WASHINGTON (AP) — NL MVP candidate Anthony Rendon surveyed his teammates scattered around the Nationals Park diamond, whoopin' it up after clinching a World Series berth.There were starting pitchers Max Scherzer and Aníbal Sánchez, each 35 — and each responsible for taking a no-hit bid into at least the seventh inning as Washington won Games 1 and 2 of the NL Championship Series. So was Howie Kendrick, 36, the second baseman who earned NLCS MVP honors with four doubles and four RBIs in the sweep. And Ryan Zimmerman, 35, the first baseman slugging .484 this postseason."A lot of old guys on the team," Rendon observed. "They call themselves 'Viejos.'"Indeed, they do, and "Los Viejos" — Spanish for "The Old Guys" — are a big part of why the Nationals are getting ready to face the Astros in the Fall Classic, which opens Tuesday night in Houston.There's also catcher Kurt Suzuki, 36, and reliever Fernando Rodney, 42, the oldest active player in the majors."People think we are old men and we can't... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Gerrit Cole could be seeing a lot more of the New York Yankees real soon.While there was no Game 7 for the Astros' ace to face the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, could he start New York's opener at Baltimore on March 26?"The work never ends," New York manager Aaron Boone said after Saturday night's season-ending Game 6 loss. "We'll continue to try and I guess close that gap or put ourselves in a position to get over the hump. I know everyone in our room believes we will, and we'll have a lot of battle scars when we do finally get to the top of that mountain."Boone memorably called his team Savages in the Box during a midsummer tirade at an umpire. While that may be true, he lacked Marauders on the Mound.Specifically in his rotation.New York starters had a 4.51 ERA, 15th in the major leagues, well behind the elite staffs of Los Angeles Dodgers (3.11) and pennant-winning Washington (3.53) and Houston (3.61). Yankees starters were just 26th among the 30 teams in innings,... [More]

Now this is a serious World Series throw-down.Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke vs. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin — all of them All-Star starters, still pitching at their peak.It's a mound meeting that every fan can enjoy, the Houston Astros against the Washington Nationals.Capital hill, indeed."We've got the best pitcher in the world going. And then after that, we've got the best pitcher in the world going, too. And then after that, we've got the best pitcher in the world going, too," Astros third baseman Alex Bregman said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."Bregman and fellow MVP candidate Anthony Rendon certainly did their parts to make this the Year of the Home Run. And José Altuve lit up Minute Maid Park with his walk-off homer to beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.But the focus of this Fall Classic is right on the rotations. Houston opened as a 2-1 favorite at the Las Vegas sportsbooks.Cole is set to throw the first pitch on Tuesday night... [More]

MONTREAL (AP) — Tim Raines started wearing the tricolor cap as a teen and proudly sported the Montreal Expos logo for years, all the way onto his Hall of Fame plaque.So no wonder who he'll cheer for when his old team — albeit now in Washington — plays in its first World Series, a half-century after the franchise debuted far away."I'm happy," Raines said in a phone conversation from Arizona. "Actually, I'm happy, even though it's not Montreal it's still a part of the Montreal franchise. Even though they're not the Expos — they are the Nationals, but they wouldn't have been the Nationals without the Expos.""So even though I never played there, I wasn't a part of the Nationals logo, but in actual speaking it's still the Expos franchise that has been moved to another site," he said.Romance bloomed in Parc Jarry in the north end of this French-speaking city in the spring of 1969 when its NL expansion team began play as the Expos. Montreal's baseball-starved fans, who welcomed Jackie Robinson... [More]

Now this is a serious World Series throw-down.Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke vs. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin — all of them All-Star starters, still pitching at their peak.It's a mound meeting that every fan can enjoy, the Houston Astros against the Washington Nationals.Capital hill, indeed."We've got the best pitcher in the world going. And then after that, we've got the best pitcher in the world going, too. And then after that, we've got the best pitcher in the world going, too," Astros third baseman Alex Bregman said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."Bregman and fellow MVP candidate Anthony Rendon certainly did their parts to make this the Year of the Home Run. And José Altuve lit up Minute Maid Park with his walk-off homer to beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.But the focus of this Fall Classic is right on the rotations. Houston opened as a 2-1 favorite at the Las Vegas sportsbooks.Cole is set to throw the first pitch on Tuesday night... [More]

MONTREAL (AP) — Tim Raines started wearing the tricolor cap as a teen and proudly sported the Montreal Expos logo for years, all the way onto his Hall of Fame plaque.So no wonder who he'll cheer for when his old team — albeit now in Washington — plays in its first World Series, a half-century after the franchise debuted far away."I'm happy," Raines said in a phone conversation from Arizona. "Actually, I'm happy, even though it's not Montreal it's still a part of the Montreal franchise. Even though they're not the Expos — they are the Nationals, but they wouldn't have been the Nationals without the Expos.""So even though I never played there, I wasn't a part of the Nationals logo, but in actual speaking it's still the Expos franchise that has been moved to another site," he said.Romance bloomed in Parc Jarry in the north end of this French-speaking city in the spring of 1969 when its NL expansion team began play as the Expos. Montreal's baseball-starved fans, who welcomed Jackie Robinson... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doing a little research ahead of the World Series, Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier came across some numbers that made him feel OK about his team's long layoff."I saw a stat today where there's been 12 times where teams have had five or more days off going into the World Series. And you know what the record was? 6-6," Dozier said. "So it's not that big a deal."Baseball is a sport that is more of a daily grind than any other, with game followed by game followed by game for six months, so this stretch is rather unusual for the Nationals: They haven't played since finishing off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series at home last Tuesday — and they won't play until Game 1 of the Fall Classic in Houston next Tuesday.Washington's next opponent gets much less of a respite: The Astros finished off the New York Yankees in Game 6 of their AL Championship Series on Saturday night.The good news for the Nationals is their pitchers get to recharge... [More]

Oct. 211959 — The Major League Players Association approved two All-Star Games in 1960, to be held at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium and New York's Yankee Stadium.1973 — Bert Campaneris and Reggie Jackson hit two-run homers in the third inning as the Oakland A's defeated the New York Mets 5-2 in Game 7 of the World Series. It was the second straight World Championship for the A's.1975 — Carlton Fisk broke up one of the best games in World Series history with a homer in the 12th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory against the Cincinnati Reds, forcing a seventh game.1976 — The Cincinnati Reds won the World Series in four games with a 7-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Johnny Bench had two home runs for five RBIs. It was the Reds' second straight championship and marked the first time a team had swept the playoffs and World Series.1980 — The Philadelphia Phillies became World Series champions for the first time in their 98-year history with a 4-1 triumph over the Kansas City... [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]

Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer and a slew of aces get the World Series started in Houston, then the scene shifts to Capitol Hill.But with Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg and all these electric arms, might as well call it capital hill.Because in this Year of the Home Run, the focus of the 2019 Fall Classic is on the mound.A throw-down for the ages, maybe."I know a few guys in their rotation, and I'm personally excited that they're in this position, and I'm just very excited to get in there," Cole said late Saturday night.The matchup comes with a neat twist, too: The Astros and Washington Nationals share a spring training complex — they met in the exhibition opener in February, and Scherzer gave up a homer to the first batter of the game.Now, eight months later, they meet for real, beginning Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. The 107-win Astros trying to take their second crown in three years, the wild-card Nationals making their Series debut.Houston opened as a 2-1 favorite of the Las Vegas... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doing a little research ahead of the World Series, Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier came across some numbers that made him feel OK about his team's long layoff."I saw a stat today where there's been 12 times where teams have had five or more days off going into the World Series. And you know what the record was? 6-6," Dozier said. "So it's not that big a deal."Baseball is a sport that is more of a daily grind than any other, with game followed by game followed by game for six months, so this stretch is rather unusual for the Nationals: They haven't played since finishing off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series at home last Tuesday — and they won't play until Game 1 of the Fall Classic in Houston next Tuesday.Washington's next opponent gets much less of a respite: The Astros finished off and the New York Yankees in Game 6 of their AL Championship Series on Saturday night.The good news for the Nationals is their pitchers get to... [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) — Astros shutdown reliever Ryan Pressly reinjured his right knee recording an out on the only pitch he threw in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series but says he'll be ready for the World Series.Pressly came on with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning Saturday night against the New York Yankees.After Didi Gregorius hit a soft dribbler on the first pitch, Pressly came off the mound and fielded the ball and was clearly in pain after planting his right leg while going toward the line. Pressly, basically dragging his right foot, met Gregorius in the baseline and tagged him out.Pressly, who grimaced as he went toward the dugout, had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee on Aug. 22 and returned Sept. 20."Just some scar tissue that broke off," he said. "It was bound to happen at some point, I just didn't think it was going to happen in the middle of that game. I'll be good and ready to go next week."Houston won 6-4 on Jose Altuve's ninth-inning homer. The Astros will... [More]

Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer and a slew of aces get the World Series started in Houston, then the scene shifts to Capitol Hill.But with Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg and all these electric arms, might as well call it capital hill.Because in this Year of the Home Run, the focus of the 2019 Fall Classic is on the mound.A throw-down for the ages, maybe."I know a few guys in their rotation, and I'm personally excited that they're in this position, and I'm just very excited to get in there," Cole said late Saturday night.The matchup comes with a neat twist, too: The Astros and Washington Nationals share a spring training complex — they met in the exhibition opener in February, and Scherzer gave up a homer to the first batter of the game.Now, eight months later, they meet for real, beginning Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. The 107-win Astros trying to take their second crown in three years, the wild-card Nationals making their Series debut.Houston opener as a 2-1 favorite of the Las Vegas... [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]

Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer and a slew of aces get the World Series started in Houston, then the scene shifts to Capitol Hill.But with Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg and all these electric arms, might as well call it capital hill.Because in this Year of the Home Run, the focus of the 2019 Fall Classic is on the mound.A throw-down for the ages, maybe. With a neat twist, too: The Astros and Washington Nationals share a spring training complex — they met in the exhibition opener, and Scherzer gave up a homer to the first batter of the game.Now, eight months later, they meet for real, beginning Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. The 107-win Astros trying to take their second crown in three years, the wild-card Nationals making their Series debut.Cole is lined up for the opener, with Verlander and Zack Greinke to follow."We got some pretty big boys that can pitch," Astros manager AJ Hinch recently said.So do the Nationals in their rotation with Scherzer, Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. And... [More]

Astros first. George Springer strikes out swinging. Jose Altuve doubles to deep left center field. Michael Brantley flies out to center field to Aaron Hicks. Alex Bregman walks. Yuli Gurriel homers to left field. Alex Bregman scores. Jose Altuve scores. Carlos Correa grounds out to shortstop, Gio Urshela to DJ LeMahieu.3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Astros 3, Yankees 0.Yankees second. Aaron Hicks grounds out to first base to Yuli Gurriel. Edwin Encarnacion strikes out swinging. Didi Gregorius doubles to right field. Gary Sanchez singles to center field. Didi Gregorius scores. Gio Urshela walks. Gary Sanchez to second. Brett Gardner called out on strikes.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Astros 3, Yankees 1.Yankees fourth. Gary Sanchez strikes out swinging. Gio Urshela homers to center field. Brett Gardner singles to shallow left field. DJ LeMahieu lines out to deep center field to George Springer. Aaron Judge strikes out swinging.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Astros 3, Yankees... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Astros shutdown reliever Ryan Pressly hurt his right knee again when recording an out on the only pitch he threw in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series.The Astros said Pressly exited with right knee discomfort. They said he was day to day.Pressly came on with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning Saturday night against the New York Yankees.After Didi Gregorius hit a soft dribbler on the first pitch, Pressly came off the mound and fielded the ball and was clearly in pain after planting his right leg while going toward the line. Pressly, basically dragging his right foot, met Gregorius in the base line and tagged him out.Pressly, who grimaced as he went toward the dugout, had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee on Aug. 22 and returned Sept. 20.It was the sixth appearance this postseason for Pressly. He was awarded the win in Game 4 after striking out consecutive batters to leave the bases loaded in the fifth inning.The Astros are using a bullpen game to try to wrap up the ALCS and get to the World Series for the second time in three seasons. Pressly was the third pitcher used and was replaced by Jose Urquidy to start the fourth. Urquidy allowed a solo homer to Gio Urshela, the second batter he faced.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Astros shutdown reliever Ryan Pressly hurt his right knee again when recording an out on the only pitch he threw in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series.The Astros said Pressly exited with right knee discomfort. They said he was day to day.Pressly came on with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning Saturday night against the New York Yankees.After Didi Gregorius hit a soft dribbler on the first pitch, Pressly came off the mound and fielded the ball and was clearly in pain after planting his right leg while going toward the line. Pressly, basically dragging his right foot, met Gregorius in the base line and tagged him out.Pressly, who grimaced as he went toward the dugout, had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee on Aug. 22 and returned Sept. 20.It was the sixth appearance this postseason for Pressly. He was awarded the win in Game 4 after striking out consecutive batters to leave the bases loaded in the fifth inning.The Astros are using a bullpen game to try to wrap up the ALCS and get to the World Series for the second time in three seasons. Pressly was the third pitcher used and was replaced by Jose Urquidy to start the fourth. Urquidy allowed a solo homer to Gio Urshela, the second batter he faced.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports