WASHINGTON (AP) — Postseason star Howie Kendrick and the World Series champion Washington Nationals agreed in principle to a $6.25 million, one-year contract, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.Speaking on condition of anonymity Friday because the deal was still pending a successful physical exam, the person confirmed to The Associated Press that an agreement was in place for Kendrick to return to Washington for what will be his 15th season in the majors. The 36-year-old Kendrick, who was a free agent, provides Washington with a middle-of-the-order bat and some flexibility in the field. He primarily plays at first base now, but started games at every infield position except shortstop in 2019.The righty batter hit .344 with 17 homers and 62 RBIs in 121 regular-season games before all of his postseason contributions provided some real pop in the postseason. He hit a tiebreaking grand slam off Joe Kelly in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the NL Division Series to lead the... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Howie Kendrick sure has a knack for the dramatic.At 36 — eight years removed from his only All-Star appearance — his go-ahead, two-run homer off Will Harris in the seventh inning lifted the Washington Nationals over the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday night in Game 7 for his team's first World Series title.Steady-handed and battle-tested, Kendrick came through at the biggest moments of the Nationals' October run."He's been one of the heart and souls of this team," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.Kendrick's grand slam against Joe Kelly broke a 10th-inning tie in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series, giving the Nationals a 7-3 win — just the second extra-inning slam in postseason history."The grand slam is still the biggest moment because we wouldn't be here without that," Kendrick said as teammates sprayed beer and bubbly on him in the boisterous visitors' clubhouse. "So for me, that's still got to be the top moment in my career, but this is truly special."Kendrick... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Howie Kendrick sure has a knack for the dramatic.At 36 — eight years removed from his only All-Star appearance — his go-ahead, two-run homer off Will Harris in the seventh inning lifted the Washington Nationals over the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday night in Game 7 for his team's first World Series title.Steady-handed and battle-tested, Kendrick came through at the biggest moments of the Nationals' October run."He's been one of the heart and souls of this team," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.Kendrick's grand slam against Joe Kelly broke a 10th-inning tie in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series, giving the Nationals a 7-3 win — just the second extra-inning slam in postseason history."The grand slam is still the biggest moment because we wouldn't be here without that," Kendrick said as teammates sprayed beer and bubbly on him in the boisterous visitors' clubhouse. "So for me, that's still got to be the top moment in my career, but this is truly special."Kendrick... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Howie Kendrick sure has a knack for the dramatic.At 36 — eight years removed from his only All-Star appearance — his go-ahead, two-run homer off Will Harris in the seventh inning lifted the Washington Nationals over the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday night in Game 7 for his team's first World Series title.Steady-handed and battle-tested, Kendrick came through at the biggest moments of the Nationals' October run."He's been one of the heart and souls of this team," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.Kendrick's grand slam against Joe Kelly broke a 10th-inning tie in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series, giving the Nationals a 7-3 win — just the second extra-inning slam in postseason history."The grand slam is still the biggest moment because we wouldn't be here without that," Kendrick said as teammates sprayed beer and bubbly on him in the boisterous visitors' clubhouse. "So for me, that's still got to be the top moment in my career, but this is truly special."Kendrick... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Howie Kendrick sure has a knack for the dramatic.At 36 — nine years removed from is only All-Star appearance — he hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Will Harris in the seventh inning that lifted the Washington Nationals over the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday night in Game 7 for his team's first World Series title.Steady-handed and battle-tested, Kendrick came through at the biggest moments of the Nationals' October run.His grand slam against Joe Kelly broke a 10th-inning tie in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series, giving the Nationals a 7-3 win — just the second extra-inning slam in postseason history.He hit .333 with four doubles and four RBIs in a League Championship Series sweep of St. Louis, earning MVP.Kendrick was just 5 for 22 with one RBI in the World Series when he came to the plate in the seventh inning of Game 7. Anthony Rendon had just homered off Zack Greinke, cutting the Nationals' deficit to 2-1.Juan Soto walked on five pitches and Harris relieved. Kendrick... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It's back to the drawing board — again — for the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose World Series title drought now extends to 31 years.This time, they didn't even make it that far.The Dodgers' postseason fell apart in the NL Division Series with a 7-3 defeat to the Washington Nationals in Game 5, an inglorious ending for a team coming off back-to-back World Series appearances."This is not anything we were prepared for," said reliever Joe Kelly, who gave up the tiebreaking grand slam to former Dodger Howie Kendrick in the 10th inning Wednesday night.Indeed, the Dodgers made no secret that winning a record seventh straight NL West title while piling up 106 victories — second-most in the majors — was just a prelude to fulfilling their ultimate goal of earning the franchise's first World Series title since 1988."We all knew we were better than what we showed out there," said Max Muncy, whose two-run homer in the first provided an early lead. "Sometimes it's not meant to be."The Dodgers... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw might very well go into the Hall of Fame one day on the strength of his amazing regular-season success — dragging behind him a painful October history he would rather forget.Another chapter to his playoff woes was added Wednesday night when the three-time Cy Young Award winner squandered a two-run lead with the Los Angeles Dodgers six outs from advancing to a fourth straight NL Championship Series.Pitching on full rest at home in relief of effective starter Walker Buehler in Game 5 of the Division Series against Washington, Kershaw gave up homers on consecutive pitches to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto that tied it 3-all in the eighth inning.The wild-card Nationals won 7-3 after a grand slam in the 10th by former Dodger Howie Kendrick off Joe Kelly. And with that, the stunned Dodgers were sent home for the winter."When you don't win the last game of the season and you're to blame for it, it's not fun," Kershaw said, his eyes red. "The main reason (it hurts)... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw might very well go into the Hall of Fame one day on the strength of his amazing regular-season success — dragging behind him a painful October history he would rather forget.Another chapter to his playoff woes was added Wednesday night when the three-time Cy Young Award winner squandered a two-run lead with the Los Angeles Dodgers six outs from advancing to a fourth straight NL Championship Series.Pitching on full rest at home in relief of effective starter Walker Buehler in Game 5 of the Division Series against Washington, Kershaw gave up homers on consecutive pitches to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto that tied it 3-all in the eighth inning.The wild-card Nationals won 7-3 after a grand slam in the 10th by former Dodger Howie Kendrick off Joe Kelly. And with that, the stunned Dodgers were sent home for the winter."When you don't win the last game of the season and you're to blame for it, it's not fun," Kershaw said, his eyes red. "The main reason (it hurts)... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw might very well go into the Hall of Fame one day on the strength of his amazing regular-season success — dragging behind him a painful October history he would rather forget.Another chapter to his playoff woes was added Wednesday night when the three-time Cy Young Award winner squandered a two-run lead with the Los Angeles Dodgers six outs from advancing to a fourth consecutive NL Championship Series.Pitching in relief of effective starter Walker Buehler and looking to help seal Game 5 of the Division Series against Washington at home, Kershaw gave up homers on consecutive pitches to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto that tied it 3-all in the eighth inning.The wild-card Nationals won 7-3 after a grand slam in the 10th by former Dodger Howie Kendrick off Joe Kelly."Just a terrible feeling," Kershaw said.Kershaw has been the heart and soul of the Dodgers almost since the time he arrived in Los Angeles as a 20-year-old touted prospect in 2008. While his body of... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers included four rookies on their NL Division Series roster.First baseman Matt Beaty, second baseman Gavin Lux, catcher Will Smith and reliever Dustin May each made impacts during the regular season when the Dodgers won a franchise-record 106 games.“They don’t act like rookies, they don’t play the game like rookies, and we’re going to need them in the postseason,” Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said Thursday. “We don’t expect their performance to be any different.”Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts added, “We just believe in those guys.”The Dodgers and Washington Nationals announced their rosters for the best-of-five series hours before the start of Game 1.Smith was tabbed to catch starter Walker Buehler on Thursday in a Kentucky-bred battery. Smith is from Louisville and Buehler is from Lexington.Roberts often jokes about Smith’s youthful looks.“Don’t let that fool you because this guy is as tough as they come,” he said.Beaty is the oldest of the quartet... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers have included four rookies on their NL Division Series roster.First baseman Matt Beaty, second baseman Gavin Lux, catcher Will Smith and reliever Dustin May each made impacts during the regular season when the Dodgers won a franchise-record 106 games.The Dodgers announced their roster for the best-of-five series Thursday, hours before the start of Game 1 against Washington.The Nationals tweaked their roster after their NL wild-card victory over Milwaukee. Catcher Raudy Read and outfielder Andrew Stevenson were dropped in favor of added pitching depth with right-handers Wander Suero and Austin Voth.Washington is going with 11 pitchers and 14 position players.Beaty and Lux are among six left-handed hitters on the Dodgers’ roster. Lux was called up in September after starting the season at Double-A.Another rookie, outfielder Alex Verdugo, was ruled out of the NLDS because of a back injury.Los Angeles is carrying 12 pitchers and 13 position players.The... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers have included three rookies on their NL Division Series roster.First baseman Matt Beaty, second baseman Gavin Lux and catcher Will Smith each made impacts during the regular season when the Dodgers won a franchise-record 106 games.The Dodgers announced their roster Thursday, hours before the start of Game 1 against Washington.Beaty and Lux are among six left-handed hitters on the roster.Los Angele is carrying 12 pitchers and 13 position players.The rotation consists of right-hander Walker Buehler, who starts Game 1, left-hander Clayton Kershaw, left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu and left-hander Rich Hill.The eight relievers are: right-handers Kenley Jansen, Pedro Baéz, Joe Kelly, Kenta Maeda, Dustin May and Ross Stripling, and lefties Adam Kolarek and Julio Urías. Maeda and Stripling are former starters.The other position players are: outfielder Cody Bellinger, infielder David Freese, utilityman Kiké Hernández, catcher Russell Martin, infielder Max Muncy, outfielder Joc Pederson, outfielder A.J. Pollock, infielder Corey Seager, utilityman Chris Taylor and third baseman Justin Turner.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at the best-of-five National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Los Angeles, 8:37 p.m. (TBS); Game 2, Friday, at Los Angeles, 9:37 p.m. (TBS); Game 3, Sunday, at Washington, 7:45 p.m. (TBS); x-Game 4, Monday, at Washington, TBA (TBS); x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Los Angeles, TBA (TBS).x-if necessary.___Season Series: Dodgers won 4-3.___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), 1B Howie Kendrick (.344, 17, 62), 2B Asdr�bal Cabrera (.235, 12, 51 in 93 games with Texas; .323, 6, 40 in 38 games with Washington), C Kurt Suzuki (.264, 17, 63), CF Victor Robles (.255, 17, 65, 28 SBs).Dodgers: 1B Max Muncy (.251, 35, 98, 90 walks, .374 OBP) or David Freese (.315, 11, 29) or Matt Beaty... [More]

A look at the best-of-five National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Los Angeles, 8:37 p.m. (TBS); Game 2, Friday, at Los Angeles, 9:37 p.m. (TBS); Game 3, Sunday, at Washington, TBA (TBS); x-Game 4, Monday, at Washington, TBA (TBS); x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Los Angeles, TBA (TBS).x-if necessary.___Season Series: Dodgers won 4-3.___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), 1B Howie Kendrick (.344, 17, 62), 2B Asdr�bal Cabrera (.235, 12, 51 in 93 games with Texas; .323, 6, 40 in 38 games with Washington), C Kurt Suzuki (.264, 17, 63), CF Victor Robles (.255, 17, 65, 28 SBs).Dodgers: 1B Max Muncy (.251, 35, 98, 90 walks, .374 OBP) or David Freese (.315, 11, 29) or Matt Beaty (.265,... [More]

A look at the best-of-five National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Los Angeles, 8:37 p.m. (TBS); Game 2, Friday, at Los Angeles, 9:37 p.m. (TBS); Game 3, Sunday, at Washington, TBA (TBS); x-Game 4, Monday, at Washington, TBA (TBS); x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Los Angeles, TBA (TBS).x-if necessary.___Season Series: Dodgers won 4-3.___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), 1B Howie Kendrick (.344, 17, 62), 2B Asdr�bal Cabrera (.235, 12, 51 in 93 games with Texas; .323, 6, 40 in 38 games with Washington), C Kurt Suzuki (.264, 17, 63), CF Victor Robles (.255, 17, 65, 28 SBs).Dodgers: 1B Max Muncy (.251, 35, 98, 90 walks, .374 OBP) or David Freese (.315, 11, 29) or Matt Beaty (.265,... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:THAT'S WILDOakland tabbed left-hander Sean Manaea (4-0, 1.21 ERA) to start the AL wild-card game against Tampa Bay. The 27-year-old Manaea was sidelined last year when the Athletics lost the wild-card game to the Yankees, and missed most of this season following shoulder surgery. He returned in September and has been sharp over five starts. He'll start opposite Rays right-hander Charlie Morton (16-6, 3.05) — that's right, no openers for either of these forward-thinking clubs — although neither manager will shy away from an early hook.GOING TO CALIFORNIASo familiar with playoff heartache, the Washington Nationals have finally advanced in October. Juan Soto delivered a bases-loaded single against closer Josh Hader that scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Nationals rallied past the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in the National League wild-card game Tuesday night.Soto's sharp single skipped by rookie right fielder... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nagging injuries to Justin Turner, Rich Hill and Joe Kelly have improved enough that all three will be available when the Los Angeles Dodgers open the National League Division Series.Manager Dave Roberts didn't reveal his roster Tuesday for the best-of-five playoff that begins Thursday at Dodger Stadium against the Washington Nationals. And he didn't announce a Game 1 starter, either.But Roberts confirmed that two talented Dodgers rookies — catcher Will Smith and second baseman Gavin Lux — will be active. The manager also said the team will carry eight relievers.Los Angeles worked out Thursday while the NL wild-card game between the Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers played on the stadium videoboards. The Dodgers wrapped up before the Nationals rallied to win 4-3.The Dodgers took the season series from the Nationals, 4-3. The clubs split four games at Dodger Stadium, and Los Angeles won two of three in Washington.Roberts said final roster spots were dependent on Turner's... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Wednesday:THAT'S WILDOakland tabbed left-hander Sean Manaea (4-0, 1.21 ERA) to start the AL wild-card game against Tampa Bay. The 27-year-old Manaea was sidelined last year when the Athletics lost the wild-card game to the Yankees, and missed most of this season following shoulder surgery. He returned in September and has been sharp over five starts. He'll start opposite Rays right-hander Charlie Morton (16-6, 3.05) — that's right, no openers for either of these forward-thinking clubs — although neither manager will shy away from an early hook.GOING TO CALIFORNIASo familiar with playoff heartache, the Washington Nationals have finally advanced in October. Juan Soto delivered a bases-loaded single against closer Josh Hader that scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Nationals rallied past the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in the National League wild-card game Tuesday night.Soto's sharp single skipped by rookie right... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nagging injuries to Justin Turner, Rich Hill and Joe Kelly have improved enough that all three will be available when the Los Angeles Dodgers open the National League Division Series.Manager Dave Roberts didn't reveal his roster Tuesday for the best-of-five playoff that begins Thursday at Dodger Stadium against the Washington Nationals. And he didn't announce a Game 1 starter, either.But Roberts confirmed that two of the Dodgers' talented rookies — catcher Will Smith and second baseman Gavin Lux — will be active.Los Angeles worked out Thursday while the NL wild-card game between the Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers played on the stadium's videoboards. The Dodgers wrapped up before the Nationals rallied to win 4-3.Turner took some swings against Tony Gonsolin in a simulated game. The third baseman has started just three games since Sept. 7. He initially had a sprained left ankle, then a sore back that kept him out of the final five games of the regular season.Hill was the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. ignited a four-run rally with the go-ahead, two-run double, and the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves clinched a playoff berth with a 10-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday.Acuña's double down the left-field line off reliever Fernando Rodney added fuel to a dramatic seventh inning for the Braves (93-57), who reduced their magic number to four to clinch their 19th division title.Earlier in the seventh, Charlie Culberson was struck directly on the right cheekbone by a 91-mph fastball on Rodney's first pitch of the game.Culberson remained on his back for several minutes as trainers pressed a towel to his face. He was eventually helped to his feet and onto the back of a cart.The Braves have won the last 11 games started by Mike Foltynewicz (7-5), who pitched six solid innings.Wander Suero (5-8) was charged with the loss as the Washington bullpen gave up nine runs over the final four innings. The Nationals saw their lead in the NL wild card race... [More]