HOUSTON (AP) — The assistant general manager of the Houston Astros apologized Tuesday for using "inappropriate language" after a Sports Illustrated report said he repeatedly yelled toward a group of female reporters about closer Roberto Osuna during a clubhouse celebration.Brandon Taubman released a statement through the Astros hours before they played Game 1 of the World Series against Washington. Major League Baseball said it will interview those involved before further commenting.Taubman's remarks after the Astros clinched the AL pennant reportedly referenced Osuna, who was suspended for 75 games last year for violating MLB's domestic violence policy before being traded from Toronto to the Astros.According to SI, Taubman shouted "Thank God we got Osuna!" and made similar remarks several times, punctuating them with an expletive.SI said one of the reporters was wearing a domestic violence awareness bracelet. The incident occurred after the Astros beat the New York Yankees at Minute Maid... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on the World Series (all times local):2 p.m.The assistant general manager of the Houston Astros has issued a statement apologizing for using "inappropriate language" after a report in Sports Illustrated said he repeatedly yelled toward a group of female reporters during the team's celebration after clinching the AL pennant.His remarks reportedly referenced Houston closer Roberto Osuna, who was suspended for 75 games last season for violating the league's domestic violence policy before joining the Astros in a trade from Toronto.The Astros denied Monday night that his comments were directed at the reporters. That was before they released a statement from assistant GM Brandon Taubman hours before Game 1 of the World Series.Major League Baseball also issued a statement Tuesday concerning the incident, saying it will interview those involved before commenting on the matter any further.The statement from the league says in part: "everyone in baseball must use care to... [More]

A position-by-position look at the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros going into the World Series, starting Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park:___First Base:Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman. The longtime face of the franchise, Zimmerman was Washington's first draft pick in 2005 after the team moved to the nation's capital from Montreal. The fan favorite has been through all of the Nationals' ups and downs, from a string of painful early playoff exits to the feel-good story of his first trip to the World Series this season. A converted third baseman, he's been hampered by injuries much of the past six years — including shoulder problems that affect his throwing. But at age 35, he's become an everyday player again during a solid postseason.Astros: Yuli Gurriel. From a family of baseball royalty in Cuba, the highly touted Gurriel got a $47.5 million contract and has established himself as a productive RBI man during three full years in the majors. He took off in late June and put together a big... [More]

A look at the best-of-seven World Series between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Tuesday, at Houston, 8:08 p.m.; Game 2, Wednesday, at Houston, 8:07 p.m.; Game 3, Friday, at Washington, 8:07 p.m.; Game 4, Saturday, at Washington, 8:07 p.m.; x-Game 5, Sunday, Oct. 27, at Washington, 8:07 p.m.; x-Game 6, Tuesday, Oct. 29, at Houston, 8:07 p.m.; x-Game 7, Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Houston, 8:08 p.m. (All games on FOX).x-if necessary.___Season Series: Did not play.___Projected Lineups:Nationals: SS Trea Turner (.298, 19 HRs, 57 RBIs, 37 2Bs, 35 SBs, 96 runs), RF Adam Eaton (.279, 15, 49, 15 SBs, 103 runs), 3B Anthony Rendon (.319, 34, 126, 44 2Bs, 117 runs, 1.010 OPS), LF Juan Soto (.282, 34, 110, 110 runs, .949 OPS), 2B Howie Kendrick (.344, 17, 62), 1B Ryan Zimmerman (.257, 6, 27 in 52 games), DH Asdrúbal Cabrera (.260, 18, 91 in 131 games with Texas and Washington) or Matt Adams (.226, 20, 56, 115 Ks, 310 ABs in 111 games), C Kurt Suzuki (.264,... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — A record-setting season by Savages in the Box ended with a string of strikeouts and another October bust for the New York Yankees.For the first time since the 1910s, the 27-time champions have gone through an entire calendar decade without making it to a World Series.An AL Championship Series of squandered chances ended when Aroldis Chapman allowed José Altuve's pennant-winning, two-run homer in the ninth inning Saturday night that gave the Houston Astros a 6-4 win and the pennant in six games."No matter how many games we won in the regular season or what else we did, the season's a failure," Aaron Judge said. "I just think about the missed opportunities."Altuve became only the second player to eliminate the Yankees in the postseason with a walk-off homer, the first since Bill Mazeroski's homer off Ralph Terry won Game 7 of the 1960 World Series for Pittsburgh."It will serve us well going forward when we get to the top of the mountain," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.Chapman,... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — A record-setting season by Savages in the Box ended with a string of strikeouts and another October bust for the New York Yankees.For the first time since the 1910s, the 27-time champions have gone through an entire calendar decade without even making it to a World Series.An AL Championship Series of squandered chances ended when Aroldis Chapman allowed José Altuve's pennant-winning, two-run homer in the ninth inning Saturday night that gave the Houston Astros a 6-4 win and the pennant in six games."No matter how games we won in the regular season or what else we did, the season's a failure," Aaron Judge said. "I just think about the missed opportunities."Altuve became only the second player to eliminate the Yankees in the postseason with a walk-off homer, the first since Bill Mazeroski's homer off Bill Terry won Game 7 of the 1960 World Series for Pittsburgh."It will serve us well going forward when we get to the top of the mountain," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.Chapman,... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — A record-setting season by Savages in the Box ended with a string of strikeouts and another October bust for the New York Yankees.For the first time since the 1910s, the 27-time champions have gone through an entire calendar decade without even making it to a World Series.An AL Championship Series of missed opportunities ended when Aroldis Chapman allowed José Altuve's pennant-winning, two-run homer in the ninth inning Saturday night that gave the Houston Astros a 6-4 win and the pennant in six games."The season's a failure," Aaron Judge said. "I think about the missed opportunities."Altuve became only the second player to eliminate the Yankees in the postseason with a walk-off homer, the first since Bill Mazeroski's homer off Bill Terry won Game 7 of the 1960 World Series for Pittsburgh."It will serve us well going forward when we get to the top of the mountain," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.After a regular season with 306 homers, the Yankees got two more to overcome... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — A record-setting season by Savages in the Box ended with a slew of strikeouts and another October bust for the New York Yankees.For the first time since the 1910s, the 27-time champions have gone through an entire calendar decade without even making it to a World Series.An AL Championship Series of missed opportunities ended when Aroldis Chapman allowed José Altuve's pennant-winning, two-run homer in the ninth inning Saturday night that gave the Houston Astros a 6-4 win and the pennant in six games."It will serve us well going forward when we get to the top of the mountain," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.Altuve became only the second player to eliminate the Yankees in the postseason with a walk-off homer, the first since Bill Mazeroski's homer off Bill Terry won Game 7 of the 1960 World Series for Pittsburgh.After a regular season with 306 homers, the Yankees got two more to overcome a 3-0, first-inning deficit, a solo shot by Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu's two-run drive... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole may get a chance to punch the Houston Astros' ticket to the World Series.Only if Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton and the rest of the New York Yankees' acclaimed relief corps force him to try.After staving off elimination with a 4-1 victory Friday night in the Bronx, the Yankees plan to unleash their fearsome relievers in Houston on Saturday during Game 6 of this AL Championship Series. The Astros lead the best-of-seven set 3-2 and will also lean on their bullpen, saving Cole to pitch a potential Game 7 on full rest.Hanging in the balance: a World Series date with the NL champion Washington Nationals."We obviously feel good about the bullpen days," Britton said. "We've had a lot of success doing it."Yankees opener extraordinaire Chad Green is likely to get the ball first, although manager Aaron Boone said he hadn't decided for sure. The rest of New York's core relief quintet — Chapman, Britton, Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle — will surely follow. Boone said Luis... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole may get a chance to punch the Houston Astros' ticket to the World Series.Only if Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton and the rest of the New York Yankees' acclaimed relief corps force him to try.After staving off elimination with a 4-1 victory Friday night in the Bronx, the Yankees plan to unleash their fearsome relievers in Houston on Saturday during Game 6 of this AL Championship Series. The Astros lead the best-of-seven set 3-2 and will also lean on their bullpen, saving Cole to pitch a potential Game 7 on full rest.Hanging in the balance: a World Series date with the NL champion Washington Nationals."We obviously feel good about the bullpen days," Britton said. "We've had a lot of success doing it."Yankees opener extraordinaire Chad Green is likely to get the ball first, although manager Aaron Boone said he hadn't decided for sure. The rest of New York's core relief quintet — Chapman, Britton, Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle — will surely follow. Boone said Luis... [More]

A look at the best-of-seven American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Saturday, at Houston, 8:08 p.m.; Game 2, Sunday, at Houston, 8:08 p.m.; Game 3, Tuesday, at New York, 4:08 p.m; Game 4, Wednesday, at New York, 8:08 p.m.: x-Game 5, Thursday, at New York, 8:08 p.m; x-Game 6, Saturday, Oct. 19, at Houston, 4:08 p.m. or TBA; x-Game 7, Sunday, Oct. 20, at Houston, 7:38 p.m. (All games on Fox or FS1).x-if necessary.___Season Series: Astros won 4-3.___Projected Lineups:Yankees: 1B DJ LeMahieu (.327, 26 HRs, 102 RBIs), RF Aaron Judge (.272, 27, 55 in 102 games), CF Brett Gardner (.251, 28, 74), DH Edwin Encarnación (.244, 34, 86 in 109 games for Mariners and Yankees), LF Giancarlo Stanton (.288, 3, 13 in 18 games), 2B Gleyber Torres (.278, 38, 90), C Gary Sánchez (.232, 34, 77 in 106 games), SS Didi Gregorius (.238, 16, 61 in 82 games), 3B Gio Urshela (.314, 21, 74 in 132 games).Astros: CF George Springer (.292,... [More]

A look at the best-of-five American League Division Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Friday, at Houston, 2:05 p.m. (FS1); Game 2, Saturday, at Houston, 9:07 p.m. (FS1); Game 3, Monday, Oct. 7, at Tampa Bay, TBA (MLB); x-Game 4, Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Tampa Bay, TBA (FS1); x-Game 5, Thursday, Oct. 10, at Houston, TBA (FS1).x-if necessary.___Season Series: Rays won 4-3.___Projected Lineups:Rays: 2B Joey Wendle (.231, 3 HRs, 19 RBIs in 75 games), LF Tommy Pham (.273, 21, 68, 33 2Bs), RF Austin Meadows (.291, 33, 89 in 138 games), C Travis d'Arnaud (.263, 16, 67 in 92 games with Rays; .087, 0, 2 in 10 games with Mets, and 1 at-bat in only game with Dodgers), 1B Ji-Man Choi (.261, 19, 63) or Yandy Díaz (.267, 14, 38, .816 OPS in 79 games), DH Brandon Lowe (.270, 17, 51 in 82 games) or Avisail Garcia (.282, 20, 72, 25 2Bs in 125 games), 3B Matt Duffy (.252, 1, 12 in 46 games), CF Kevin Kiermaier (.228, 14, 55, 19 SBs in 129 games), SS Willy... [More]

It's been three years since Andrew Miller led the Cleveland Indians to the brink of a World Series championship by coming out of the bullpen early and often, and bulk work from relievers has been an October staple since. Whether it's Brewers All-Star Josh Hader stretching out for three innings or Astros ace Justin Verlander moonlighting in middle relief, aggressive bullpen management has become standard postseason practice.As the calendar flips, a look at the best relief options — for the biggest outs, and for a bunch of them — for each of the 10 playoff clubs.NEW YORK YANKEESFor The Big Out: In baseball's deepest bullpen, the difference maker is Aroldis Chapman. The 31-year-old left-hander has lost some steam — he averaged about 98 mph on his fastball this year, down from 101 at his peak in 2016 — but he's made up for it with an improved slider that he's throwing more than ever. Although he famously blew a lead for the Cubs in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, Chapman has been fantastic... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major league batters finished with 6,776 home runs, shattering the previous record of 6,105 set two years ago.Dominic Smith hit the final long ball of the season, a three-run drive in the 11th inning Sunday off Atlanta's Grant Dayton that lifted the New York Mets over the NL East champion Braves 7-6.Oakland's Steven Piscotty started the barrage on March 20 in Tokyo against Seattle's Marco Gonzales, the sixth batter of the season.This year's total was 11% above the old record and 21% higher than last year's 5,585.Minnesota hit three home runs Sunday to establish the big league team record with 307, one more than the Yankees. The previous mark of 267 was set last year by New York. This year's Yankees became the first team with 14 players reaching double-digits in home runs."I don't think anybody will ever forget the 'Bomba Squad,'" first-year Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.Major League Baseball has asked for more scientific tests on baseballs, and Commissioner Rob Manfred... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major league batters finished with 6,776 home runs, shattering the previous record of 6,105 set two years ago.Dominic Smith hit the final long ball of the season, a three-run drive in the 11th inning Sunday off Atlanta's Grant Dayton that lifted the New York Mets over the NL East champion Braves 7-6.Oakland's Steven Piscotty started the barrage on March 20 in Tokyo against Seattle's Marco Gonzales, the sixth batter of the season.This year's total was 11% above the old record and 21% higher than last year's 5,585.Minnesota hit three home runs Sunday to establish the big league team record with 307, one more than the Yankees. The previous mark of 267 was set last year by New York. This year's Yankees became the first team with 14 players reaching double-digits in home runs."I don't think anybody will ever forget the 'Bomba Squad,'" first-year Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.Major League Baseball has asked for more scientific tests on baseballs, and Commissioner Rob Manfred... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major league batters finished with 6,776 home runs, shattering the previous record of 6,105 set two years ago.Dominic Smith hit the final long ball of the season, a three-run drive in the 11th inning Sunday off Atlanta's Grant Dayton that lifted the New York Mets over the NL East champion Braves 7-6.Oakland's Steven Piscotty started the barrage on March 20 in Tokyo against Seattle's Marco Gonzales, the sixth batter of the season.This year's total was 11% above the old record and 21% higher than last year's total of 5,585.Minnesota hit three home runs Sunday to set the big league team record with 307, one more than the Yankees. The previous mark of 267 was set last year by New York. This year's Yankees became the first team with 14 players reaching double-digits in home runs.Strikeouts set a record for the 12th consecutive season at 42,823, up 4% from 41,207 last year and 33% from 32,189 in 2007. A year after strikeouts exceeded hits for the time, the gap was ever greater.Tim... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Anderson became only the third Chicago White Sox player to win an American League batting title and injured Milwaukee star Christian Yelich wound up as the National League's first repeat champion in two decades.Anderson went 0 for 2 Sunday and finished at .335, eight points ahead of the New York Yankees' DJ LeMahieu. Anderson joined Luke Appling (1936, '43) and Frank Thomas ('97) as White Sox batting champions.Yelich wound up at .3292, just ahead of Arizona's Ketel Marte's .3286, as neither made it to the season's final weekend. Yelich's season ended when he broke his right kneecap by fouling a pitch of it on Sept. 10. Marte has not played since Sept. 17 due to lower back inflammation.Yelich won at .326 last year and became the NL's first back-to-back batting leader since Colorado's Larry Walker in 1998 and '99, which started a run of three titles in four years. The closest NL race was in 2003, when Albert Pujols of St. Louis beat Todd Helton of Colorado .35871 to .35849.The... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trea Turner's go-ahead grand slam lifted Washington to a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies for a doubleheader sweep Tuesday that helped the Nationals clinch an NL wild card, capping quite a turnaround for a team that was 19-31 in late May.Turner had three hits in the day's first game, a 4-1 win for the Nationals. Washington assured itself of returning to the playoffs for the fifth time in eight years after sitting out October in 2018.Anthony Rendon delivered two sacrifice flies to raise his majors-leading RBIs total to 124 in the opening victory, a result that also eliminated Philadelphia and $330 million outfielder Bryce Harper, the ex-Nationals star, from postseason contention.In the nightcap, Washington trailed 4-2 entering the sixth, because Brad Miller managed to hit two homers off Max Scherzer (11-7).Washington loaded the bases in the sixth against Aaron Nola (12-7) with two walks and a single, setting the stage for Turner's 18th homer of the season and... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trea Turner's go-ahead grand slam lifted Washington to a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies for a doubleheader sweep Tuesday that helped the Nationals clinch an NL wild card, capping quite a turnaround for a team that was 19-31 in late May.Turner had three hits in the day's first game, a 4-1 win for the Nationals. Washington assured itself of returning to the playoffs for the fifth time in eight years after sitting out October in 2018.Anthony Rendon delivered two sacrifice flies to raise his majors-leading RBIs total to 124 in the opening victory, a result that also eliminated Philadelphia and $330 million outfielder Bryce Harper, the ex-Nationals star, from postseason contention.In the nightcap, Washington trailed 4-2 entering the sixth, because Brad Miller managed to hit two homers off Max Scherzer (11-7).Washington loaded the bases in the sixth against Aaron Nola (12-7) with two walks and a single, setting the stage for Turner's 18th homer of the season and... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski, grandson of former Red Sox great and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, homered in his first game in Fenway Park, and Alex Dickerson had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the 15th inning to lift the San Francisco Giants to a 7-6 victory over Boston on Tuesday night.The game featured a major league record-tying 24 pitchers — including a team-record 13 by the Giants — and had 50 players overall, lasting 5 hours, 54 minutes. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" was played in the middle of the 14th inning.San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy, who is retiring at the end of the season, moved one win away from becoming the 11th big-league manager to reach 2,000 victories.Donovan Solano opened the 15th with a ground-rule double against Trevor Kelley (0-2) and advanced on a wild pitch before the Dickerson's sac fly.Dereck Rodriguez (6-9) worked two innings for the victory.BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 5BALTIMORE (AP) — Rookie Cavan Biggio hit for the cycle, leading Toronto to the victory.Biggio... [More]