PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Justin Verlander overcame an early jolt to grit out the World Series win that long eluded him, rookie Jeremy Peña hit a go-ahead home run and the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Thursday night to head home with a 3-2 lead.
Buoyed by late defensive gems from Trey Mancini and Chas McCormick, the Astros moved to the brink of their second championship — the other was a scandal-tainted title in 2017. They can close it out Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.
Houston went ahead just four pitches in against Noah Syndergaard on Peña’s run-scoring single. Then Philly’s Kyle Schwarber homered leading off the bottom half, harkening to the five-run lead Verlander wasted in Houston’s opening 6-5, 10-inning loss.
Peña had three hits, including an RBI single in the first and an eighth-inning single that set up Yordan Alvarez’s run-scoring groundout. He made a leaping catch at shortstop to foil the Phillies in the third, then regained the lead an inning later with his fourth postseason homer. He’s the first rookie shortstop ever to go deep in the Fall Classic.
After Jean Segura’s one-out RBI single off Rafael Montero in the eighth, Ryan Pressly escaped a first-and-third jam by striking out Brandon Marsh and Schwarber on a nearly 100 mph one-hopper that was snagged over first base by Mancini.
Mancini, the backup first baseman, pinch hit in the top half after 2021 Gold Glove winner Yuli Gurriel got into a collision during a rundown, hurting his right knee. He played defense for the first time since the regular-season finale, falling into foul territory and reaching back with his left foot to touch the bag on Schwarber’s rip.
McCormick helped Pressly finish a five-out save. The center fielder ran 91 feet to made a leaping backhand catch against the chain-link fence in front of the right-center scoreboard on J.T. Realmuto for the second out of the ninth.
“I thought he hit it out,” McCormick said.
After Bryce Harper was hit by a pitch, Nick Castellanos bounced to shortstop, ending a 3-hour, 57-minute thriller.
Of previous Series tied 2-2, the Game 5 victor has won 31 of 47 times.
Verlander is among just five Astros remaining from the team caught using video to steal signs in ’17. He had been 0-6 with an unseemly 6.07 ERA in eight Series starts dating to his rookie season with Detroit in 2006, a blotch in the career of the 244-game winner likely to earn his third Cy Young Award this season.
Pitching with an extra day of rest for his arm and stubble on his face, the 39-year-old right-hander gave up just the one run and four hits over five innings with four walks and six strikeouts — including four in a row in the fourth and fifth. He lowered that Series ERA to 5.63.
Philadelphia loaded the bases in the second on Segura’s single and a pair of walks. After a visit from pitching coach Bill Murphy, Verlander wiggled out of trouble by striking out out Rhys Hoskins on a slider.
“You got to get those guys early,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Pitching coach made a trip to the mound and it seemed like immediately after that he went to his slider and he pitched better.”
Verlander pitched with unusual care, throwing exclusively fastballs in 17 pitches to Harper over three plate appearances.
After Harper doubled on the last of those with two outs in the fifth, Verlander and Castellanos faced off in an epic 10-pitch at-bat. After trying two fastballs, two curveballs and his only changeup of the night, Verlander threw his fifth slider of the plate appearance and retired Castellanos on a flyout to short left, pumping a fist twice in excitement.
That was Verlander’s 94th pitch. Dusty Baker, nearing his first title in a quarter-century as a major league manager, went to his bullpen.
Astros pitchers struck out 12, raising their two-game total to 26.
Philadelphia lost consecutive games for the first time this postseason. The Phillies adjusted plans following the Game 3 rainout and wore vintage powder blue uniforms in the Series for first time since 1983.
Syndergaard made his first Fall Classic appearance since 2015 with the New York Mets and had been limited to three relief appearances since his previous start on Oct. 1.
Jose Altuve drove his second pitch high off the wall in right-center and took third when center fielder Marsh fumbled the pickup for an error. Thomson made the unusual decision to move the infield in for the game’s second batter, and Peña lined a single to center.
Schwarber tied it on Verlander’s second pitch, turning on a fastball and sending a no-doubt drive to right for his second home run of the Series and fifth this postseason.
Harper walked with one out in the third and Peña jumped to grab Castellanos’ scorcher. Alec Bohm singled and Verlander retired Bryson Scott on a flyout.
Peña jumped on a hanging curveball in the fourth for his fourth postseason homer, Syndergaard’s 44th and final pitch.
GETTNG LATE
This was the third game in November, marking the first time a majority of the Series was played in that month.
STREAKS
Gurriel went his first 48 plate appearances of the postseason without a strikeout before whiffing against Connor Brogdon in the fourth. He trailed only Joey Cora’s 51 in 1995, David Eckstein’s 50 in 2006 and Juan Pierre’s 49 in 2003.
UP NEXT
Houston LHP Framber Valdez is set to face Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler. Valdez allowed one run, four hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings in Game 2, while Wheeler gave up five runs — four earned — and three walks over five innings, including Alex Bregman’s two-run homer.
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EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.
“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.
“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.
McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.
“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”
Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.
Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.
“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”
