Worth shouting about: George Springer wins World Series MVP

LOS ANGELES — George Springer hit so many clutch home runs, he was a clear pick for World Series MVP.
He often was the Most Vocal Person, too — and that might be the most remarkable part of his story.

The Houston leadoff man hammered his way to the award, homering and doubling Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) to boost the Astros to their first championship with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7.

He launched a Series record-tying five homers, including shots in each of the final four games, and celebrated those Springer Dingers by hollering around the bases.

Many years ago, that type of trip would’ve been hard to believe. Impossible, really.

As a kid, Springer stuttered so severely that he frequently fell silent, unless he was around his family or close friends. Over time, he’s improved so much that he graciously grants interviews, even on national television, and never seems to shy away from the spotlight. He even wore a live mic in center field during the All-Star Game in July.

Watch closely and you can see Springer, just for a moment, still begins to stumble over words sometimes. So he will calmly slow himself down, or pause for a second, before gathering himself and continuing on eloquently.

At 28, the All-Star center fielder has taken every chance he’s gotten this postseason to talk about Camp SAY — that’s the Stuttering Association for the Young.

Springer is a spokesman for the two-week summer camp that benefits kids and teens who stutter. He also runs a charity bowling event, raising money to help people attend the program.

“I hope there’s somebody somewhere out there that is impacted and can learn to just go be who you are and not let any stage or any place stop you,” he said last week.

On baseball’s big stage, the Dodgers couldn’t stop him.

Springer tied Reggie Jackson (1977) and Chase Utley (2009) for the most home runs in a Series. The UConn product became the first hitter to homer four games in a row during a single Series, and also set the mark with eight extra-base hits.

“This is a dream come true,” he said.

He bounced back fast from a tough start, when he struck out all four at-bats in the opener, extending his slump to 3 for 30. He looked lost at the plate facing Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, but manager A.J. Hinch firmly said Springer would stay atop the lineup.

Good move. Springer went 11 for 25 the rest of the way.

He hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the 11th inning of a Game 2 win at Dodger Stadium. He doubled during a victory in Game 3, and homered again in a Game 4 loss.

He connected for a huge homer in Game 5, moments after an ill-advised dive for a sinking liner that skipped past him. He later drew a two-out walk in the 10th that set up the winning run at Minute Maid Park.

Springer hit a solo home run in Game 6 that put the Astros ahead in a game they eventually lost 3-1.

His final Series line: a .379 average, seven RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage.

Springer rallied from a rugged showing in the AL Championship Series, when he batted just .115 (3 for 26) without an extra-base hit or RBI in seven games against the Yankees.

That came after his fourth and most productive season in the majors, when he set career highs by hitting .283 with 34 home runs and 85 RBIs.

His production follows his pedigree.

Drafted 11th overall by the Astros out of Connecticut in 2011, George Chelston Springer III comes from a family of athletes. His dad pitched in the Little League World Series, his mom was an accomplished gymnast, and his two sisters played softball in college.

In fact, Springer wears No. 4 to represent the four members of his immediate family. Engaged to be married in January, Springer won’t be able to bump up to No. 5 — the Astros retired that jersey for Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Dodgers beat Astros 3-1, force World Series to Game 7

LOS ANGELES— Joc Pederson sliced a drive over the left-field wall, pounded his chest and danced around the bases, taking as many twists and turns as this World Series itself.

Of course, the Los Angeles Dodgers forced the Houston Astros to Game 7.

Chris Taylor hit a tying double off Justin Verlander during a two-run rally in the sixth inning, Corey Seager followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly and the Dodgers beat the Astros 3-1 on Tuesday night to push this dramatic Fall Classic to the ultimate game.

Pederson homered in the seventh against Joe Musgrove, connecting off the right-hander for the second time in three games and making it a record 24 long balls that have been hit in this Series. Pederson pranced all the way to the plate, pointing at the Dodgers’ dugout and rubbing his thumbs and index fingers together to indicate what a money shot it was.

“You kind of black out in a situation like that. So I’m going to have to re-watch it to see what I did,” Pederson said.

It was the third home run of the Series for Pederson, who was demoted to the minors from mid-August until early September, then left off the NL Division Series roster. He had hit just one previous big league opposite-field homer this season, and teammates offered to pay him to go the other way.

“People are trying to get me encouraged to using the whole field,” he said. “I’m not very good at it.”
Yu Darvish starts Wednesday for the Dodgers, trying to win their first title since 1988, and Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw will be ready in the bullpen after getting knocked out in the fifth inning of Game 5.
“I can give you 27 innings,” Kershaw said. “I’ll be ready to go, whatever they need.”

Lance McCullers Jr. gets the ball for the Astros in the first World Series Game 7 ever at Dodger Stadium.
Darvish was chased in the second inning of Game 2, when McCullers pitched Houston to a 5-3 victory.

“You’ve got two teams with a bunch of dogs in the clubhouse. No one is afraid,” McCullers said.

Two nights after a 13-12, 10-inning slugfest under the roof at Minute Maid Park, pitching dominated.

George Springer’s third-inning home run against starter Rich Hill had given a 1-0 lead to Verlander and the Astros, trying for the first championship in their 56-season history. On Halloween night, a title for a team with orange in its colors seemed appropriate.

But it served only to set up the 10th blown lead of the Series, the fifth by Houston, as Verlander fell to 9-1 with the Astros.

Dodgers relievers combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Brandon Morrow retired Alex Bregman on a grounder to strand the bases loaded in the fifth, winner Tony Watson got Marwin Gonzalez to fly out with two on and two outs in the sixth, and Kenta Maeda escaped two-on trouble in the seventh when third baseman Justin Turner gloved Jose Altuve’s grounder and made a short-hop throw that first baseman Cody Bellinger scooped just in time.

After wasting a ninth-inning lead in Game 2 and losing Game 5, Kenley Jansen retired six straight batters (on 19 pitches) for the save and ended it by striking out 40-year-old pinch-hitter Carlos Beltran.

This will be the third World Series Game 7 in four years. The road team has won the last two after home teams had won every one since 1979.

Ten of the last 12 teams that won Game 6 to force a seventh game also won the title, but the Dodgers lost the previous six World Series in which they trailed 3-2. They have won just one of their six championships at home, in 1963.

A heat wave over and the skies overcast, the temperature dropped to 67 degrees at game time from 103 for last week’s opener, and there was a slight drizzle in the middle innings.

Los Angelenos with a laid-back reputation were on their feet for two-strike counts against Astros batters, a wave in Pantone 294 — also known as Dodger blue.

“We feed off the crowd, for sure,” Taylor said. “We feel we have a huge home-field advantage.”

Yuli Gurriel, who made a racist gesture toward Darvish in Game 3, was booed loudly during introductions and each time he batted, and Hill stepped off the rubber to allow the crowd extra time to jeer.

Verlander has 11 postseason wins but dropped to 0-4 in the Series with Detroit and Houston, which acquired him from the Tigers on Aug. 31 to win on nights like this. He allowed just one baserunner before Austin Barnes singled leading off the sixth. Verlander bounced a pitch that hit Chase Utley on the front of his right foot, and Taylor sent a 97 mph fastball down the right-field line as Barnes came home. Seager followed with a sacrifice fly to the warning track, a ball that likely would have landed in the pavilion in last week’s hot air.

Verlander prevented more damage when Turner fouled out and the right-hander fanned Bellinger, who struck out four times for the second time in the Series.

Springer homered for the third straight game and fourth time in the Series, one shy of the record set by
Reggie Jackson in 1977 and matched by Utley in 2009.

Brian McCann singled leading off the fifth and Gonzalez doubled past Turner and down the left-field line.
Hill struck out Josh Reddick and Verlander, and Springer was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Morrow relieved as the crowd booed manager Dave Roberts’ decision, and Hill slapped at four cups of liquid in the dugout, sending them spraying against the wall

“With Verlander on the mound, that was going to be the game,” Roberts said.

Appearing in his sixth straight Series game, Morrow got Bregman to ground to shortstop on his second pitch.

Watson walked Reddick leading off the seventh, Evan Gattis pinch hit for Verlander and Maeda relieved. Gattis bounced to shortstop, just beating Utley’s throw from second to avoid a double play. Springer reached on an infield single that bounced off Seager’s glove at shortstop and into left field, and Bregman’s fly to deep center allowed pinch-runner Derek Fisher to tag up and advance to third, bringing up Altuve. Walking down the dugout steps after his groundout, Altuve slammed his helmet.

“The pick is big,” Hinch said.

Attention quickly turned to Wednesday.

“I think it seems fitting,” Roberts said. “These two teams mirror one another.”

Pederson sat in the interview room with his older brother, Champ, who has Down Syndrome.

“I have a feeling that everything is possible,” Champ said. “I’m not going to say they have it, but I’m just going to say they will find a way.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Giles falters again, Astros lose to Dodgers in Game 4

HOUSTON — This time, the Astros couldn’t save Ken Giles.

Houston’s hard-throwing closer faltered again in Game 4 of the World Series, taking the loss in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-2 victory on Saturday night.

Giles was charged with three runs without getting an out, inflating his postseason ERA to 11.75. He’s allowed at least a run in six of seven appearances — a staggering flop after posting a 1.14 ERA over his final 38 regular-season games.

Last time out, Giles gave up a solo homer to Yasiel Puig and a tying hit to Enrique Hernandez to blow a lead in the 10th inning of Game 2. Houston bailed him out, rallying for a 7-6, 11-inning win.

There was no such comeback after Giles’ Game 4 collapse.

With the game tied at 1 in the ninth inning, Giles allowed a leadoff single to Corey Seager and walked Justin Turner. Cody Bellinger then lined a double into left-center, bringing Seager home.

Manager A.J. Hinch pulled Giles at that point, but the closer was charged with two more runs when Turner and Bellinger later scored.

Boos rained down from the home crowd as Giles walked off.

The player nicknamed 100-miles-Giles has quickly become a liability. He has a pair of saves this postseason — in Game 4 of the AL Division Series against Boston and Game 1 of the AL Championship Series versus the Yankees after allowing a run in each game — but he had blown leads in two of his last three outings before Saturday.

Giles had a 2.30 ERA in 63 appearances in the regular season. His ERA in two World Series games is 27.00.

Hinch was keeping the faith, though, saying after Game 2 that he thinks “Ken Giles is going to get another save in this series. I think he’s going to get some really big outs.”

He added: “Just because somebody has a bad day at work, does not mean that they need to be condemned and sent away. … I’m going to keep putting him in and trusting him.”

After this latest performance, Hinch may need to find a new go-to at the back of the bullpen.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Hot World Series on deck: Altuve, Astros vs Kershaw, Dodgers

Big-time aces Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander. Playoff boppers Jose Altuve and Justin Turner.

A pair of 100-win teams for the first time in nearly a half-century. Hollywood Walk of Fame vs. Texans who wear the star. A little extra Magic, plus Nolan back in the fast lane.

This is one hot World Series — the Houston Astros, fresh off a Game 7 victory over the Yankees, taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers, well rested after a postseason romp.

Could be real steamy, too. It’s supposed to be almost 100 degrees at Dodger Stadium for the opener Tuesday night, maybe the hottest temperature ever at a World Series game.

At least the familiar October chill that makes players and fans shiver shouldn’t be an issue outdoors in sun-baked California or under the retractable roof at Minute Maid Park.

Not that young stars Cody Bellinger and Carlos Correa would mind, nor would old pros Carlos Beltran and Chase Utley, nor top starters Dallas Keuchel and Yu Darvish.
Because a chance to win a ring doesn’t come very often — these teams that have already played more than 700 games against each other over the years already know that.

The Astros have never won the crown. They’re playing for a whole region, with the Houston Strong patches on their uniforms representing an area hit hard by Hurricane Harvey.

The Dodgers haven’t been in the World Series since 1988, when Kirk Gibson’s bat, Orel Hershiser’s arm and Tommy Lasorda’s moves outdid Oakland for the crown.

Now with Lakers great Magic Johnson as a part-owner, this LA team that led the majors with 104 wins is hoping to bring back the glory days that began in Brooklyn.

“I just want to win a World Series,” Kershaw said after the Dodgers dethroned the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series. “I know more than anybody how hard it is to get there. So, I’m definitely not taking this one for granted.”
Said mercurial outfielder Yasiel Puig: “The trophy’s coming soon.”

The Astros, the major leagues’ highest-scoring team this year, have never even won a World Series game. They only time they made it this far was 2005, when a club that included Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte got swept by the White Sox.

In fact, a World Series prize is the one piece of hardware missing from the trophy case from the Lone Star State. Texas teams have won the Super Bowl and championships in the NBA, NHL, college football and men’s and women’s basketball, but never in baseball.

Under the leadership of executive Nolan Ryan, the Texas Rangers came within one strike in 2011 before losing to St. Louis. The Ryan Express, who once pitched a no-hitter for Houston against the Dodgers, is currently an Astros exec.

The Astros posted 101 wins this year — not since Baltimore (108) and Cincinnati (102) in 1970 has the World Series matched teams who reached triple-digits.

These teams last met in 2015, when the Astros swept a three-game series at home. But they’d seen a lot of each other in the past.

Overall, the Dodgers are 388-323 vs. the Astros. Houston debuted as the Colt .45s as a National League expansion team in 1962 and eventually moved to the AL in 2013.

That first year in the AL, the young Astros got pounded and lost 111 times. But with smart drafts and player development, Houston emerged as a power. Manager A.J. Hinch’s club capped its rise by beating Boston in the AL Division Series, then stopping the Yankees 4-0 Saturday night in Game 7 of the ALCS.

The Dodgers, with a major league-high $226 million payroll, won their fifth straight NL West title this year, then 7-1 in the playoffs against the Diamondbacks and Cubs under manager Dave Roberts.

The result? Their first pennant since 1988 — the year Kershaw was born.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Swing and a miss: Yankees in another 0-2 playoff hole

HOUSTON — Swing and a miss.

After striking out 27 times in Houston, the New York Yankees are down 0-2 in the playoffs again.

Maybe they just need to get to the potential elimination games — the Yankees don’t seem to lose those.

“We’ve been facing some tough pitchers and some tough games,” rookie slugger Aaron Judge said. “We’re just going to keep going out there and keep fighting.”

New York catcher Gary Sanchez was unable to come up with a short-hop relay throw from shortstop Didi Gregorius with Jose Altuve charging toward the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Astros won 2-1 Saturday for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series.

Sanchez said he simply dropped the ball on a play he’s used to making.

“The bottom line is if I catch that ball he’s going to be out,” Sanchez said through a translator.

New York has lost the first two games by the same tight score to Houston aces Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander, both former Cy Young Award winners. So just like in the Division Series, the Yankees are down 0-2 and headed back home.

“It’s not like we haven’t been here before,” said manager Joe Girardi, who turned 53 on Saturday. “But these are two tough losses.”

In their best-of-five set against the 102-win Cleveland Indians, the Yankees won three straight games when facing elimination to get to their first ALCS since 2012. And that was after winning a win-or-go-home wild-card game against Minnesota.

But after striking out 14 times in the ALCS opener, including 10 against Keuchel in his seven innings, the Yankees whiffed another 13 times Saturday against Verlander, who threw 124 pitches in a complete game.

Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium, with CC Sabathia scheduled to pitch for New York against Charlie Morton.

The Yankees have lost seven straight ALCS games dating to 2010.

Verlander was done by the time hard-throwing Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman entered in the ninth with a scoreless streak of 18 2/3 innings dating to the last time he gave up a run, on Aug. 25 against Seattle. But then Altuve hit a one-out single and scored when Carlos Correa lined a double into the right-center gap.

Judge cut off the ball at the edge of the warning track, but his throw went over the head of second baseman Starlin Castro to Gregorius on one hop at second base. Gregorius wheeled and, perhaps impeded a bit by Correa’s popup slide at second, short-hopped his throw to Sanchez.

The ball arrived in plenty of time to get Altuve, who raced all the way around from first, but Sanchez couldn’t make a clean pick and the ball squirted away as Altuve slid in safely with the winning run.

“If he comes up with it, it’s an out,” said Girardi, who quickly inquired with umpires as the Astros and their fans were starting a frenzied celebration. “I just wanted to make sure there was no interference. I didn’t see any interference at second. … It was a popup slide, that’s legal. You’re kind of hoping.”

Correa homered in the fourth for the Astros — a play that evoked memories of Jeffery Maier in the 1996 ALCS at Yankee Stadium — when a 12-year-old Houston fan reached for the liner just over the right-field wall. The ball appeared to already be beyond the reach of Judge, who was still moving toward the fence when the ball ricocheted off the boy’s glove on top of the wall and into the seats.

“I got back there a little late. He took a good swing on a ball off the plate,” Judge said. “I just wasn’t able to get back and get a good read to the wall and get up there and make a play.”

The 6-foot-7 Judge had a homer-robbing grab in Game 3 of the ALDS, when the Yankees won 1-0 to stay alive in that series.

A few pitches after Correa’s homer, Girardi and a trainer went out to check on starter Luis Severino when he uncharacteristically wound his pitching arm a few times. The 23-year-old right-hander stayed in the game then, and got the inning-ending out on a comebacker that appeared to strike the wrist of his non-pitching hand.

But Severino didn’t come out for the fifth, after the Yankees tied the game on back-to-back doubles by Aaron Hicks and Todd Frazier in the top of the inning. Severino threw only 62 pitches.

“I think it is my responsibility to protect this kid,” Girardi said. “I couldn’t take a chance.”

Girardi said Severino checked out fine with team doctors. The pitcher certainly didn’t agree with getting pulled so early.

“I told him I was good. They told me they saw something,” Severino said. “I told them that I was good and I wanted to go pitch. … I feel great. My arm feels great. I can go 20 or 30 innings more.”

source: sports.inquirer.net