following the knockdown in the 10th, Matthysse -- famed for his punching power -- opted not to get back to his feet and he was counted out by referee Jack Reiss.

The unheralded Postol said he hopes that this win lands him a shot at WBO champ Terence Crawford.

Matthysse on the other hand might have lost more than just a fight Saturday. Before the defeat there was talk he was in line for a fight with Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao if he could get past Postol and look good doing it.

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Dodgers' Kershaw records 300th strikeout of season

Reuters

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw became only the third pitcher since 2000 to post a 300-strikeout season in their 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

That put the 27-year-old pitcher, the National League's most valuable player in 2014, in an elite '300' club along with Curt Schilling (2002) and Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (2000, 2001 and 2002).

Kershaw, who is also a three-time Cy Young Award winner, joined fellow left-hander Sandy Koufax as the only Dodgers pitchers to reach 300 strikeouts in a single season. Koufax last achieved the feat in 1966.

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Halep injury plunges WTA Finals spot into doubt

Talek HARRIS, Agence France-Presse

World number two Simona Halep lasted less than a set before retiring injured at the China Open on Sunday, plunging her appearance at the year-ending WTA Finals into doubt.

Halep and Petra Kvitova, who was playing on painkillers and suffering the ongoing effects of glandular fever, both crashed out as the China Open lost its top two women's seeds in the first round.

Romania's Halep said she would now take a break from tennis and assess if she can play the season finale in Singapore after retiring at 5-4 down in the first set against Lara Arruabarrena with a left Achilles tendon problem.

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