Game 1 of the World Series was all about Mookie Betts and his quest to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a title and fans across the country a free taco. Game 2 gave us a $27.50 hot dog that could feed the family, and a reminder that the Tampa Bay Rays may be even better than the sum of their bargain basement parts. Now Major League Baseball can only hope that fans are hungrier for more. A World Series unlike any other is knotted 1-1 after the Rays jumped on a parade of early Dodger pitchers on their way to a 5-0 lead Wednesday night that they never relinquished. They did it behind two opposite-field home runs from Brandon Lowe, who had been mired in a deep postseason slump, and a succession of pitchers who held the Dodgers to just five hits — though three of them left the park at spacious Globe Life Field in Texas. Betts wasn’t a factor, but the Dodgers' makeshift pitching rotation was. A day after ace Clayton Kershaw pitched six strong innings, Tony Gonsolin got only four outs and the six... [More]

Randy Arozarena was a one-man show getting the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series. Big swings, bat flips, bustin' moves — he did it all — and his fast hands and fanciful feet didn't need much help capturing an AL pennant. Winning the Fall Classic, though, that could take an ensemble cast — something Brandon Lowe and the rest of the Rays' lineup finally began to provide Wednesday night. After being carried through this postseason by its breakout rookie, Tampa Bay's offense turned in a top-to-bottom team effort in a 6-4 Game 2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night that evened the Series at a game apiece. Lowe homered twice, Joey Wendle drove in three and the Rays combined for 10 hits — their biggest output since closing out the wild-card round against Toronto on Sept. 30. “I think today was a little bit better indicator of the kind of team that we are,” Wendle said. “Just a complete win, complete team win, everybody contributing at different parts of the game.” Only one... [More]

Game 1 of the World Series was all about Mookie Betts and his quest to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a title and fans across the country a free taco. Game 2 gave us a $27.50 hot dog that could feed the family, and a reminder that the Tampa Bay Rays may be even better than the sum of their bargain basement parts. Now Major League Baseball can only hope that fans are hungrier for more. A World Series unlike any other is knotted 1-1 after the Rays jumped on a parade of early Dodger pitchers on their way to a 5-0 lead Wednesday night that they never relinquished. They did it behind two opposite field home runs from Brandon Lowe, who had been mired in a deep postseason slump, and a succession of pitchers who held the Dodgers to just five hits — though three of them left the park at spacious Globe Life Field in Texas. Betts wasn’t a factor, but the Dodgers' makeshift pitching rotation was. A day after ace Clayton Kershaw pitched six strong innings, Tony Gonsolin got only four outs and the six... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — More was not merrier for Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went with an opener against the team that invented the concept, sending Tony Gonsolin to start Game 2 of the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays as the first of seven pitchers -- one shy of the record for a nine-inning Series game. By the end of the Dodgers’ 6-4 defeat Wednesday night, which evened the Series at one game apiece, it appeared the Dodgers are down to a two-man rotation of Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw. Seems like a throwback to the Boston Braves of Spahn and Sain and pray for rain, as Gerald V. Hern of the Boston Post poetically memorialized the pitching tandem of Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain in 1948. Of the 125 innings pitched by the Dodgers in the postseason, Buehler is 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings and Kershaw is 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings, a combined a 2.45 ERA . The rest of the staff is 6-3 with a 4.11 ERA. Gonsolin lasted just four outs, leaving... [More]

Cody Bellinger bashed a home run in the World Series opener, and celebrated with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates. Foot taps — not forearm knocks. Much easier on his delicate right shoulder that popped out of its socket during a home run celebration in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series. Bellinger’s two-run shot gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning and they went on to an 8-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. Instead of jumping up and banging elbows, a grinning Bellinger ran up to teammate Max Muncy and exchanged foot taps before making his way down a line of Dodgers doing the same thing. Bellinger and Mookie Betts traded taps with their right feet as Justin Turner laughed, Will Smith clapped and manager Dave Roberts appeared to be smiling behind his face mask. There had been concern about Bellinger's shoulder after the Dodgers wrapped up the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves. He said it felt sore going into the World Series. His shoulder took another hit in... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Julie and Lance Smith walked through the mostly empty concourse of Globe Life Field. Tampa Bay infielder Joey Wendle is married to one of their cousins, and they weren’t going to miss his World Series debut. “It’s so weird,” said Julie Smith, 38, from Gadsden, Alabama. “It’s kind of nice in a way, too,” Lance, 39, said before they headed to their seats in the first deck behind home plate. They wore masks, but many fans ignored the requirement for facial coverings except while eating or drinking at their ticketed seats. A crowd of about 11,000 was expected for Tuesday night’s World Series opener between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, spread in groups of up to four, mostly in alternate rows and none directly behind each other among the forest green seats, That would be the smallest for a World Series game in about 111 years. Major League Baseball planned to make about 11,500 tickets available for each game, about 28% of the 40,518 capacity at the retractable-roof... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Latest on Game 1 of the World Series (all times local): ___ 4:37 p.m. Pentatonix will sing the national anthem before Game 1 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays. The Grammy-winning a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, prerecorded the song that will be shown on video at Globe Life Field. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will give the call of “Play ball!” Ceremonial first pitch duties will be handled by four frontline healthcare workers who are serving during the coronavirus pandemic. Married nurses Jamie Edens and Ryan Ward are from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Erika Combs is a nurse in Dallas. Brittney Burns is a nurse practitioner from San Antonio. ___ 4:22 p.m. Cody Bellinger was in his normal spot in the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Bellinger was batting sixth and playing center field Tuesday night, two days after knocking his right shoulder out of whack during his... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — José Altuve has an undeniable case of the yips, and it's hurting the Houston Astros badly in the playoffs. The second baseman committed his fourth throwing error of the postseason and third of the AL Championship Series on Tuesday night in the sixth inning of Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Altuve also made two throwing errors in Game 2 of the series, contributing significantly to the Astros' 4-2 loss. The six-time All-Star's three errors in the last two games led directly to five runs while prolonging rallies that would have been largely shut down by solid defensive play. In Game 3, Altuve fielded Brandon Lowe's grounder at second and then botched a routine toss to second base on an attempted forceout of Randy Arozarena, bouncing his throw past shortstop Carlos Correa into left field with a noticeably unnatural throwing motion. With two runners on base, the Astros removed starter José Urquidy, who had been pitching well before Altuve's mistake. Tampa Bay promptly capitalized... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Stable vs. The Savages. Just another way to say top-seeded Tampa Bay and the No. 5 Yankees meet in the best-of-five AL Division Series starting Monday at neutral site San Diego. Tampa Bay players wear blue T-shirts with four horses lined up behind a fence, a reference to Rays manager Kevin Cash declaring “I’ve got a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 miles an hour” in response to Aroldis Chapman throwing a 101 mph pitch near Mike Brosseau’s head on Sept. 1. New York sold “Savages in the Box” shirts for $29.99 each last year, memorializing manager Aaron Boone’s infamous comment on his batters during a profane rant at rookie umpire Brennan Miller in a July 18 doubleheader opener against the Rays. “That’s the entertainment business of it. At the end of the day, it’s series like this that make the statement, not anything else,” Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said Thursday. Tampa Bay swept two games from Toronto in the first round for its first postseason series... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rookie left-hander Shane McClanahan was a surprise addition to the 28-man roster the Tampa Bay Rays announced for the AL first-round series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. McClanahan was a first-round pick in the amateur draft two years ago who pitched at Class A and Double-A in 2019. He joined first baseman Ji-Man Choi and infielder Yandy Diaz, who have been on the injured list, in being added to the active roster before Game 1 of the best-of-three series. To make room on the 40-man roster for McClanahan, lefty reliever Sean Gilmartin was designated for assignment. Gilmartin is the husband of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Three players who were on the regular season-ending roster — catcher Kevan Smith, left-handed starter Josh Fleming and lefty reliever Ryan Sherriff — were not included on the roster against Toronto. They remain in the 60-man postseason eligible player pool and can be added in future rounds. Tampa Bay’s 28-man roster... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Harrison Bader tripled and homered to help the St. Louis Cardinals clinch a postseason berth on the final day of the regular season with a 5-2 win over Milwaukee, and the Brewers also earned a playoff spot Sunday via help on the West Coast moments later. St. Louis (30-28) will be the fifth seed in the NL and open a three-game wild-card series at San Diego on Wednesday. By winning, the Cardinals avoided having to travel to Detroit for two makeup games Monday. The Brewers (29-31) locked up the eighth seed and a third consecutive postseason berth after the Padres beat San Francisco 5-4 in a game that ended about 15 minutes later. The Giants finished with an identical record as the Brewers but lost out on a tiebreaker due to an inferior intradivision record. Milwaukee will face the top-seeded Dodgers in Los Angeles in a three-game series that also starts Wednesday. The Brewers haven’t had a winning record at any point this season. Milwaukee and Houston will be the first teams... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Joey Wendle had a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning and the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays rallied to hurt Philadelphia’s playoff hopes, beating the Phillies 6-4 on Friday night. The Rays would clinch the top seed in the American League with an Oakland loss later Friday night; the A’s were hosting Seattle. Tampa Bay is looking to finish with the AL’s best record for the second time, after topping the league in 2010. Bryce Harper had a triple and drove in two runs for Philadelphia, which started the day one game behind second-place Miami in the NL East and also trailed in the wide-open wild-card race. Yoshi Tsutsdugo had one-out single in the eighth before Adam Morgan (0-1) loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Hunter Renfroe and Brett Phillips. Héctor Neris replaced Morgan and retired pinch-hitter Brandon Lowe on a pop fly. Wendle followed with a liner to right that gave Tampa Bay a 5-3 advantage. Nick Anderson (2-1) worked a scoreless eighth and... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Randy Arozarena homered twice and the Tampa Bay Rays clinched their first AL East title in 10 years Wednesday night with an 8-5 victory over the New York Mets. Joey Wendle and Brandon Lowe also went deep to help Tyler Glasnow (5-1) win his fifth straight decision. Tampa Bay will be home at quirky Tropicana Field for a best-of-three first-round playoff series beginning next Tuesday. It is the third division crown for the thrifty Rays, who also won the AL East in 2008 and 2010. Their inaugural season was 1998. After missing a chance to clinch Tuesday, the Rays went into Wednesday again needing just a win or a New York Yankees loss against Toronto to lock up the division championship. The Rays (37-20) broke a 2-all tie in the sixth on Arozarena’s two-run homer off Michael Wacha (1-4) and pulled away. As has become customary during this pandemic-shortened season, the celebration was muted. After Nick Anderson fanned Andres Gimenez for the final out, the closer exchanged a hug... [More]

The Chicago White Sox clinched their first postseason berth since 2008, beating the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Thursday as Eloy Jim�nez hit a tiebreaking double that capped a two-run, seventh-inning rally. Chicago (33-17) opened a three-game lead over the second-place Twins (31-21) in the AL Central. The White Sox assured themselves of no worse than a wild-card berth. Jos� Abreu homered and drove in two runs and Edwin Encarnaci�n also homered for Chicago, which won three of four in the series. Chicago trailed 3-2 in the seventh when Abreu beat out an infield hit on a slow grounder that drove in Jarrod Dyson from third base. Jim�nez followed with a go-ahead double. Codi Heuer (3-0) pitched a scoreless 1 2/3 innings, and Alex Colom� got four outs for his 12th save in 13 chances. Tyler Clippard (1-1) gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning. Byron Buxton homered twice, giving him seven in his last nine games and 12 this season. Josh Donaldson also went deep for Minnesota and was ejected for kicking... [More]

Red sox first. Yairo Munoz doubles. Christian Vazquez homers to center field. Yairo Munoz scores. Rafael Devers grounds out to second base, Willy Adames to Nate Lowe. J.D. Martinez grounds out to second base, Nate Lowe to Charlie Morton. Jackie Bradley Jr. strikes out swinging.2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Red sox 2, Rays 0.Rays first. Manuel Margot reaches on error. Fielding error by Bobby Dalbec. Randy Arozarena grounds out to shortstop. Manuel Margot out at second. Joey Wendle singles to shallow infield. Mike Brosseau doubles to deep right field. Joey Wendle scores. Hunter Renfroe pops out to shallow center field to Christian Arroyo.1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 left on. Red sox 2, Rays 1.Rays fourth. Willy Adames reaches on error. Throwing error by Tzu-Wei Lin. Yoshi Tsutsugo lines out to deep center field to Jackie Bradley Jr.. Kevan Smith homers to left field. Willy Adames scores. Manuel Margot pops out to shallow center field to Christian Arroyo. Randy Arozarena strikes out swinging.2... [More]

Rays first. Austin Meadows homers to right field. Brandon Lowe grounds out to first base to Michael Chavis. Randy Arozarena grounds out to shallow infield, Christian Arroyo to Michael Chavis. Ji-Man Choi doubles to deep left field. Joey Wendle hit by pitch. Willy Adames strikes out swinging.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Rays 1, Red sox 0.Red sox third. Michael Chavis homers to center field. Christian Arroyo lines out to deep center field to Manuel Margot. Alex Verdugo grounds out to shortstop, Willy Adames to Nate Lowe. Rafael Devers grounds out to first base to Nate Lowe.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Red sox 1, Rays 1.Red sox fourth. Xander Bogaerts walks. J.D. Martinez lines out to deep left field to Austin Meadows. Kevin Plawecki singles to deep center field. Xander Bogaerts scores. Jackie Bradley Jr. reaches on a fielder's choice to second base. Kevin Plawecki out at second. Yairo Munoz flies out to center field to Manuel Margot.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Red sox... [More]

Rays second. Yoshi Tsutsugo homers to center field. Nate Lowe strikes out swinging. Brett Phillips grounds out to shallow right field, Christian Arroyo to Bobby Dalbec. Michael Perez singles to shallow center field. Austin Meadows grounds out to shallow infield, Christian Arroyo to Bobby Dalbec.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Rays 1, Red sox 0.Rays third. Joey Wendle singles to left field. Brandon Lowe singles to center field. Joey Wendle to second. Ji-Man Choi lines out to deep center field to Jackie Bradley Jr.. Kevin Kiermaier grounds out to second base, Xander Bogaerts to Bobby Dalbec. Brandon Lowe to third. Joey Wendle scores. Yoshi Tsutsugo lines out to left field to Michael Chavis.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Rays 2, Red sox 0.Rays fourth. Nate Lowe singles to left field. Brett Phillips strikes out swinging. Michael Perez walks. Nate Lowe to second. Austin Meadows doubles to deep center field. Michael Perez scores. Nate Lowe scores. Joey Wendle walks. Brandon Lowe grounds... [More]

Red sox third. Bobby Dalbec strikes out swinging. Christian Arroyo flies out to deep left field to Austin Meadows. Alex Verdugo singles to left field. Rafael Devers homers to right field. Alex Verdugo scores. Xander Bogaerts walks. J.D. Martinez reaches on a fielder's choice to shortstop. Xander Bogaerts out at second.2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Red sox 2, Rays 0.Rays fourth. Hunter Renfroe homers to center field. Brandon Lowe homers to center field. Willy Adames strikes out swinging. Kevan Smith strikes out swinging. Joey Wendle grounds out to second base, Christian Arroyo to Bobby Dalbec.2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Red sox 2, Rays 2.Red sox fifth. Bobby Dalbec homers to right field. Christian Arroyo singles to right field. Alex Verdugo reaches on a fielder's choice to shortstop. Christian Arroyo out at second. Rafael Devers singles to right center field. Alex Verdugo to second. Xander Bogaerts pops out to shallow center field to Brandon Lowe. J.D. Martinez strikes out... [More]

Nationals second. Kurt Suzuki flies out to deep right field to Brandon Lowe. Josh Harrison walks. Eric Thames singles to deep center field. Josh Harrison to third. Carter Kieboom reaches on a fielder's choice to shallow infield. Eric Thames out at second. Josh Harrison scores. Michael A. Taylor grounds out to second base, Joey Wendle to Ji-Man Choi.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Nationals 1, Rays 0.Nationals third. Victor Robles doubles to deep left center field. Adam Eaton flies out to Brandon Lowe. Victor Robles to third. Trea Turner singles to left field. Victor Robles scores. Brock Holt lines out to left field to Austin Meadows. Kurt Suzuki doubles to deep left field. Trea Turner scores. Josh Harrison pops out to Yoshi Tsutsugo.2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Nationals 3, Rays 0.Nationals sixth. Brock Holt doubles to deep right field. Kurt Suzuki singles to shallow right field. Brock Holt to third. Josh Harrison singles to deep right field. Kurt Suzuki to second. Brock Holt... [More]

Marlins first. Corey Dickerson walks. Starling Marte homers to center field. Corey Dickerson scores. Jesus Aguilar flies out to deep center field to Manuel Margot. Matt Joyce walks. Brian Anderson strikes out swinging. Lewin Diaz called out on strikes.2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 2, Rays 0.Rays first. Manuel Margot grounds out to shortstop, Jazz Chisholm to Lewin Diaz. Randy Arozarena homers to right field. Austin Meadows strikes out swinging. Mike Brosseau singles to center field. Willy Adames called out on strikes.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 2, Rays 1.Marlins third. Corey Dickerson triples. Starling Marte strikes out swinging. Jesus Aguilar singles to right field. Corey Dickerson scores. Matt Joyce strikes out swinging. Brian Anderson singles to center field. Jesus Aguilar to second. Lewin Diaz called out on strikes.1 run, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 left on. Marlins 3, Rays 1.Rays fifth. Hunter Renfroe homers. Kevan Smith called out on strikes. Nate Lowe called... [More]