BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox have exercised their $15 million option for next season on ace left-hander Chris Sale.Sale will earn $15 million in the final season of a five-year contract he signed with the Chicago White Sox before the 2013 season that guaranteed $32.5 million, including a 2017 option buyout. He had a $12.5 million salary this season in the first of two option years and will wind up earning $59 million over seven seasons plus award bonuses.Sale can become a free agent after the 2019 World Series.In addition, infielder Eduardo Nunez exercised his $5 million player option rather than become a free agent.The 2017 AL Cy Young Award runner-up and a seven-time All-Star, Sale struck out the side in the ninth inning of World Series Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers to close out Boston's fourth championship in 15 seasons. Boston announced its decision Tuesday, two days after the finale.The 29-year-old earned his first playoff victory in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees. Sale went 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 27 regular-season starts in his second season in Boston.He was among the favorites to win the Cy Young this season before shoulder issues during the season's second half.Nunez hit .265 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs in 502 plate appearances, playing second base and third.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox have exercised their $15 million option for next season on ace left-hander Chris Sale.Sale will earn $15 million in the final season of a five-year contract he signed with the Chicago White Sox before the 2013 season that guaranteed $32.5 million, including a 2017 option buyout. He had a $12.5 million salary this season in the first of two option years and will wind up earning $59 million over seven seasons plus award bonuses.Sale can become a free agent after the 2019 World Series.The 2017 AL Cy Young Award runner-up and a seven-time All-Star, Sale struck out the side in the ninth inning of World Series Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers to close out Boston's fourth championship in 15 seasons. Boston announced its decision Tuesday, two days after the finale.The 29-year-old earned his first playoff victory in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees. Sale went 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 27 regular-season starts in his second season in Boston.He was among the favorites to win the Cy Young this season before shoulder issues during the season's second half.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox have exercised the 2019 option on ace left-hander Chris Sale.Sale will earn $15 million in the final season of the five-year contract he signed with the White Sox in 2013. He can become an unrestricted free agent in 2020.The 2017 AL Cy Young runner-up and a seven-time All-Star, Sale had three strikeouts in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series to close out Boston's fourth championship in 15 years.The 29-year-old earned his first playoff victory in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Yankees. Sale went 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 27 regular-season starts in his second season in Boston.He was among the favorites to win the Cy Young this season before he dealt with shoulder issues down the stretch.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For a dozen years, Steve Pearce was on the move. From Pittsburgh to Houston to every single team in the AL East, just looking for a spot where he could stick.He finally found his permanent place — in Red Sox lore.The well-traveled Pearce wound up as the World Series MVP on Sunday night after hitting two home runs that sent Boston over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5."Baseball's a funny game," he said. "The longer you stay in the game, great things can happen."For a guy who just kept on truckin' around the majors, he now has something shiny to show for it — a bright red truck, presented to him on the infield dirt as a most unlikely MVP."You never know where the game will take you," he said. "And I've gone through a lot in my life or in my career to be here, and I couldn't be more thankful.""This has been a lifelong journey," he said.Hundreds of Red Sox fans in the stands at Dodger Stadium chanted "MVP! MVP!" Later, he strolled hand-in-hand with his 6-year-old daughter... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hard to believe now, all these wins later, but the Alex Cora Era in Boston began with a loss. A brutal one, in fact.Opening day at Tropicana Field in late March, none of his late moves worked out as the bullpen blew a big lead in a 6-4 setback.No fan in New England would admit it now — still, chances are some had already started to wonder whether he was the right guy for the Red Sox."It's baseball," Cora reassured that afternoon. "We know it's going to happen. ... I guess get it out of the way right away."Yep, guess so.A calming presence in a boiling sports cauldron, Cora capped off one of the greatest runs by a first-year skipper in leading Boston to the World Series championship.His Cora-nation came Sunday night, when the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5.The victory set off celebrations all over.While throngs of Red Sox fans chanted "Cor-a! Cor-a!" from the seats and so many more reveled across the country, all of Puerto Rico certainly cheered its... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hard to believe now, all these wins later, but the Alex Cora Era in Boston began with a loss. A brutal one, in fact.Opening day at Tropicana Field in late March, none of his late moves worked out as the bullpen blew a big lead in a 6-4 setback.No fan in New England would admit it now — still, chances are some had already started to wonder whether he was the right guy for the Red Sox."It's baseball," Cora reassured that afternoon. "We know it's going to happen. ... I guess get it out of the way right away."Yep, guess so.A calming presence in a boiling sports cauldron, Cora capped off one of the greatest runs by a first-year skipper in leading Boston to the World Series championship.His Cora-nation came Sunday night, when the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5.The victory set off celebrations all over.While throngs of Red Sox fans chanted "Cor-a! Cor-a!" from the seats and so many more reveled across the country, all of Puerto Rico certainly cheered its... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles' hopes that Manny Machado would help deliver the Dodgers' first World Series title since 1988 ended up falling way short.Machado struggled against the Boston Red Sox in his first World Series, going 4 for 22. He was hitless in four at-bats in Game 5 on Sunday night, including falling awkwardly to one knee as he swung and missed on a Chris Sale slider to end the 5-1 Red Sox victory at Dodger Stadium. It was Machado's third strikeout of the night.The 26-year-old Machado — who was acquired from Baltimore on July 19 — can become a free agent this offseason and is expected to command a large contract. If he doesn't re-sign with the Dodgers, it ended up being a rental that didn't produce meaningful results."Obviously, it has been a great journey. The Dodgers welcomed me with open arms," Machado said. "It has been a great couple months we had here and we'll see what happens."Machado's three home runs and 12 RBIs rank second among players in this year's postseason,... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hard to believe now, all these wins later, but the Alex Cora Era in Boston began with a loss. A brutal one, in fact.Opening day at Tropicana Field in late March, none of his late moves worked out as the bullpen blew a big lead in a 6-4 setback.No fan in New England would admit it now — still, chances are some had already started to wonder whether he was the right guy for the Red Sox."It's baseball," Cora reassured that afternoon. "We know it's going to happen. ... I guess get it out of the way right away."Yep, guess so.A calming presence in a boiling sports cauldron, Cora capped off one of the greatest runs by a first-year skipper in leading Boston to the World Series championship.His Cora-nation came Sunday night, when the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5.The victory set off celebrations all over.While throngs of Red Sox fans chanted "Cor-a! Cor-a!" from the seats and so many more reveled across the country, all of Puerto Rico certainly cheered its... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles' hopes that Manny Machado would help deliver the Dodgers' first World Series title since 1988 ended up falling way short.Machado struggled against the Boston Red Sox in his first World Series, going 4 for 22. He was hitless in four at-bats against Boston in Game 5 on Sunday night, including falling down as he swung and missed on a Chris Sale slider to end the 5-1 Red Sox victory at Dodger Stadium. It was Machado's third strikeout of the night.The 26-year-old Machado — who was acquired from Baltimore on July 19 — can become a free agent this offseason and is expected to command a large contract. If he doesn't re-sign with the Dodgers, it ended up being a rental that didn't produce meaningful results.Machado's three home runs and 12 RBIs rank second among players in this year's postseason, but most of his production happened early.He was 8 for 28 (.286 batting average) with three home runs and nine RBIs in the four-game NL Division Series against Atlanta and... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hard to believe now, all these wins later, but the Alex Cora Era in Boston began with a loss. A brutal one, in fact.Opening day at Tropicana Field in late March, none of his late moves worked out as the bullpen blew a big lead in a 6-4 setback.No fan in New England would admit it now — still, chances are some had already started to wonder whether he was the right guy for the Red Sox."It's baseball," Cora reassured that afternoon. "We know it's going to happen. ... I guess get it out of the way right away."Yep, guess so.A calming presence in a boiling sports cauldron, Cora capped off one of the greatest runs by a first-year skipper in leading Boston to the World Series championship.His Cora-nation came Sunday night, when the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5.The victory set off celebrations all over.While throngs of Red Sox fans rooted from the seats and so many more reveled across the country, all of Puerto Rico certainly cheered its native son from Caguas.Cora... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Sale stood in the back of the dugout as the World Series was slipping away and started screaming."He's got two pitches!" the Boston Red Sox ace hollered to his left among a stream of profanities, referring to Los Angeles Dodgers starter Rich Hill.Then he shouted to his right.And then straight ahead, pointing with his pitching hand and extending his ring and middle fingers for emphasis.Sale stepped down, kept on shrieking and raised his right hand, his head bobbing up and down and a fire in his eyes like a Shakespearean king exhorting troops into battle."It scared me a little bit," Rafael Devers said through a translator, "because I had never seen him yell like that, and the words that he was saying, I had never heard that come from him before. But, you know, we came out sluggish and that moment helped us get motivated for the rest of the game."Boston had just fallen behind by four runs in the sixth inning Saturday night, nine outs from finding itself tied 2-2 in... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Sale stood in the back of the dugout as the World Series was slipping away and started screaming."He's got two pitches!" the Boston Red Sox ace hollered to his left among a stream of profanities, referring to Los Angeles Dodgers starter Rich Hill.Then he shouted to his right.And then straight ahead, pointing with his pitching hand and extending his ring and middle fingers for emphasis.Sale stepped down, kept on shrieking and raised his right hand, his head bobbing up and down and a fire in his eyes like a Shakespearean king exhorting troops into battle."It scared me a little bit," Rafael Devers said, "because I had never seen him yell like that, and the words that he was saying, I had never heard that come from him before. But, you know, we came out sluggish and that moment helped us get motivated for the rest of the game."Boston had just fallen behind by four runs in the sixth inning Saturday night, nine outs from finding itself tied 2-2 in a World Series that... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The World Series was slipping away when Chris Sale stood in the back of the dugout and started screaming at his teammates.The Boston Red Sox had just fallen behind the Los Angeles Dodgers by four runs in the sixth inning Saturday night, nine outs from finding themselves tied 2-2 in a World Series that seemed to be a runaway just 28 hours earlier.His words were loud, not polite.These were not the reassuring words delivered by David Ortiz in his dugout huddle in St. Louis after the fifth inning of Game 4 five years ago.This was more like Justin Verlander's motivational message to the Houston Astros when he popped up the stairs in the very same dugout during Game 2 last October.Boston rallied on Mitch Moreland's three-run homer off Ryan Madson in the seventh and Steve Pearce's solo shot against Kenley Jansen in the eighth. Rafael Dever's go-ahead single in the ninth was followed by Pearce's three-run double and Xander Bogaert's RBI single built a five-run lead. With a 9-6... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on Game 4 of the World Series (all times local):9:08 p.m.Steve Pearce hit a tying homer in the eighth and a three-run double in the ninth, and the Boston Red Sox rallied from a four-run deficit in the seventh inning for a 9-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night and a 3-1 World Series lead.The improbable surge all started with pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland's three-run homer in the seventh, shortly after Yasiel Puig's three-run homer in the sixth had put the Dodgers up 4-0.Pinch-hitter Rafael Devers singled in Brock Holt with the tiebreaking run in the ninth, with also included Xander Bogaert's RBI single.Craig Kimbrel gave up Enrique Hernandez's two-run homer in the bottom half before getting the final three outs.Chris Sale starts for the Red Sox on Sunday against Clayton Kershaw, tying to close out Boston's fourth title in 15 seasons.___8:19 p.m.Thanks to Steve Pearce, we're tied again in the late innings at Dodger Stadium. Anyone up to play 18?Pearce... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Now Alex Cora's in trouble.Boston's manager went for a commanding lead in the World Series, using David Price and Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.But Los Angeles won 3-2 in 18 innings Friday night, trimming Boston's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Now Cora has to come up with a starting pitcher for Game 4.After failing to answer the first time when asked, Cora spelled out his situation."TBA" he said, then repeating for extra emphasis: "TBA."Cora's Game 3 moves almost worked. Jackie Bradley Jr.'s eighth-inning home run off Kenley Jansen tied it at 1, and the Red Sox went ahead in the 13th when Eduardo Nunez reached on an infield single that pitcher Scott Alexander threw wildly to first for an error that allowed Brock Holt to come home from second.But Max Muncy walked off Nathan Eovaldi leading off the bottom half, tagged up and went to second when third baseman Eduardo Nunez fell into the seats catching Cody Bellinger's... [More]

You would've thought the Boston Red Sox were in a must-win situation.They put everything they had into one of the greatest games — really, two games — in World Series history.Now, even though Boston is still ahead, it feels like the Los Angeles Dodgers have all the momentum.In an epic marathon that lasted a staggering 7 hours and 20 minutes, stretching from Friday night well into Saturday morning, the Red Sox put all their cards on the table and still came away with a losing hand.Max Muncy led off the bottom of the 18th with a walk-off homer, finally finishing off the longest game — in both time and innings — in World Series history. The Dodgers emerged with a 3-2 victory , cutting their deficit in the series to a now-manageable two games to one.Sure, it was only one victory.It felt like so much more.The Red Sox staggered off the field with their pitching staff in shambles, namely because they tried to get seven innings — SEVEN! — from Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen.Who will start Game... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Now Alex Cora's in trouble.Boston's manager went for a commanding lead in the World Series, using David Price and Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.But Los Angeles won 3-2 in 18 innings Friday night, trimming Boston's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Now Cora has to come up with a starting pitcher for Game 4.After failing to answer the first time when asked, Cora spelled out his situation."TBA" he said, then repeating for extra emphasis: "TBA."Cora's Game 3 moves almost worked. Jackie Bradley Jr.'s eighth-inning home run off Kenley Jansen tied it at 1, and the Red Sox went ahead in the 13th when Eduardo Nunez reached on an infield single that pitcher Scott Alexander threw wildly to first for an error that allowed Brock Holt to come home from second.But Max Muncy walked off Nathan Eovaldi leading off the bottom half, tagged up and went to second when third baseman Eduardo Nunez fell into the seats catching Cody Bellinger's... [More]

You would've thought the Boston Red Sox were in a must-win situation.They put everything they had into one of the greatest games — really, two games — in World Series history.Now, even though Boston is still ahead in the World Series, it sure doesn't feel like it.In an epic marathon that lasted a staggering 7 hours and 20 minutes, stretching from Friday night well into Saturday morning, the Red Sox put all their cards on the table and still came away with a losing hand.Max Muncy led off the bottom of the 18th with a walk-off homer, finally finishing off the longest game — in both time and innings — in World Series history. The Los Angeles Dodgers emerged with a 3-2 victory , cutting their deficit in the series to a now-manageable two games to one.Sure, it was only one victory.It felt like so much more.The Red Sox staggered off the field with their pitching staff in shambles, namely because they tried to get seven innings — SEVEN! — from Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen.Who will start Game... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Now Alex Cora's in trouble.Boston's manager went for a commanding lead in the World Series, using David Price and Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.His moves almost worked, but second baseman Ian Kinsler slipped on the infield and made a throwing error that allowed the tying run to score in the 13th inning.Los Angeles went on to win 3-2 in a World Series-record 18 innings, cutting the Red Sox advantage to 2-1.Now Cora faces a short pitching staff for the rest of the weekend. All those brash moves now seem rash.Boston tied a World Series record by using 23 players and nine pitchers.Eovaldi, Cora's Game 4 starter, entered in the 12th inning. Cora had envisioned possibly using Eovaldi in the eighth inning as a bridge to closer Craig Kimbrel."You never know, a walk, a hit and a tie game, but it's a chance we're taking," Cora said.Eovaldi threw 97 of Boston's 283 pitches over six-plus innings. It was his third appearance in four days... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the World Series (all times local):12:30 a.m.Max Muncy ended the longest World Series game ever with a leadoff home run in the 18th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers outlasted the Boston Red Sox 3-2 early Saturday to pull within 2-1.Muncy connected off Nathan Eovaldi, who was in his seventh inning of relief. It took seven hours and 561 pitches to settle this.The Red Sox were oh-so-close in the 13th to taking a huge 3-0 lead. But second baseman Ian Kinsler's wide throw on a two-out grounder by Yasiel Puig let Los Angeles score the tying run.Game 4 is Saturday and Rich Hill will start for the Dodgers. Eovaldi had been set to pitch until he entered in the 12th and stayed in.___12:15 a.m.The Dodgers and Red Sox are headed to the 18th inning in Game 3 of the World Series.Neither team did much offensively in the 17th against Los Angeles reliever Julio Urias and Boston's Nathan Eovaldi, who has now thrown six innings of two-hit ball.Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a walk,... [More]