HOUSTON -- How best to explain what happened in Houston Sunday night? In the span of 10 innings played over five hours under the roof at Minute Maid Park, the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers crammed a week's worth of drama into a Game 5 that stretched the bounds of credulity.
Villains morphed into heroes. Heroes turned into goats and then became heroes again. Baseball's best pitcher looked mortal, its best hitter utterly infallible. Two mini-controversies that disrupted the Series converged in one swing of the bat.
And the home runs? Did we mention the home runs? There were seven of them, for the record, including two game-tying three-run shots in back-to-back innings by Yuli Gurriel and Jose Altuve.
The Astros overcame 4-0 and 7-4 deficits. The Dodgers rallied from an 11-8 hole, tying the game in the ninth inning when they were down to their final out. And it ended as only it could, with Alex Bregman punching a single to left field to score pinch-runner Derek Fisher and give the Astros a 13-12 victory in the final game played in Houston this season.
It was sheer bedlam everywhere you looked.
Led by their homegrown superstar trio of Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer, the Astros head back to Los Angeles, where on Tuesday night they will try to clinch the first world championship in their 55-year-old franchise's history. And the Dodgers? They will need every bit of the next two days to regroup from as devastating a gut punch as a team can possibly have and still be alive in October.
The Astros came back from 4-0, 7-4 and 8-7 deficits. They overcame a poor start by lefty Dallas Keuchel, who was lights-out at home for much of the past three years until he laid an egg at the worst possible time. After Game 4, Correa joked that the Astros could solve their bullpen problems by scoring 10 runs. They did two better, with six of those runs coming in only 4 2/3 innings against Dodgers ace lefty Clayton Kershaw.
2017 MLB Postseason
Keep up with the latest as baseball's top teams contend for the title.
Tied at 7 in the top of the seventh inning, Springer attempted to make a diving catch on Cody Bellinger's sinking line drive to center field. But he hesitated for a split second and the ball skipped past him. Bellinger had an RBI triple, driving home Enrique Hernandez from first base with the go-ahead run.
But Springer avenged his mistake in the only way he knows how. He led off the bottom of the seventh by crushing a 95-mph sinker from Dodgers relief ace Brandon Morrowinto the Crawford Boxes in left field for a game-tying homer.
Bregman followed with a single and scored all the way from first base on Altuve's arcing double to left-center field. Then it was Correa's turn to tattoo a Morrow sinker -- this one 96 mph -- for a two-run homer and send "Bobby Dynamite" Vasquez for yet another horn-tooting ride in his choo-choo train. On this night, Vasquez must've felt more like a conductor on the Union Pacific than on the 800-foot track that runs on a track high atop the left-field bleachers at Minute Maid. VISIT WEBSITE
The Los Angeles Dodgers had righty Yu Darvish on their minds as they picked up the victory in Game 4 of the World Series against the Houston Astros.In a post to his Instagram account, Darvish revealed that the team told him in the pregame huddle on Saturday that they would win the game for him. Darvish, who was acquired by the Dodgers last trade deadline, started Game 3 of the World Series for them but lasted just 1.2 innings, giving up six hits for four earned runs. He was also the subject of a mocking gesture by Astros infielder Yuli Gurriel (something Gurriel was later punished for by the MLB). The Dodgers made good on their vow and won Game 4 by the final of 6-2 to tie the series at two games apiece. That could give Darvish an opportunity for redemption now that the World Series is guaranteed to shift back to LA. Read More Here
The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers agree that there’s something different about the baseballs being used during the World Series.Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated talked to several players and coaches, and he examined the baseballs himself — and all indications are that the World Series baseball is slicker than regular season baseballs, which impacts pitchers’ grips.In particular, players say it’s harder to throw a slider with the slicker baseballs, and that the differences are obvious.“We had a well-pitched game tonight from both sides,” Astros pitching coach Brent Strom said Game 4. “I’m not taking anything away from the players. I just want to know why? Why in the world would the baseballs in the World Series be different? Because you can see the difference. You can feel it. I don’t understand it at all.”Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said pitcher Yu Darvish, who didn’t make it out of the second inning of Game 3, noticed a clear difference as well.“Yu noticed the difference,” Honeycutt said Read More Here
Russell Wilson is absolutely carrying the Seattle Seahawks | SportsCenter | ESPN
Philadelphia Eagles Beat San Francisco 49ers 33-10
Even when they were sloppy, the Philadelphia Eagles won going away.
Carson Wentz tossed two touchdown passes, Jalen Mills had a pick-6 and the NFL-leading Eagles beat the winless San Francisco 49ers 33-10 on a rainy Sunday.
The Eagles (7-1) overcame a slow start on their way to a sixth straight win. The 49ers are 0-8 for the first time in franchise history.
“Offensively, we have to do better, but good teams find a way to win even when you play sluggish like we did,” Wentz said.
Wentz was 18 of 32 for 211 yards and one interception. He threw a 53-yard TD pass to Alshon Jeffery and 1-yard TD pass to Zach Ertz. The second-year pro leads the NFL with 19 TD passes, most by an Eagles quarterback through eight games.
C.J. Beathard shoveled a 21-yard TD pass to Matt Breida and finished 17 of 36 for 167 yards with two interceptions in his second career start.
“C.J. was battling,” Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He was in tough situations. He never shied away from anything.”
The Eagles punted on six of their first eight possessions before opening it up in the third quarter.
Wentz hit Jeffery with a perfect pass to extend the lead to 27-7. After Derek Barnett blocked Robbie Gould’s field goal, the Eagles drove 62 yards and LeGarrette Blount ran in from the 12 for a 33-7 lead.
“It’s not the way the offense wanted to play,” Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson said. “We came out slow and didn’t execute. I’m just glad we battled because every game is not going to be perfect or look good. But we found a way to win and that’s what teams do.”
The 49ers lost five straight games by a field goal or less before Dallas routed them 40-10 last week.
“We’re a young team with a new coaching staff,” Beathard said. “This is where you find out a lot about guys when you’re 0-8. How do you act and how do you react?”
They stayed close until Wentz’s TD pass to Ertz was followed by Mills’ interception. Mills picked Beathard’s pass at the 37 and ran it back, zig-zagging his way to the end zone. Wentz connected with Jeffery on a 2-point conversion to make it 17-0. Read More Here
Patriots Defeat Chargers 21-13
With his final attempt to bring his team back failed, Philip Rivers pulled off his helmet and flung it toward the Gillette Stadium turf. It bounced back perfectly and into his waiting hands.
It was one of the few things that a Los Angeles Chargers player executed well in their 21-13 loss to the New England Patriots Sunday.
Tom Brady passed for 333 yards and a touchdown, Stephen Gostkowski added four field goals to help the Patriots (6-2) hold on for the victory, their fourth straight.
The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Chargers.
New England got its lone touchdown via a 2-yard toss from Brady to Rob Gronkowski in the second quarter. The Patriots went 1 for 4 in the red zone, but were able to cobble together the Gostkowki field goals and a safety. The defense, which gave up 30 or more points three times in their first four games, has given up just 51 points total over its last four. And it did it this time without linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who sat out Sunday’s win and expected to miss the remainder of the season following shoulder surgery .
“We just wanted to come out here and play for him,” linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. “It’s always rough when you have a season-ending injury. …We just want to show our support that we’re holding it down for them.”
Los Angeles (3-5) got on the board first when Melvin Gordon found a seam on the outside and rumbled down the sideline for an 87-yard touchdown run . But the rest of the game was marked by Los Angeles’ mistakes and inability to move the ball offensively.
The Chargers cut the Patriots’ lead to 18-13 with 8:30 to play following a 24-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Travis Benjamin and failed 2-point conversion pass. They got the ball back a final time after New England added Gostkowski’s fourth field goal. But Rivers’ pass with 1 second remaining was intercepted at the goal line by Jonathan Jones.
Rivers finished 17 of 30 for 212 yards.
Los Angeles’ mistakes were highlighted in a wild way in the second quarter when Benjamin muffed a punt inside the Chargers 15, recovered it and retreated all the way to own goal line while trying to reverse field. He was corralled by a Patriots group that included Brandon King, Matt Slater and Jones, then finally wrapped up by King and tackled in the end zone for a safety.
“We weren’t going to let him escape,” Jones said.
Rivers had a similarly head-scratching play early in the third quarter when he rolled to the outside to escape the pass rush, but had the ball slip out of his hands for a fumble. He recovered, but the play resulted in a 20-yard loss and a sack credited to Van Noy. Read More Here
Biggest disappointments of NFL Week 8
Week 8 started on Thursday night with a blowout win for the Baltimore Ravens. The rest of the week produced games that were closer, with the Houston-Seattle game delivering a particularly awesome ending. The Jaguars had the week off, which means at least one quarterback was spared an embarrassing game. But between special teams, poor rushing attacks, and some quarterbacks, there were plenty of disappointments in the week.
Here’s a look at the biggest disappointments of Week 8.
Detroit Lions’ red zone offense
The Detroit Lions looked incredible on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers … as long as you don’t count what happened in the red zone. Their offense simply could not deliver in the red zone, and that cost them the game. They took five trips to the red zone and came away with only nine points. They failed to score a touchdown, settled for three field goals, and turned the ball over on downs twice.
They had a first-and-goal from the 10 in the second quarter and ended up kicking a 37-yard field goal. They had a 1st-and-10 from the 16 before halftime and kicked a 34-yard field goal. In the third quarter, they had a 2nd-and-goal from the 1 and got stopped three plays in a row and turned it over on downs. Then they gave up a 98-yard touchdown pass. Then for the second possession in a row they got a 1st-and-goal at the 4 and took the ball to the 1, but this time they took the field goal. After going for the field goal that time, they were down 20-15 on their next trip to the red zone. They were forced to go for it on 4th-and-7 from the 8 and turned it over on downs again.
Detroit’s defense kept them in the game. The red zone offense failed them badly.
Jameis Winston, QB, Buccaneers
Winston would probably be near the top of any list of disappointments of the season, as the third-year quarterback is still making mistakes and failing to correct them despite being surrounded by plenty of weapons. On Sunday, Winston threw two more interceptions, lost a fumble, threw the ball all over the place, and failed to get the ball into the end zone. His Bucs fell to 2-5 with their home loss to the Carolina Panthers. Perhaps his lingering shoulder issuehas something to do with his poor performance, but if that’s the case, he shouldn’t be playing — he was not good on Sunday.
Danny Amendola, WR, Patriots
It was widely expected that, with Julian Edelman out for the season, Tom Brady would look to Amendola frequently to keep the passing game moving. That has not been the case for the last three weeks, and Amendola’s numbers did not improve much on Sunday against the Chargers.
Just when you thought he couldn’t do much worse than the 17 yards he racked up a week ago, Amendola had just two catches for 14 yards on six targets. For whatever reason, Amendola hasn’t been able to get it done, and it’s clear and understandable that Brady prefers to look to Rob Gronkowski at this point, and Rex Burkhead now that he’s available.
C.J. Beathard, QB, 49ers
Well, we already knew that Brian Hoyer was not the long-term answer for San Francisco at the quarterback position. On the evidence, neither is Beathard. He completed only 17 of his 36 passes, managed just 167 yards, turned the ball over twice, and looked lost and aimless for much of the afternoon. Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles are good, but so many of Beathard’s issues were just down to him not being good enough. There’s no shame in the 49ers trying to see what they have in the rookie quarterback, but at the moment, the answer seems to be “not much.”
Cam Newton, QB, Panthers
Carolina may have won this game, but Newton continues to look nothing like the quarterback who electrified the NFL two seasons ago. He offered little in the way of a deep threat and didn’t show off an accurate arm all day, turning the ball over once on an interception. It’s debatable how much of that can be attributed to his poor receiving options.
Newton can win games for the Panthers, and his legs will ensure that he’s always a threat. But doing a little comparison, what’s the difference between Newton and Tyrod Taylor right now? In fact, is there any evidence that he’s as good as the Buffalo quarterback? Read More Here
As the fire Butch Jones watch crowd continues to swell following a fourth straight loss by Tennessee Saturday, a new report suggests the university has not been idle on this front. According to Oliver Connolly of The Read Optional, the Vols have “offered over $10 million a year to Jon Gruden.”Gruden likely has little interest in going back down to the college ranks. He’s been linked to numerous NFL head coaching vacancies in the past few years but has shot down those rumors in the past. It seems highly unlikely he’d head back to the place where he started as a graduate assistant, way back in 1986.Still, this rumored interest in Gruden, and the price tag associated with it, shows just how desperate Tennessee is to turn things around on the gridiron.Tennessee has underwhelmed in a major way since Butch Jones took over for Derek Dooley in 2014. And things are devolving quickly now that the program is 3-5 and hasn’t won a conference game since last year.It seems like only a matter of time before Jones is fired. Read More Here
Majority of Texans players kneel in protest of owner’s comments
The Houston Texans were expected to demonstrate in a sign of protest against owner Bob McNair’s “inmate” comments, and they did just that.
The majority of the team’s players were seen kneeling during the national anthem before the team’s game against the Seattle Seahawks:
ESPN’s Adam Schefter had reported on Saturday that the team was considering a demonstration, ranging from kneeling to staying in the locker room for the anthem, or taking off the Texans decal from their helmet. They decided to mostly kneel. Read More Here
Detroit Pistons vs Golden State Warriors - Full Game Highlights | Oct 29, 2017 | 2017-18 NBA season
New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers Full Game Highlights Oct 29, 2017-18 NBA season
Even when they were sloppy, the Philadelphia Eagles won going away.
With his final attempt to bring his team back failed, Philip Rivers pulled off his helmet and flung it toward the Gillette Stadium turf. It bounced back perfectly and into his waiting hands.
Comments