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.


source: news.abs-cbn.com

Baseball: LA Dodgers power past Brewers to return to World Series

MILWAUKEE -- Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger acknowledged feeling "ice cold" late Saturday night.

He was referring to the champagne that had doused his uniform, not the struggles that threatened to sink his National League Championship Series.

Persistence flowed like clubhouse bubbly for several players as the resilient Dodgers booked a return trip to the World Series by defeating the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1, in Game 7 of the NLCS.

Bellinger, the NLCS MVP, was a leading example. Though he hit .200 in the series, his home run on Saturday accounted for the go-ahead run, and he had the game-winning hit in the 13th inning of Game 4.

"All postseason, I felt fairly good," Bellinger said. "I wasn't seeing any results. And luckily for me I've got a lot of veterans on this team. They said stick with the process and the result will come. And that's exactly what I did, and it showed."

Yasiel Puig also hit a home run to back a strong effort from rookie right-hander Walker Buehler and four relievers, sending the Dodgers to the Fall Classic in consecutive years for the first time since 1977-78.

Game 1 of the World Series against the Red Sox is set for Tuesday night at Fenway Park in Boston.

The Dodgers and Red Sox franchises -- among the most storied in Major League Baseball -- met in the World Series once before, in 1916, when the Dodgers existed as the Brooklyn Robins.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who helped the Red Sox to the 2004 World Series title as a speedy reserve outfielder, forecast a great series ahead.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Fenway," Roberts said. "Obviously for me personally, 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."

Puig had three of the Dodgers' 10 hits, none bigger than a three-run home run in the sixth inning that gave Los Angeles a 5-1 lead. Buehler helped set the tone for the pitching staff with a strong start, limiting the Brewers to one run and six hits in 4 2/3 innings while striking out seven.

Bidding for its first World Series appearance since 1982, Milwaukee finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position while striking out 14 times against the Dodgers.

"That was the bottom line is they pitched well and they didn't let us get anything going," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.

"We weren't able to put together rallies, multiple hits, and get things going. And credit to them for how they pitched tonight."

Los Angeles' sixth-inning rally came on the heels of Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor's dazzling defensive play to end a prime Milwaukee scoring chance in the fifth. With two out and the potential tying run on second base, Brewers right fielder Christian Yelich drilled an opposite-field line drive to the left field gap against Julio Urias.

Taylor ranged toward the ball to make a sliding, over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track.

"That was the catch of the year," Bellinger said. "I don't know what would happen if he doesn't make that catch. It would have been a tie game, who knows. That was an unbelievable catch. And it was really cool to see it firsthand, right there."

Yelich opened the scoring with one out in the first inning, delighting the sellout crowd of 44,097 by smacking a solo home run to right field. The ball narrowly escaped Puig's leaping attempt at the wall.

The Dodgers responded in the top of the second, however, as Bellinger hit a two-run homer into the second deck in right to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead. Shortstop Manny Machado, who had two hits, started the rally by bunting down the third base line on a 3-2 count to beat a defensive shift.

Brewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin worked out of further trouble to end the inning, which proved to be his final action of the game. Counsell pinch-hit for Chacin with two on and two out in the bottom of the second, but Jonathan Schoop grounded out to end the threat.

Chacin (1-1) allowed two runs on three hits in two innings, walking one. A fully rested Josh Hader followed and kept the Brewers afloat by continuing a dominant postseason.

Pitching for the first time since Game 4, Hader struck out four, walked one and allowed one hit in three innings of scoreless relief. The All-Star left-hander fanned 16 of the 35 batters he faced in 10 shutout innings over seven playoff appearances. He allowed five hits and walked one.

Hader said he hopes the Brewers can use their postseason experience to their advantage next season.

"The group of guys that we have here, the talent that we have, the sky's the limit. I really feel like that," Hader said. "We just come back next year, get better and see where it takes us."

Largely reliable throughout the regular season stretch run and into October, the Brewers' bullpen stumbled after Hader exited the game. Puig lined a three-run home run to left field against Jeremy Jeffress with two outs and pumped his arms exuberantly as he rounded the bases.

Urias, Ryan Madson, Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw combined for 4 1/3 innings of one-hit relief. Madson (1-0) earned the victory, scattering one hit and two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.

The Dodgers stood at 16-26 on May 16 and did not climb over .500 until June 10. They took sole possession of the National League West lead for the first time on July 13 but battled with the Colorado Rockies for the division crown through the end of the regular season.

Los Angeles clinched its sixth successive division title with a home victory against the Rockies in the NL West tiebreaker game.

The Brewers also needed a 163rd regular-season game to outlast the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central title, earning the club's third postseason berth since moving to the National League in 1998.

"This series could have went either way," Roberts said. "And they gave us all we could handle."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dodgers level series with Cubs behind Kershaw's gem

CHICAGO -- Left-handed hurler Clayton Kershaw pitched seven stellar innings and Adrian Gonzalez hit the winning homer Sunday in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 1-0 Major League Baseball playoff victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Dodgers starter Kershaw allowed just two hits to help the Dodgers level the best-of-seven National League Championship Series at one game apiece.

Gonzales belted a solo home run off Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks in the second inning, and thanks to Kershaw and closing pitcher Kenley Jansen it was enough.

Kershaw gave up back-to-back Cubs hits in the fifth inning, when Javier Baez and Willson Contreras produced two-out singles, but not before he retired 14 straight batters.

Kershaw struck out six in the dominant performance, and Jansen pitched a perfect eighth and ninth to secure the win.

Jansen struck out four, including pinch hitter Miguel Montero, whose eight-inning grand slam lifted Chicago to an 8-4 victory in game one on Saturday.

The series shifts to Los Angeles for game three on Tuesday, when the Dodgers give the ball to former Cub Rich Hill, while the Cubs send ace Jake Arrieta to the mound. Arietta threw a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium on August 30, 2015.

The winner of the series will face either the Cleveland Indians or Toronto Blue Jays in Major League Baseball's World Series championship showcase.

The Indians won two games at home to take a strong grip on the American League Championship Series, which shifts to Toronto for game three on Monday.

Indians manager Terry Francona said he expected pitcher Trevor Bauer to start the game, after being scratched from his game two start after cutting the little finger of his pitching hand while working on his drone.

"I don't think it's going to be a big deal," Francona said of Bauer's injury.

While the Cubs' title drought stretching back to their last World Series triumph in 1908 is the longest in North American sport, the Indians have endured their own epic stretch of futility since last winning it all in 1948.

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St. Louis batters finally spark in NLCS Game 4

LOS ANGELES -- A few hours before Tuesday's Game Four, St Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said his team was "just a click off" and ready to break out of a batting slump in their bid to take a 3-1 series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

By the time the game ended in front of a subdued home crowd, Matheny was proved right in emphatic style as the Cardinals struck two home runs on the way to a 4-2 win that put them on the brink of clinching in the best-of-seven series.

"We just had some good players put into position to do what they do, and they did it well tonight," Matheny told reporters after the St Louis batters delivered when it mattered after scoring a total of just four runs in the previous three games.

In the top of the third inning, Matt Holliday blasted a two-run homer that flew over left field an estimated 426 feet into the Dodgers bull-pen, and pinch-hitter Shane Robinson followed suit by homering on a fly ball to left field in the seventh.

"We have some guys that are prepared to come off the bench and take big at-bats," Matheny said. "I think teams may overlook a Shane Robinson and what he can bring to the plate.

"You definitely acknowledge and tip your hat to the guys that, when it's not their night to start, that they're ready to go when they get the opportunity.

"Hopefully, we can throw some offense together like we were today a little bit and keep some positive thoughts going," he added, referring to Wednesday's Game Five, also in Los Angeles.

Regaining form

Earlier in the day, Matheny had been confident his batters would regain explosive form after mainly struggling against the top Dodgers pitchers in the opening three, low-scoring games of the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

"This team has gone through lulls, just like every other team offensively," Matheny said. "We know that we have the offensive potential. The numbers back that. The guys' belief in themselves backs that.

"But we've got to get it going. We've got to figure out a way. We've got to get it started and hopefully it will put one of those good, long runs together.

"The honest valuation is we have a couple guys that are just a click off, and it's not far. We're seeing some balls and real good swings on a couple balls that are mistakes in the middle of the plate."

The Cardinals can book a place in the World Series by winning on Wednesday, but they will have to contend with ace Dodgers pitcher Zach Greinke, the 2009 Cy Young winner, who will be boosted by his home fans at Dodger Stadium.

"We certainly don't talk about wonderful positions," Matheny said. "What we talk about is we've got a game to play tomorrow. We've got a huge responsibility to go out and play it the right way.

"Right now, we've got no problem celebrating this one (the Game Four win). Every one of these in the post-season are so tough to come by.

"But we really don't get too much beyond what we have tomorrow and realise that we have to go out and play a good game. We've got to have the solid pitching and play a clean defense."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com