Siri, McCormick rally AL West-leading Astros past D-backs
Jose Siri and Chas McCormick hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning, rallying the AL West-leading Houston Astros over the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 on Sunday. Carlos Correa also homered as the Astros held their comfortable division lead over Oakland. Houston won for the fourth time in five games and cut Tampa Bay’s lead for the best record in the AL to 3 ½ games.
news.yahoo.comAstros rally late against former teammate, top Mariners 4-3
Jake Meyers had the last of three singles as part of Houston’s eighth-inning rally against former teammate Joe Smith, scoring Kyle Tucker with the go-ahead run and sending the Astros over the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Monday night. Dylan Moore had a pinch-hit, two-run homer for Seattle in the sixth for a 3-2 lead.
news.yahoo.comSpringer, Valdéz help Astros top Rays 7-4, force ALCS Game 7
George Springer and José Altuve delivered big hits, Framber Valdéz pitched six brilliant innings and the Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the third straight time, 7-4 Friday to force a deciding Game 7 of the AL Championship Series. Despite blowing a 3-0 series lead, they remain one win from the second World Series in franchise history — and one loss from joining the 2004 Yankees in ignominy. Game 7 on Saturday night will feature the pitchers who started and finished Houston’s Game 7 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. He has yet to win a World Series as a manager. As a player, he helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win four straight World Series games in 1981 after falling behind the New York Yankees 0-2.
Rays beat Astros 5-2, move within 1 victory of World Series
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)SAN DIEGO – Kevin Kiermaier and the Tampa Bay Rays — with big assists from two former Padres who know Petco Park's outfield well — are one win from the second World Series berth in franchise history. “We’ve played just tremendous defense all season long,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Tampa Bay player, said it was “an amazing feeling” to be so close to going to the Fall Classic. Wendle lined a single off third baseman Alex Bregman's glove to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. Paredes hit Kiermaier on the hand to load the bases and then grazed Willy Adames on the pinkie with a pitch to bring in another run.
Astros' big bats go silent in ALCS opener loss to Tampa Bay
The Houston Astros watch the top of the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of a baseball American League Championship Series, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in San Diego. Tampa Bay limited the Astros' star-studded lineup to nine hits — but just one for extra bases — in the Rays' 2-1 victory to open the ALCS at Petco Park on Sunday night. The Astros got no more big hits against Blake Snell and the Rays' justifiably vaunted bullpen. But with big scoring opportunities in the final two innings of the ALCS opener, the Astros couldn't capitalize — and the last two hurt the most. The Astros scored first in all four games against Oakland in the ALDS, and they did it again in Game 1 of the ALCS.
Good guy Dusty Baker guides reviled Houston Astros into ALCS
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker Jr. signals as he walks to the mound to change pitchers during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Roger Steinman)LOS ANGELES – If there’s a universally recognized good guy among the generally reviled Houston Astros, it’s Dusty Baker. Next up, starting Sunday in San Diego, is either the New York Yankees or Tampa Bay Rays with a berth in the World Series at stake. If the Astros get that far, Baker would have a shot at being the second Black manager to win a World Series, joining Cito Gaston. As manager, Baker has been made to answer for the Astros' past transgressions, even though he wasn't around.
LEADING OFF: Yanks' Cole, Rays' Glasnow tabbed for Game 5
A look at what's happening around the majors today:___WINNER-TAKE-ALLYankees ace Gerrit Cole and towering Tampa Bay righty Tyler Glasnow will both pitch on short rest in the deciding Game 5 of their AL Division Series. Cole earned the victory in Game 1 despite allowing two home runs, and he’ll appear on three days’ rest after throwing 97 pitches. The 6-foot-8 Glasnow will be pitching on two days’ rest after striking out 10 in Game 2. “I haven’t really talked about innings or anything like that,” Glasnow said after New York won 5-1 Thursday to force Game 5. The Rays are trying to advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2008, when they made it to their only World Series.
Bang! Bang! Astros thump away vs Oakland, return to ALCS
Houston Astros' George Springer, left, celebrates with Carlos Correa after the Astros defeated the Oakland Athletics in Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. “We have young guys that are leaning on the veterans and the veterans are taking care of them right now. The Astros and A's combined for 24 homers — 12 each — the most in a postseason series of five games or fewer. The scandal led to season-long suspensions of Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, who both were fired. BACK TO THE ALCSThe Astros became the third team in AL history since 1969 to reach four straight AL Championship Series.
Pinder’s HR helps rally A’s past Astros 9-7, trail ALDS 2-1
Oakland Athletics' Chad Pinder, right, celebrates with manager Bob Melvin after the Athletics defeated the Houston Astros in Game 3 of a baseball American League Division Series in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. And just in case Laureano's words did not get the message across, he ripped a double as the A's got a pair of sacrifice flies in the eighth to rally past the Houston Astros 9-7 on Wednesday and avoid elimination in their AL Division Series. “It was awesome.”Houston leads the best-of-five series 2-1 and can advance to its fourth straight AL Championship Series with a victory in Game 4 on Thursday. Pinder hit a first-pitch slider to the opposite field for Oakland's fifth homer, a drive chased by right fielder Kyle Tucker until he ran out of room at the short wall. Houston took a 7-4 lead with five runs in the fifth, when the Astros sent 10 batters to the plate.
Correa, Springer rally Astros past A's 10-5 in ALDS opener
Houston Astros' Carlos Correa, left, celebrates with George Springer after they defeated the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of a baseball American League Division Series in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)LOS ANGELES – A home run derby broke out during a hot, dry day at Dodger Stadium, and suddenly the Houston Astros have their swing and swagger back. “When you get the leadoff guy (Springer) getting on base every single time, good things are going to happen. Altuve's line-drive single to left scored Maldonado and Springer to put the Astros back in front, 6-5. Chris Bassitt put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on in the fifth with back-to-back singles by Springer and Altuve.
September Madness: MLB stages 8 playoff games in 1 day
The Atlanta Braves won 1-0. Eight postseason games, all starting in a span of around 10 hours. It's very therapeutic,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before his team's night game against Milwaukee. The Marlins have never lost a postseason series. The night games brought their own type of drama.
Astros sweep as Twins lose 18th straight in playoffs
"But what are they going to say now?”Nine months after Houston's rules-breaking, sign-stealing system was revealed, the Astros advanced to the Division Series in Los Angeles. The Twins are 0-18 in the playoffs since winning Game 1 of their Division Series at the New York Yankees on Oct. 5, 2004, a total of seven rounds lost. Since that date, the Astros are 43-35 in postseason play, winning 10 of 15 rounds with three trips to the World Series. In a three-game division series sweep by the Yankees last year, the Twins totaled seven runs and 22 hits. Baldelli declined to confirm whether Buxton was experiencing a recurrence of concussion symptoms that kept him out of the last two regular season games.
Astros clinch final AL playoff spot despite loss to Rangers
(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)ARLINGTON, Texas – Houston clinched the final spot in the expanded American League playoffs when the Los Angeles Angels lost about two hours after the Astros fell 5-4 to the Texas Rangers in 10 innings Friday night. Houston, which already had its three-year reign atop the division ended by Oakland, currently is the only AL playoff team without a winning record. The Angels' 9-5 loss to the Dodgers made Houston's Dusty Baker the first manager to lead five different franchises to the playoffs. UP NEXTThe Astros were waiting for the LA outcome to decide who would start the third game in the four-game series to finish the regular season. RHP Kyle Gibson (2-6, 5.87 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Rangers.
Betts homers, Dodgers beat Astros 8-1; LA fans still sore
Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts, right, gets congratulations from Enrique Hernandez, after Betts hits a two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)LOS ANGELES – Mookie Betts’ two-run homer highlighted a four-run fifth inning, Chris Taylor added a three-run shot, and the Dodgers defeated Houston 8-1 on Sunday night with angry Los Angeles fans letting the Astros have it again. For the second straight day, the Astros were bombarded with messages towed by planes over Dodger Stadium. Go Dodgers” and “Hey Astros Try Stealing This Sign!” read others. Dodgers: Begin a three-game series at San Diego on Monday in a showdown between the NL West's top teams.
Trout sets franchise HR mark, Angels rally to beat Astros
One out later, Adell lined a two-run single to right off Enoli Paredes (1-2) for his first game-ending hit. Kyle Tucker homered and drove in three runs for the Astros, who lost in walk-off fashion for the second straight game. With two outs and runners on second and third, Martin Maldonado hit a two-run single to right-center. After Yuli Gurriel's two-run single in the third, Tucker extended the lead to 4-1 with a run-scoring infield single. It is the seventh game to start with triple-digit temperatures since the ballpark opened in 1966.