Trayce Thompson drove in two runs and helped break the game open for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who claimed a four-game series sweep with a 7-4 win against the rival San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
Scores were tied at 4-4 following Darin Ruf's two-run homer off Clayton Kershaw in the fifth inning, as the Giants looked to deny their first sweep at Dodger Stadium since 1995.
Kershaw was ultimately pulled in the fifth, giving up five hits and striking out six over 94 pitches, before Craig Kimbrel eventually came in for his 17th save and the Dodgers' eighth consecutive win.
Jake Lamb's double drove in the go-ahead run the game up for grabs in the seventh inning, before Thompson's drive deep to right-centre scored Max Muncy with his brother and Golden State Warriors star Klay in attendance.
The Dodgers maintained their six-game lead over the New York Mets atop the National League standings, extending their record to 64-30 with the victory.
Judge goes deep again in Yankees win
Aaron Judge hit his fourth home run from his past four games as he continues his outlier season, extending his league-leading home run tally to 37 in the New York Yankees' 6-0 away win against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
After starting the series against the Orioles with two home runs, and following it with four hits and two RBIs yesterday, Judge stayed hot as he connected on a 456-foot blast in the third inning. He now leads the MLB for home runs with 37, seven more than the next best in Kyle Schwarber.
On the mound, Nestor Cortes was at his best for the Yankees, giving up six hits and no walks in six scoreless innings, striking out seven. Clarke Schmidt then came in for the unconventional three-inning save.
Alcantara strikes out 10 for Marlins
Arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball this year, Sandy Alcantara struck out 10 batters as his Miami Marlins defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 in extra innings.
In his six innings of work, Alcantara gave up two earned runs from just two hits and three walks, earning his 15th quality start of the season, one off the MLB lead held by Houston's Framber Valdez and Toronto's Alek Manoah.
According to Baseball Reference's Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Alcantara has been the most valuable player in all of baseball this season, and he is the only pitcher in the top-five.
Kerr recalls 'surreal' Thompson moment ahead of Curry reunion
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr expressed deep emotions regarding Klay Thompson's return to the Bay Area, this time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
Thompson finished with 22 points in an emotional return to Chase Center for the first time since he departed, though former team-mate Steph Curry stole the show.
Curry scored 37 points, including Golden State's final 12, to rally the Warriors past the Mavericks 120-117 in the NBA Cup on Tuesday.
Thompson spent 13 successful years with Kerr in San Francisco, winning four NBA Championships.
After the game, Kerr revealed the surreal moment between himself and Curry before he went out to meet with his former “Splash Brother” Thompson.
"We went over our pre-game scout and the matchups,” Kerr said. “It was almost surreal saying, ‘Steph, you got Klay.’ Steph smiled.”
In Thompson’s time in California, he was part of the core alongside Curry and Draymond Green, who also helped to bring so much success to the team.
However, Thompson missed more than two years after suffering back-to-back injuries.
First, an ACL tear and then a torn right Achilles tendon – before making a return in January 2022, with Kerr lauding his resilience to come back to the sport.
“I think what he overcame is almost unprecedented,” Kerr told reporters.
“The last couple of years after he came back, he struggled reconciling all of that, losing those prime seasons. We all saw that, saw him struggle with it emotionally.
"We saw him fight to get his game back. He helped us win a championship, led the league in threes two years ago, he did a lot of amazing things.
“We wished that this had gone forever, that Klay would have finished his career with us, but circumstances always dictate these things.
"In the end, I think he made the right choice. He was not happy and that was hard to see, because he deserves to be happy. At his core, he’s a very happy person.”
Kerr recalls 'surreal' Thompson moment during Warriors return
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr expressed deep emotions regarding Klay Thompson's return to the Bay Area, this time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
Thompson finished with 22 points in an emotional return to Chase Center for the first time since he departed, though former team-mate Steph Curry stole the show.
Curry scored 37 points, including Golden State's final 12, to rally the Warriors past the Mavericks 120-117 in the NBA Cup on Tuesday.
Thompson spent 13 successful years with Kerr in San Francisco, winning four NBA Championships.
After the game, Kerr revealed the surreal moment between himself and Curry before he went out to meet with his former “Splash Brother” Thompson.
"We went over our pre-game scout and the matchups,” Kerr said. “It was almost surreal saying, ‘Steph, you got Klay.’ Steph smiled.”
In Thompson’s time in California, he was part of the core alongside Curry and Draymond Green, who also helped to bring so much success to the team.
However, Thompson missed more than two years after suffering back-to-back injuries.
First, an ACL tear and then a torn right Achilles tendon – before making a return in January 2022, with Kerr lauding his resilience to come back to the sport.
“I think what he overcame is almost unprecedented,” Kerr told reporters.
“The last couple of years after he came back, he struggled reconciling all of that, losing those prime seasons. We all saw that, saw him struggle with it emotionally.
"We saw him fight to get his game back. He helped us win a championship, led the league in threes two years ago, he did a lot of amazing things.
“We wished that this had gone forever, that Klay would have finished his career with us, but circumstances always dictate these things.
"In the end, I think he made the right choice. He was not happy and that was hard to see, because he deserves to be happy. At his core, he’s a very happy person.”
Dodgers erase 5-run deficit, beat Yankees to win World Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons, overcoming a five-run deficit with the help of three Yankees defensive miscues and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning to beat New York 7-6 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased Jack Flaherty in the second and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 Yankees lead.
But errors by Judge in center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole failing to cover first on Betts' grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.
After Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.
Winner Blake Treinen escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom half by retiring Stanton on a flyout and striking out Anthony Rizzo.
Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ record-setting $700 million signing and baseball’s first 50-homer, 50-steal player, went 2 for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his shoulder during a stolen base attempt in Game 2.
Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the Series record of 12 RBIs, set by Bobby Richardson over seven games in 1960. With the Dodgers one out from losing Friday’s opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1988’s Game 1 that sparked Los Angeles to the title.
The Dodgers earned their eighth championship and seventh since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles - their first in a non-shortened season since 1988. They won a neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season and couldn’t have a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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