The New York Mets scored three times in the top of the ninth inning, then held off a late comeback attempt by the Philadelphia Phillies to conclude Major League Baseball's London Series with a 6-5 win on Sunday.
New York took advantage of a wild outing from Philadelphia closer Jose Alvarado to rally for a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth, then got a game-ending double-play after the Phillies loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning to earn a split of the two-game set held at London Stadium.
The MLB-leading Phillies entered the contest on a four-game winning streak following Saturday's 7-2 victory over New York in the British capital.
Philadelphia appeared on its way to a sweep, but Alvarado couldn't protect a 4-3 lead after entering to start the ninth.
The left-hander walked Tyrone Taylor to begin the inning before surrendering singles to Jeff McNeil and Mark Vientos, the latter plating Taylor with the tying run. Luis Torrens then drew a walk to re-load the bases, and Alvarado hit Pete Alonso with a pitch two batters later to force in the go-ahead run.
Jose Iglesias, pinch-running for Vientos, then came home on a passed ball by Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto to extend New York's advantage to 6-4.
The Phillies would threaten in their half, however, as singles by Christian Pache and Bryce Harper and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out. New York reliever Drew Smith then walked Alec Bohm to bring in Pache and cut the lead to 6-5.
Smith would get Nick Castellanos to hit a dribbler in front of home plate, though, and catcher Torrens stepped on the base to get a forceout before throwing Castellanos out at first to end the game.
The Phillies had taken a 4-3 edge on pinch-hitter David Dahl's solo home run off Dedniel Nunez in the seventh.
Kyle Schwarber went 2 for 4 and scored Philadelphia's first run by coming in from third on a double-play ball off the bat of Bohm in the first inning. The Phillies struck twice more in the fourth as Edmundo Sosa knocked in Castellanos with a double and scored on Whit Merrifield's single.
Philadelphia starter Taijuan Walker held the Mets scoreless until the sixth, when New York put two on in front of Brandon Nimmo's run-scoring double and J.D. Martinez followed with a two-run single to tie the game at 3-3.
Yankees bash three homers to avoid sweep by Dodgers
Aaron Judge hit one of three home runs by the New York Yankees as the American League leaders avoided a three-game sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 6-4 win.
Trent Grisham had the biggest blow, a go-ahead three-run homer off Tyler Glasnow in the sixth inning that helped New York salvage the finale of this anticipated series between two of the majors' premier teams.
Judge had two more hits in addition to his MLB-leading 24th homer of the season and knocked in a pair of runs for the Yankees, who also received a solo homer from Oswaldo Cabrera.
Teoscar Hernandez briefly put Los Angeles ahead with his third homer of the series, a solo shot off Luis Gil that snapped a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth inning. However, the Yankees answered in their half of the frame to spoil a 12-strikeout performance from Glasnow.
WIth Judge and Alex Verdugo having reached on infield singles, Grisham cracked a line drive into the right field stands to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead. The reserve outfielder was in the lineup with star Juan Soto out for a third straight game due to a sore forearm.
The Dodgers got a run back in the top of the eighth when Shohei Ohtani doubled and later scored on Will Smith's sacrifice fly. Judge restored New York's two-run advantage, however, with a blast off Yohan Ramirez in the bottom of the inning.
Los Angeles threatened by putting two runners on in the ninth, but New York closer Clay Holmes struck out Mookie Betts to end the game and notch his 19th save.
Glasnow (6-5) worked six innings and was reached for five runs, two of which came in the third on Cabrera's lead-off homer and back-to-back doubles by Verdugo and Judge.
The Dodgers drew even in the fifth on Betts' two-out double off Gil that brought in Andy Pages and Gavin Lux, who had reached on a double and single, respectively.
Gil, who entered the game leading the AL with a 1.82 ERA, permitted three runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Happ, Imanaga help Cubs end Reds' seven-game winning streak
Ian Happ delivered a three-run double in the first inning to support a bounce-back start from Shota Imanaga as the Chicago Cubs ended the Cincinnati Reds' seven-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory.
Imanaga (6-1) yielded two runs on five hits while striking out seven over 6 2/3 innings to return to his early-season form. The Japanese lefty posted a 0.84 ERA over his first nine MLB starts before being tagged for 12 runs - eight earned - in 8 2/3 innings over his last two.
The Cubs gave Imanaga a quick lead as Cincinnati starter Frankie Montas struggled in the first inning. Mike Tauchman opened the game with a walk and Seiya Suzuki followed with a double before Christopher Morel drew a walk to load the bases with one out.
Happ then lined Montas' pitch down the right field line to bring in all three Chicago runners.
The Cubs extended the lead to 4-0 when Miguel Amaya doubled off Montas in the second and scored on Tauchman's single.
Luke Maile's solo homer off Imanaga in the third got the Reds on the board, and Cincinnati drew closer when consecutive singles by Spencer Steer, Jonathan India and Santiago Espinal led to another run in the seventh.
Mark Leiter then relieved Imanaga and prevented further damage, and Hector Neris struck out two in a perfect ninth to record his ninth save and allow Chicago to avoid being swept in the four-game series.
Montas (3-5) lasted just 1 1/3 innings and was tagged for four runs on five hits and three walks.
Suzuki finished 3 for 5 in his return from a one-game absence. The outfielder was held out of Saturday's game after being hit in the back with a throw on Friday.
Sale, Skubal win MLB's Cy Young Awards
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal and Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale were each named the winner of their respective league’s Cy Young Award on Wednesday.
The announcement was hardly a surprise after each ace won their league's pitching triple crown during the 2024 regular season.
This is the first Cy Young for both pitchers.
Skubal, who turned 28 on Wednesday, enjoyed a break-out year in his fourth full MLB season, and was a unanimous winner, receiving all 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The Kansas City Royals' Seth Lugo finished second and Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase finished third in the balloting, which was completed before the play-offs.
Sale received 26 of 30 first-place votes, while Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler finished second, ahead of Pittsburgh Pirates righty Paul Skenes, who was selected as the National League Rookie of the Year on Monday.
The 35-year-old Sale has come close to winning the award before, finishing as runner-up to Cleveland's Corey Kluber in 2017, with five other top-five finishes in voting since his first full season in the majors in 2011.
Since the inception of the Cy Young Award in 1956, there have been 16 pitchers to win his league's pitching crown. And now, every one of them has also won that year's Cy Young.
Skubal and Sale each won an MLB-best 18 games, while Skubal led all pitchers with 228 strikeouts – three more than Sale. Sale's ERA of 2.38 was just a tick better than Skubal's 2.39.
Both were dominant down the stretch in leading their teams to the play-offs, with Sale permitting two earned runs or fewer in each of his final 18 regular-season starts, though he was unable to pitch in the season final or the Braves' NL Wild-Card series loss to the San Diego Padres because of a back injury.
Skubal posted a 1.94 ERA in his final nine outings, and then threw 13 shutout innings in his first two play-off starts in helping the Tigers surprisingly reach the American League Division Series. He ended up going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three post-season starts.
Skubal became the fifth Tiger to win the Cy Young trophy – and first since Max Scherzer in 2017 – and Sale is the fifth Brave to earn the award – and first since Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in 1998.
Despite several close calls in Cy Young voting for Sale, he has dealt with injuries for the past five seasons, and was limited to a total of 151 innings over the past three years for the Boston Red Sox.
In his first season with the Braves, however, he threw 177 2/3 innings and was awarded the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award last Thursday.
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.
Volpe hits grand slam as Yankees avoid World Series sweep
Anthony Volpe hit a grand slam and New York’s bullpen tossed five scoreless innings as the Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
Freddie Freeman homered for his sixth straight Series game, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second straight night and again stunning the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Game 5 is Wednesday night, with the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1.
Twenty-one of the previous 24 teams to take 3-0 Series leads went on to sweeps, all but the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics against the Chicago Cubs, the 1937 Yankees against the New York Giants and the 1970 Baltimore Orioles against the Cincinnati Reds. All three of those Series ended in five games.
Seeking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit, New York surged ahead 5-2 on Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second and Volpe’s drive against Daniel Hudson in the third. Volpe turned on a first-pitch slider at the knees and drove it into the left-field seats.
Volpe came across with New York's first run when he walked after falling behind 0-2 in the count in the second inning. He also doubled and stole two bases.
Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres added homers for the Yankees, who broke open the game with a five-run eighth. New York had scored just seven runs in the first three games.
Los Angeles closed within 6-4 in a two-run fifth that included Will Smith's homer off starter Luis Gil and an RBI grounder by Freeman. Despite a sprained right ankle, Freeman beat a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play on what originally was ruled an out but was reversed in a video review.
Wells hit a second-deck homer in the sixth against Landon Knack, and Verdugo added another run-scoring grounder in the eighth ahead of Torres' three-run homer off Brent Honeywell.
Tim Hill, winning pitcher Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza strung together five innings of one-hit relief with seven strikeouts, and the Yankees avoided what would have been their first losing Series sweep since 1976.
New York's Aaron Judge drove in his first run of the Series with an RBI single in the eighth and is 2 for 15 in the four games. Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani also is 2 for 15 after going 1 for 4 with a single, his first hit since partially separating his left shoulder in Game 2.
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