Nationals fans rejoice in red as hometown heroes are honored

WASHINGTON — The song “Baby Shark” blared over loudspeakers and a wave of red washed across this politically blue capital Saturday as Nationals fans lined the city’s version of the Canyon of Heroes to rejoice in Washington’s first World Series victory since 1924.

“We just felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Bridget Chapin, who came from Burke, Virginia, with her husband, Mark, for the parade along Constitution Avenue and a rally a few blocks from the Capitol.

Nick Hashimoto of Dulles, Virginia, was among those who arrived at 5 a.m. to snag a front-row spot. He brought his own baby shark toy in honor of backup outfielder Gerardo Parra’s walk-up song, which began as a parental tribute to the musical taste of his 2-year-old daughter and ended up as a rallying cry that united fans at Nationals Park and his teammates.

As “Baby Shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo” played on a crisp morning, early risers joined in with the trademark response — arms extended in a chomping motion. Chants of “Let’s go Nats!” resonated from the crowd hours before they were to hear from the team.

“I’ve met all these people today. I’ve got new friends,” said Kimberly Ballou of Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Nationals got a hero’s welcome home from tens of thousands of people in a city that had thirsted for a baseball champion for nearly a century. The Nationals gave them that by winning in seven games over the Houston Astros; the clincher came on the road Wednesday night.


“I just wish they could have won in DC,” said Ronald Saunders of Washington, who came with a Little League team that was marching in the parade.

The crowd along the route was deeply packed. Cheers went up and fans waved red streamers, hand towels and signs that said “Fight Finished” as the players rode by on the open top of double-decker buses. General Manager Mike Rizzo, a cigar in his mouth, jumped off with the World Series trophy to show the fans lining the barricades and slap high-fives. Manager Dave Martinez also got in on the fun.

“When they tell you dreams come true, point them toward our @Nationals,” Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted after Game 7. “Tell them they do.” She included the hashtag SportsCapital, a reference, too, to the Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup championship in 2018 and the Washington Mystics’ WNBA championship this year.

President Donald Trump has invited the Nationals to the White House on Monday, though relief pitcher Sean Doolittle doesn’t plan to attend.

“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” Doolittle told The Washington Post.


Doolittle found support from Larry Stokes of Boyds, Maryland, citing Trump’s stand on immigrants. “They’re playing this game, but he doesn’t like immigrants,” Stokes said.

But to fan Bridget Chapin, “Regardless of how you feel, you go to the Oval Office. I’m really weary of athletes making political statements. I watch sports to get away from all that.”

The president attended Game 5 in Washington and was greeted with loud boos when he was shown on the giant video screen during a tribute to veterans. The boos more than overwhelmed a scattering of cheers.

Delores Smith of Washington, a longtime baseball fan who said she had an uncle who pitched in the Negro Leagues, said the World Series was “a big win” for the city. “This is the first time in a long time that I’ve seen the whole city come together. There’s no fussing about Trump.”

In a city divided by politics, race and economics, the Nats were something of a unifier — at least for the time being — as partisans and nonpartisans alike openly congratulated one another on their team’s win.

Even with the threat of stars leaving for free agency — as outfielder Bryce Harper did after 2018 — fans hoped the Nationals’ success would continue.

“I don’t think it’s going to be our last time. This team, even when our last superstar left, this team rallied around, they played as a team,” Stokes said.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Jose Altuve’s HR in 9th sends Astros to World Series over Yankees

HOUSTON — Jose Altuve, the 5-foot-6 driving force of Houston, delivered a swing that will play in Astros’ highlights forever.

Altuve homered off Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth inning and Houston outlasted the New York Yankees 6-4 Saturday night to advance to the World Series for the second time in three years.

“That’s one of the best moments of postseason history,” Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said.

In a bullpen Game 6 with a back-and-forth finish, DJ LeMahieu hit a tying, two-run shot off Astros closer Roberto Osuna in the top of the ninth. Altuve answered with a two-run drive to left-center, setting off a wild celebration at Minute Maid Park and earning himself AL Championship Series MVP.

“Beautiful game,” Altuve said.

Astros ace Gerrit Cole was waiting to pitch a potential Game 7 on Sunday. Instead, the postseason star — undefeated since May 22 — can be lined up for Game 1 at home against the NL champion Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Yuli Gurriel hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and flashy outfield defense helped Houston’s relievers defeat the Yankees and their vaunted bullpen.

It almost fell apart in the ninth. Gio Urshela singled off Osuna leading off for his third hit of the game, and LeMahieu put a ball into the first row of seats in right field — inches over the glove of leaping George Springer — to tie it at 4.

Altuve, a sparkplug touted as Houston’s heart and soul, didn’t let this one get away.

“I get asked to describe Jose Altuve all the time,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I think MVP is what he is.”

The teams combined to use 14 pitchers in a drawn-out game that lasted 4 hours, 9 minutes.

Houston’s Will Harris, who got four outs over the sixth and seventh innings and has yet to allow a run this postseason, was glad Houston’s bullpen got to show its stuff.

“We have a lot of guys with a lot of pride that are really good at their jobs,” he said. “And I was excited for the opportunity for us to prove that today.”

The defense helped. Right fielder Josh Reddick dived for Brett Gardner’s liner for the second out of the sixth. An inning later, left fielder Michael Brantley laid out for Aaron Hicks’ shallow floater and doubled off Aaron Judge at first.

Gurriel, a holdover from Houston’s 2017 championship team, was 1 for 20 to start the ALCS before his drive in the first inning. He jumped all over a high-and-tight fastball from opener Chad Green, and his shot into the Crawford Boxes was his first connection this postseason.

It’s the third time Houston has eliminated New York in the past five postseasons. The Astros won the 2015 wild-card game in the Bronx and beat the Yankees in seven games in the 2017 ALCS before winning their first title.

“I feel like we are on equal footing with them,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Unfortunately, sports can be a little bit cruel for the team that goes home.”

Washington is seeking its first championship in the 51-season history of the Montreal Expos/Nationals franchise. The original Washington Senators won their only championship for the nation’s capital in 1924 and last reached the World Series in 1933 before becoming the Minnesota Twins for the 1961 season.

Gary Sánchez had an RBI single in the second and Urshela homered in the fourth for the Yankees.

Alex Bregman gave the Astros an insurance run with an RBI on a forceout in the sixth inning.

Brantley’s double play elicited one of the loudest ovations of the night — before Altuve’s blast — from the sellout crowd of 43,357 which included Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan and Craig Biggio and Rockets stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook, who watched from the front row in personalized orange Astros jerseys.

New York was 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and 3 for 24 over the final five games of the series. The franchise lost its fourth straight ALCS after falling in 2010, 2012 and 2017. The Yankees will go without a World Series appearance in a calendar decade for the first time since the 1910s.

“The work never ends,” Boone said. “And we’ll continue to try and I guess close that gap.”

Altuve doubled off Green with one out in the first inning and Bregman drew a walk with two outs. After a short visit to the mound, Gurriel knocked the next pitch into the seats in left field for a 3-0 lead. The runs were Houston’s first with two outs in the series.

Houston had been 4 for 40 with runners in scoring position before that big swing.

Brad Peacock, who threw eight pitches in a scoreless eighth inning Friday night, became the fourth pitcher ever to finish a postseason game and then start the next day, and the first since 1924.

He needed seven pitches to retire the side in the first before running into trouble with two outs in the second. Josh James ended the inning by striking out Gardner.

Ryan Pressly had another gutsy escape, too. He hurt his right knee again fielding a bases-loaded grounder by Didi Gregorius but limped over to tag him for the final out of the third. Pressly, who grimaced as he went toward the dugout after one pitch, had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee on Aug. 22 and returned Sept. 20. Pressly also got two strikeouts with the bases loaded in Game 4.

He said that some scar tissue broke off on the play but that he’ll be ready to go this week.

“It’s the World Series,” Hinch said. “It will be all hands on deck.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Everyday Eovaldi turns in Series performance for the ages

LOS ANGELES — Nathan Eovaldi seemed to have a rubber arm. Maybe that second Tommy John surgery turned him into a bionic pitcher.

Until the 97th pitch of an outing that was among the most unusual in World Series history, until the 561st pitch of an epic endurance test that sprawled across the night for 18 innings, he finally got beat.

Eovaldi allowed Max Muncy’s opposite-field homer to left-center on a cutter that hung over the high, outside corner, ending the longest World Series game ever after 7 hours, 20 minutes. The Dodgers’ 3-2 win over Boston on Friday cut Los Angeles’ World Series deficit to 2-1.

“After the game was over I started crying,” Red Sox starter Rick Porcello said. “He literally gave everything he had on every single pitch.”

Before this week, Eovaldi had never pitched on consecutive days in his major league career.

Now the 28-year-old right-hander was sent to the mound by manager Alex Cora for the third time in four days. In the World Series. Throwing 98 mph in his seventh inning of relief.

Fastballs and cutters. Occasional sliders and splits. Inning after inning.

“I felt good the whole time. I told AC, ‘I’m good. I want to stay in,’” Eovaldi said in front of the first base dugout after it was over.

He gave a performance for the ages — especially in an era when managers have turned starters and relievers alike into one-batter wonders. It was a throwback to the days when Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale took the Dodger Stadium mound and expected to finish what they started.

After pitching the eighth inning to preserve leads in the first two games of the Series, Eovaldi was the scheduled Game 4 starter. Instead he became Boston’s record-tying ninth pitcher when he entered to start the 12th inning.

He was on the verge of getting the win when second baseman Ian Kinsler made a throwing error that allowed the Dodgers to retie the game in the 13th.

“I feel terrible for Nate,” Kinsler said. “I feel like I let the team down right there.”

Eovaldi was understanding.

“He apologized to me, and I told him he has nothing to apologize for,” Eovaldi said.

Muncy walked leading off the 13th and came home on Kinsler’s error, then nearly won the game in the 15th with a drive over the wall down the right-field line that hooked just foul.

Eovaldi fell behind 3-0 to Muncy leading off the 18th, and then got a called strike followed by a pair of fouls. Muncy drove the next pitch 382 feet onto the stairway in front of the pavilion seats.

“That was the last inning right there,” Cora said . “When he came in, I asked him, ‘How do you feel?’ He’s like, ‘Let me finish it.’ And I’m like, ‘OK.’ I don’t know if I told him, ‘You’ve got one more.’”

Eovaldi threw four more pitches than any member of Boston’s staff had in an outing this postseason. Cora planned to have Drew Pomeranz hit for Eovaldi in the 19th and take the mound in the bottom half.

“I felt privileged to be able to watch what Nathan Eovaldi did,” Porcello said. “That was the most incredible pitching performance I’ve even seen.”

Eovaldi threw more than one-third of Boston’s 283 pitches, allowing two runs — one earned — and three hits in six innings. Not bad, especially given his past.

He had his first elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2007 when he was a junior at Alvin High School in Texas. He had his second in August 2016 after getting hurt while pitching for the New York Yankees.

New York cut him loose, and Tampa Bay gave him a home for his rehab.

“I’m trusting the doctors and the surgeons that they’re going to do their job. And then trusting the trainers,” Eovaldi said. “I never thought that I wouldn’t be here.”

He was on the verge of returning for the start of this season when the Rays announced near the end of spring training that he had loose bodies in his elbow and needed surgery. That delayed his return to May 30.

After going 3-4 with a 4.26 ERA in 10 starts, he was traded to Boston on July 25 for prospect Jalen Beeks. Eovaldi dropped his ERA to 3.33 in 10 starts and one relief appearance for the Red Sox, his average fastball velocity up to 97-98 mph.

He beat the Yankees in his postseason debut, Game 3 of the Division Series, and then defeated Houston in the third game of the AL Championship Series.

Will everyday Eovaldi volunteer to pitch Saturday?

“Absolutely,” Eovaldi said.

He only seemed to be half-kidding.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Dodgers’ title drought reaches 30 years with Series loss

LOS ANGELES — Even Clayton Kershaw couldn’t save the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner pitched four scoreless innings of relief when starter Yu Darvish fell into a five-run hole after 1 2/3 innings Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).But the Dodgers’ offense never put it together. Los Angeles mustered just six hits and stranded 10 runners in a 5-1 loss to Houston that extended its championship drought to 30 years.

It was a clunker of an ending for baseball’s best team during the regular season.

“Like I told the guys, when you put everything, every ounce of your being into something and you come up short, it hurts,” manager Dave Roberts said, “and it’s supposed to hurt.”

The Dodgers won 104 games, boasted an NL-leading six All-Stars and won the NL West for the fifth consecutive year. They won 43 of 50 games over a two-month stretch from June to early August, the best 50-game run in the majors since the 1912 New York Giants.

Their lead reached a whopping 21 games on Aug. 23, and they survived an 11-game September skid to coast into October.

Boasting the majors’ highest payroll of $240 million, Los Angeles rolled past Arizona in the NL Division Series and then knocked off the defending champion Cubs in five games in the NL Championship Series to reach their first World Series since 1988.

The Dodgers and Astros dueled to a 3-all tie through six thrilling games, with Los Angeles rallying to force the first World Series Game 7 in Dodger Stadium history.

But, a few miles from Hollywood, the script got flipped.

And it was the Astros celebrating the end of their 55-year title drought on the Dodgers’ field.

“It’s too hard to think about what the Astros are getting to do right now,” a dejected Kershaw said.

Roberts, so quick with his hook all season, left Darvish in to face Series MVP George Springer in the second. Springer blasted a two-run homer — his record-tying fifth of the Series — and Houston extended its lead to 5-0.

Brandon Morrow got the last out of the inning before Kershaw came on in the third. The left-handed ace allowed two hits, struck out four and walked two, leaving fans to question why Roberts didn’t start Kershaw on short rest in the first place. Or at least bring in Kershaw to face Springer in the second.

“There’s always going to be second-guessing,” Roberts said. “We felt good with Yu starting the game.”

Darvish only managed five outs in losing Game 3 at Houston. He’s the second pitcher in World Series history with less than two innings pitched in two starts.

“I let my teammates down,” he said through a translator.

Darvish took the loss, giving up five runs — four earned — and three hits. He didn’t record a strikeout and walked one.

“I know he wanted the baseball. I know he was prepared. I just can’t explain the results,” Roberts said. “I understand it’s Game 7, but I just felt his stuff was good.”

Acquired at the July trade deadline, Darvish was best known in the Series for being the target of a racist gesture by Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel during Game 3. On Wednesday, Gurriel tipped his helmet to Darvish before stepping in for his first at-bat of the game.

“I just tried not to hit him,” Darvish said. “What happened didn’t affect me at all.”

Kenley Jansen appeared earlier than usual, too. The closer, who tied for the NL lead with 41 saves, trotted out in the seventh to face the top of the Astros’ order. He induced a flyout from Springer, struck out Alex Bregman and walked Jose Altuve, who stole second before Carlos Correa popped out to shortstop.

Alex Wood, another starter working in relief, retired six consecutive batters over the eighth and ninth innings.

Roberts made 32 pitching changes in the Series, breaking a record set by St. Louis’ Tony La Russa in 2011.

With Kershaw pumping his fists and yelling, “Let’s go!” from the dugout, the Dodgers got two runners on with no outs to open the sixth.

Andre Ethier, the longest-tenured Dodger, pushed across one run with a pinch-hit single. That allowed the crowd of 54,124, stunned into silence early, a rare moment to cheer.

But the Dodgers stranded two more runners and trailed 5-1.

Their big bats were silenced, too. Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson were a combined 4 for 22. Bellinger whiffed three times, and his 17 strikeouts were a Series record. He also broke Yankees star Aaron Judge’s freshly set mark with 29 strikeouts this postseason.

“This is just a great group of guys,” Kershaw said. “Without getting too emotional, just trying to embrace each other. We all feel the same hurt.”

The Dodgers didn’t manage a baserunner over the last three innings, keeping their title drought intact.

“I hope we can get to this point again,” Kershaw said, “but it definitely wasn’t easy to get here.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Royals win World Series, rally past Mets

NEW YORK — Crown ’em, Kansas City!

One agonizing step from ecstasy last season, this time the Royals reign after their latest incredible comeback and a go-ahead hit from maybe the most unlikely player in uniform.

Christian Colon singled home the tiebreaking run in the 12th inning and those bound-and-determined Royals rallied one more time to beat the New York Mets 7-2 in 12 innings early Monday for their first World Series championship since 1985.

Down 2-0 in the ninth, Kansas City fought back in Game 5 against two of the top arms on the pitching-rich Mets: Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia. And the Royals did it not with home run power but instead a daring dash from Eric Hosmer, a three-run double by Lorenzo Cain, a couple of crucial stolen bases.

Consistent contact, keep the line moving.

“I couldn’t have written a better script,” manager Ned Yost said.

That’s how Series MVP Salvador Perez and the Royals became the first team since the 2002 Angels to come from behind in all four World Series wins, according to STATS.

That’s how they washed away the bitter taste of last year’s Game 7 loss at home to San Francisco, an October heartbreak that drove the Royals to their singular focus all season.

Never waver. Win it all this time.

“Kansas City is No. 1. Who cares about what happened last year?” Perez said.

Now, this group of homegrown favorites who turned around a floundering franchise, Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon and Hosmer to name a few, take their place in Royals history alongside George Brett, Willie Wilson, Bret Saberhagen and those champs from 30 years ago.

They couldn’t have done it without major contributions from newcomers like Ben Zobrist, Johnny Cueto, Kendrys Morales, Chris Young and Alex Rios.

Next up, a parade to celebrate the club’s second title on Tuesday in Kansas City.

With no margin for error, Harvey put the Mets’ last hope in his hands and hung on as long as he could. After eight scoreless innings, he pushed to pitch the ninth and finally faltered.

“Obviously, I let my heart get in the way of my gut. I love my players. And I trust them,” manager Terry Collins said. “It didn’t work. It was my fault.”

New York slugger Yoenis Cespedes exited with knee pain but Curtis Granderson hit a leadoff homer, his third long ball of the Series, and the Mets managed a 2-0 lead against heavy-hearted Royals starter Edinson Volquez, pitching one day after returning from his father’s funeral.

But for these resilient Royals, no deficit is too large, no time in the game too late.

“We never quit. We never put our heads down,” Perez said. “We always compete to the last out.”

Perez looped a leadoff single in the 12th off losing pitcher Addison Reed, and pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson stole second. One out later, Colon stepped in as a pinch-hitter for his first plate appearance since the regular-season finale Oct. 4.

Hardly rusty, he lined a 1-2 pitch into left-center and pounded his chest at first base.

“He’s a winner,” Yost said.

Alcides Escobar added an RBI double, and Cain’s bases-loaded double off 42-year-old Bartolo Colon broke it open.

All that was left was for Wade Davis to close it out. He threw a called third strike past Wilmer Flores to end it and tossed his glove high in the air as the Royals rushed toward the mound to celebrate.

Hundreds of Royals fans dressed in blue descended toward the Kansas City dugout to cheer their champs. Perez received his MVP award after the catcher hit .364.

Later, the Mets came back onto the field to salute a smaller pocket of fans who stuck around for one last chant of “Let’s go, Mets!”

Royals reliever Luke Hochevar, drafted No. 1 overall by the team in 2006, pitched two hitless innings for the win.

Fired up all night, Harvey was at 102 pitches following a 1-2-3 eighth and stalked briskly back to the dugout with one purpose in mind. There, cameras caught him telling Collins — in no uncertain terms — he was going back out for the ninth.

Collins relented, and a huge roar went up as Harvey bounded off the bench and sprinted to the mound, looking for his second complete game in the majors. But he walked Cain on a full-count slider, and Hosmer hit an RBI double.

Harvey was pulled for closer Familia, and Hosmer advanced on Moustakas’ groundout to the right side.

Sound fundamentals, a Royals staple.

So up stepped Perez with the potential tying run 90 feet away, same as last year when he fouled out against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner to end the World Series.

This time, Perez got jammed and hit a slow grounder to third baseman David Wright, who froze Hosmer with a glance and threw across the diamond for the second out.

Hosmer, however, bolted for the plate when Wright released the ball. First baseman Lucas Duda fired wide of catcher Travis d’Arnaud — a good throw probably would have been in time — and Hosmer made a headfirst dive home with the tying run.

Hosmer celebrated with excited teammates, while Familia was saddled with his third blown save of the Series, though two were the result of shaky defense.

For the rising Mets, it was the final stop on a storybook ride. Underdogs in the NL East, they re-energized fans at Citi Field during their first winning season since Shea Stadium was still home in 2008, sweeping the Chicago Cubs for their first pennant in 15 years.

But the Mets remain without a World Series title since 1986.

Flush with young aces who flashed October mettle, New York could be a force for years to come. But first, offseason decisions on two important bats in the middle of the lineup: Cespedes and postseason star Daniel Murphy.

UP NEXT

In an unusual bit of fortuitous scheduling, the teams open next season with two interleague games at Kansas City in early April.

source: sports.inquirer.net