Oct. 141905 — Christy Mathewson blanked the Philadelphia Athletics 2-0 to give the New York Giants the World Series in five games. All were shutouts, with Mathewson getting three, Joe McGinnity one, and Chief Bender of Philadelphia one.1929 — The Philadelphia A's rallied for three runs in the ninth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 and take the World Series in five games. Mule Haas' two-run homer tied the game and Bing Miller's RBI double won it.1965 — Sandy Koufax tossed his second shutout to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins and the world championship in seven games.1969 — New York's Tommie Agee made two spectacular catches to save five runs and secure a 5-0 victory over Baltimore as the Mets took a 2-1 lead in the World Series.1971 — Pittsburgh's Nelson Briles threw a two-hitter against the Orioles for a 4-0 victory to give the Pirates a 3-2 edge in the World Series.1972 — Oakland catcher Gene Tenace became the first player to hit home runs in each... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — John Middleton runs the show in Philadelphia.The Phillies managing partner made that clear Friday, a day after manager Gabe Kapler was fired despite resistance from Team President Andy MacPhail and general manager Matt Klentak."A CEO's responsibility is to ensure an organization achieves its strategic objectives, and everything I do every day is working toward that end," Middleton said.Philadelphia's front office spent weeks deliberating Kapler's fate before Middleton decided to remove him. Kapler went 161-163 in two seasons.It's not the first time Middleton has overruled his front office. After promising last fall to spend "stupid" money, he was the driving force behind the decision to give Bryce Harper a $330 million, 13-year contract. He also made the move to fire hitting coach John Mallee in August and replaced him with former manager Charlie Manuel."The decision about a manager is much more directly connected to achieving the strategic objective of winning a World... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The price of qualifying offers for Major League Baseball free agents dropped for the first time, falling by $100,000 to $17.8 million.Determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year, the figure announced Friday reflects a flat market last offseason.In addition, large signing bonuses in the contracts of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Mike Trout impacted on the drop, because the signing bonuses are prorated over the length of the contract rather than the year they were received. The trio had relatively low 2019 salaries and if their 2020 salaries had been included instead, the qualifying offer figure would have risen to $18.3 million.Harper's salary increases from $10 million this year to $26 million in 2020, Machado's from $10 million to $30 million and Trout's from $16 million to $36 million.Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon, Didi Gregorius and Jake Odorizzi are among the players eligible for free agency. They could be joined by Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:WELCOME TO THE NLCSThe Washington Nationals play in the NL Championship Series for the first time, taking on St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Aníbal Sánchez starts for the Nats against Miles Mikolas.Both teams won a deciding Game 5 on the road in the NL Division Series. The Cardinals scored 10 runs in the first inning and romped past Atlanta 13-1 while Washington rallied late and beat the Dodgers 7-3 in 10 innings.Nationals aces Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin all got plenty of work in the NLDS. Sánchez was 11-8 with a 3.85 ERA this season, then gave up one run in five innings in his lone appearance against Los Angeles.Washington manager Dave Martinez says he hasn't decided how he will line up the rest of his starting staff after Sánchez. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said Adam Wainwright will start Game 2, followed by Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson, who will be available out of the bullpen at the beginning of the series.MAMMOTH... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Friday:WELCOME TO THE NLCSThe Washington Nationals play in the NL Championship Series for the first time, taking on St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Aníbal Sánchez starts for the Nats against Miles Mikolas.Both teams won a deciding Game 5 on the road in the NL Division Series. The Cardinals scored 10 runs in the first inning and romped past Atlanta 13-1 while Washington rallied late and beat the Dodgers 7-3 in 10 innings.Nationals aces Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin all got plenty of work in the NLDS. Sánchez was 11-8 with a 3.85 ERA this season, then gave up one run in five innings in his lone appearance against Los Angeles.Washington manager Dave Martinez says he hasn't decided how he will line up the rest of his starting staff after Sánchez. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said Adam Wainwright will start Game 2, followed by Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson, who will be available out of the bullpen at the beginning of the series.MAMMOTH... [More]

A look at the best-of-seven National League Championship Series between the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Friday, at St. Louis, 8:08 p.m.; Game 2, Saturday, at St. Louis, 4:08 p.m.; Game 3, Monday, at Washington, TBA; Game 4, Tuesday, at Washington, TBA; x-Game 5, Wednesday, at Washington, TBA; x-Game 6, Friday, Oct. 18, at St. Louis, TBA; x-Game 7, Saturday, Oct. 19, at St. Louis, TBA. (All games on TBS).x-if necessary.___Season Series: Cardinals won 5-2.___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), C Kurt Suzuki (.264, 17, 63) or Yan Gomes (.223, 12, 43 in 97 games), CF Victor Robles (.255, 17, 65, 28 SBs) or Michael A. Taylor (.250, 1, 3 in 53 games).Cardinals:... [More]

Compiled by PAUL MONTELLAOct. 131903 — The Boston Pilgrims won the first World Series, five games to three, with a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.1914 — The Boston Braves completed a sweep of the Philadelphia Athletics, first in World Series history, with a 3-1 victory.1921 — Art Nehf tossed a 1-0, four-hitter against the New York Yankees for the World Series title in eight games. The Giants scored their run in the first inning on an error by shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh.1960 — Bill Mazeroski opened the bottom of the ninth with a home run off Ralph Terry of the New York Yankees to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 victory and the World Series in seven games.1971 — The first World Series night game was played in Pittsburgh with the Pirates beating Baltimore 4-3. Roberto Clemente had three hits for Pittsburgh.1978 — New York third baseman Graig Nettles put on a fielding clinic and prevented seven runs as the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 3 of the World Series.... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gabe Kapler took the fall for the Philadelphia Phillies.He was fired Thursday, nearly two weeks after a disappointing finish to a season of big expectations highlighted by Bryce Harper's arrival.Kapler went 161-163 in two years, his team unable to deliver following its offseason spending spree. Philadelphia finished 81-81, its first nonlosing season since 2012."Several years ago, I promised our loyal fans that I would do everything in my power to bring a world championship team to our city. I will never waver from that commitment," Phillies managing partner John Middleton said in a statement."I have decided that some changes are necessary to achieve our ultimate objective. Consequently, we will replace our manager. I am indebted to Gabe for the steadfast effort, energy and enthusiasm that he brought to our club, and we are unquestionably a better team and organization as a result of his contributions."The Phillies were only two games behind in the NL wild-card standings... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gabe Kapler took the fall for the Philadelphia Phillies.He was fired Thursday, nearly two weeks after a disappointing finish to a season of big expectations highlighted by Bryce Harper's arrival.Kapler went 161-163 in two years, his team unable to deliver following its offseason spending spree. Philadelphia finished 81-81, its first nonlosing season since 2012."Several years ago, I promised our loyal fans that I would do everything in my power to bring a world championship team to our city. I will never waver from that commitment," Phillies managing partner John Middleton said in a statement."I have decided that some changes are necessary to achieve our ultimate objective. Consequently, we will replace our manager. I am indebted to Gabe for the steadfast effort, energy and enthusiasm that he brought to our club, and we are unquestionably a better team and organization as a result of his contributions."The Phillies were only two games behind in the NL wild-card standings... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Phillies have fired Gabe Kapler, nearly two weeks after disappointing finish to a season of big expectations.Kapler was dismissed Thursday after going 161-163 in two seasons. Philadelphia failed to live up to the hype following an offseason spending spree highlighted by Bryce Harper's arrival. The team went 81-81, its first nonlosing season since 2012.The Phillies were only two games behind in the NL wild-card standings after beating Atlanta on Sept. 18 but lost eight of the next nine, including a five-game sweep at Washington. They finished eight games behind Milwaukee for the second wild card and 16 behind the first-place Braves in the NL East.Last year, the Phillies had a one-game lead in the division on Aug. 11 before going 15-31 the rest of the way.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball's average attendance dropped 1.7% this year for its fourth straight decline, and five of the six biggest drops were by teams with losing records.Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco and Detroit combined for more than 1.8 million fewer tickets, and a 259-388 won-lost record.The 30 teams averaged 28,339, according to the commissioner's office, down from 28,830 last year _ the first time the average was below 30,000 since 2003. Total attendance of 68.5 million was down more than 5 million from 2015.The players' association maintains attendance has been hurt by an increase in rebuilding teams, which its members and staff label "tanking.""The willful failure of too many franchises to field competitive teams and put their best players on the field is unquestionably hurting our industry," union head Tony Clark said last week.Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says rebuilding is cyclical and attendance and record correlate in some markets but not all. He also points... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gabe Kapler wants the opportunity to lead the Philadelphia Phillies back to the postseason after consecutive collapses in September.It's still uncertain whether he'll get another chance.A season that began with high expectations following the arrival of Bryce Harper and other high-profile players ended the same as the previous seven years: without October baseball.The Phillies finished 81-81, a one game improvement from Kapler's rookie season as manager. Frustrated fans want to see change but management hasn't announced a decision either way."I love managing that group of players," Kapler said after the season ended Sunday. "I love working with that staff. I love working with this front office. They give me all sorts of autonomy. I have felt supported by our ownership group. Our ownership group has done everything in their power to put a winning product on the field. I'm proud to be a Philadelphia Phillie and will do it as long as I'm able."The Phillies were only two... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Monday:HOT SEATThe day after the regular season can be dicey for managers — a lot of teams like to make changes.A couple of clubs got a head start on their winter plans Sunday, with the Cubs announcing Joe Maddon wouldn't be back and the Pirates firing Clint Hurdle. That makes five openings — San Francisco's Bruce Bochy and Kansas City's Ned Yost stepped away after previously saying they would retire, and San Diego's Andy Green was fired on Sept. 21.Philadelphia's Gabe Kapler and the New York Mets' Mickey Callaway are thought to be in danger of losing their jobs this week.Kapler's Phillies have gone 161-163 over two seasons, including 81-81 this year after signing Bryce Harper to a $330 million, 13-year contract, also adding Andrew McCutchen and David Robertson and trading for star catcher J.T. Realmuto and shortstop Jean Segura.Callaway's Mets are 163-161, including 86-76 this year after first-year general manager Brodie Van Wagenen proclaimed... [More]

Marlins second. Starlin Castro homers to center field. Harold Ramirez singles to left field. Isan Diaz homers to right field. Harold Ramirez scores. Austin Dean lines out to shortstop to Sean Rodriguez. Bryan Holaday flies out to right field to Bryce Harper. Sandy Alcantara called out on strikes.3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Marlins 3, Phillies 0.Marlins third. Jon Berti singles to center field. Martin Prado homers to left field. Curtis Granderson flies out to left field to Brad Miller. Starlin Castro flies out to center field to Adam Haseley.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Marlins 4, Phillies 0.Phillies third. Nick Williams pinch-hitting for Edgar Garcia. Nick Williams lines out to center field to Harold Ramirez. Cesar Hernandez grounds out to second base, Isan Diaz to Martin Prado. Brad Miller homers to center field. Bryce Harper singles to center field. Rhys Hoskins strikes out swinging.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 4, Phillies 1.Phillies seventh. Cesar Hernandez singles to shallow infield. Brad Miller homers to center field. Cesar Hernandez scores. Bryce Harper strikes out swinging. Rhys Hoskins singles to right center field. Adam Haseley singles to right center field. Rhys Hoskins to second. Maikel Franco pops out to shallow center field to Jon Berti. Andrew Knapp strikes out swinging.2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Marlins 4, Phillies 3.

Phillies first. Cesar Hernandez homers to left field. Phil Gosselin flies out to left center field to Austin Dean. Bryce Harper pops out to shallow center field to Starlin Castro. Rhys Hoskins pops out to shallow infield to Neil Walker.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Phillies 1, Marlins 0.Phillies second. Sean Rodriguez walks. Maikel Franco homers to center field. Sean Rodriguez scores. Adam Haseley singles to shortstop. Deivy Grullon flies out to deep right field to Harold Ramirez. Zach Eflin reaches on a fielder's choice to shallow infield. Adam Haseley out at second. Cesar Hernandez walks. Zach Eflin to second. Phil Gosselin flies out to left field to Austin Dean.2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Phillies 3, Marlins 0.Phillies third. Bryce Harper flies out to deep right center field to Harold Ramirez. Rhys Hoskins walks. Sean Rodriguez walks. Rhys Hoskins to second. Maikel Franco pops out to Jorge Alfaro. Adam Haseley singles to left field, advances to 2nd. Sean Rodriguez scores.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has entered the Boom/Bust Era.An unprecedented four teams won 100 games in the same season.Four clubs lost in triple figures for only the second time.Amid widespread claims the baseballs have changed, hitters shattered the home run record for the second time in three seasons. And sparked by batters going for the fences to beat suffocating shifts, strikeouts set a record for the 12th year in a row and outnumbered hits for the second straight season.With some teams out of contention even before their first pitch, average attendance has dropped four years in a row for the first time since the commissioner's office started tracking it in 1980."We're going to draw 68-plus million people at the big league level," baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week, "another 41 million in minor league baseball — they're actually going to be up. I'll take 110 million people going to see the sport live. That's a really, really awesome number in an environment where... [More]

Marlins first. Jon Berti flies out to deep left center field to Brad Miller. Miguel Rojas hit by pitch. Starlin Castro doubles to deep left field. Miguel Rojas scores. Austin Dean strikes out swinging. Isan Diaz flies out to left field to Brad Miller.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 1, Phillies 0.Phillies first. Cesar Hernandez doubles to deep left field. Scott Kingery lines out to right field to Lewis Brinson. Bryce Harper triples to deep center field. Cesar Hernandez scores. Rhys Hoskins out on a sacrifice fly to deep right center field to Lewis Brinson. Bryce Harper scores. Brad Miller singles to shortstop. Andrew Knapp grounds out to first base to Austin Dean.2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Phillies 2, Marlins 1.Marlins second. Harold Ramirez homers to center field. Lewis Brinson grounds out to third base, Maikel Franco to Rhys Hoskins. Tyler Heineman singles to right field. Pablo Lopez strikes out on a foul bunt. Jon Berti grounds out to shortstop, Scott Kingery to Rhys... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has entered the Boom/Bust Era.An unprecedented four teams won 100 games in the same season.Four clubs lost in triple figures for only the second time.Amid widespread claims the baseballs have changed, hitters shattered the home run record for the second time in three seasons. And sparked by batters going for the fences to beat suffocating shifts, strikeouts set a record for the 12th year in a row and outnumbered hits for the second straight season.With some teams out of contention even before their first pitch, average attendance has dropped four years in a row for the first time since the commissioner's office started tracking it in 1980."We're going to draw 68-plus million people at the big league level," baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week, "another 41 million in minor league baseball — they're actually going to be up. I'll take 110 million people going to see the sport live. That's a really, really awesome number in an environment where... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has entered the Boom/Bust Era.An unprecedented four teams won 100 games in the same season.Four clubs lost in triple figures for only the second time.Amid widespread claims the baseballs have changed, hitters shattered the home run record for the second time in three seasons. And sparked by batters going for the fences to beat suffocating shifts, strikeouts set a record for the 12th year in a row and outnumbered hits for the second straight season.With some teams out of contention even before their first pitch, average attendance has dropped four years in a row for the first time since the commissioner's office started tracking it in 1980."We're going to draw 68-plus million people at the big league level," baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week, "another 41 million in minor league baseball — they're actually going to be up. I'll take 110 million people going to see the sport live. That's a really, really awesome number in an environment where... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has entered the Boom/Bust Era.An unprecedented four teams are set to win 100 games in the same season, perhaps even five.Four clubs lost in triple figures for only the second time.Amid widespread claims the baseballs have changed, hitters shattered the home run record for the second time in three seasons. And sparked by batters going for the fences to beat suffocating shifts, strikeouts set a record for the 12th year in a row and outnumbered hits for the second straight season.With some teams out of contention even before their first pitch, average attendance has dropped four years in a row for the first time since the commissioner's office started tracking it in 1980."We're going to draw 68-plus million people at the big league level," baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week, "another 41 million in minor league baseball — they're actually going to be up. I'll take 110 million people going to see the sport live. That's a really, really awesome... [More]