World Series Game Seven: Howie Kendrick Lifts Nationals to World Series Title Over Houston

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 30, 2019

World Series Game Seven

Washington Nationals 6 Houston Astros 2

Kendrick's 2-run homer
gave Washington the lead.

America's pastime has a new champion.

50 years in the making, the Washington Nationals captured the first World Series in franchise history, coming from behind for a 6-2 game seven victory at Houston.

In an historic series that saw the road team win every game, the Nationals teed off on the Astros' relief staff, scoring all of their runs in the final three innings.

Zack Greinke had kept the Nationals at bay for the first six innings - blanking them on one hit - but, when Anthony Rendon cut the lead to 2-1 with his second series home run, and Greinke followed by walking the next batter, Juan Soto, manager AJ Hinch opted for the usually-reliable right arm of Will Harris.

On Harris' second pitch, 36-year-old Howie Kendrick connected, launching a curving fly to left that eventually banged off the foul pole screen for a two-run homer. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, the Nationals had taken the lead and the momentum of game seven would never swing back to the home team.

In the eighth, Soto singled home Adam Eaton, and Eaton drove in a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to put the game away. While the Nationals were pulling away, the Astros were flailing fruitlessly at pitches from Patrick Corbin, who came on in the sixth in relief of Max Scherzer, delivering three scoreless innings on two hits, fanning three. Daniel Hudson struck out two in a perfect ninth to finish the job and bring the first title to Washington since the franchise was formed as the Montreal Expos in 1969.

Strasburg: MVP award

Moving from Montreal to Washington in 2005, the Nationals had come close before but never reached the World Series. In their first appearance, they made good, despite taking seven games to do so.

The last time a team based in the nation's capitol won a World Series was 1924, when the Washington Senators defeated John McGraw's New York Giants, four games to three.

Stephen Strasburg, who won two games in the series, was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors.

And so, another baseball season ends. After all the balls and strikes, hits, runs, errors, balks, homers and strikeouts, the final two teams battled through seven games, eventually deciding the champion by that slim a margin. Kudos to the Houston Astros, who led the majors with 107 wins, but the trophy goes to the Nationals, the team that never gave up, never quit, and eventually earned the game's ultimate reward.

Baseball takes a break for the winter, but it returns on February 22, when these same two teams - who share a practice facility in West Palm Beach, Florida - play an exhibition game.

Until then, rest up and get ready. The boys of summer will be back before you know it.

NLCS: Washington Looking For Series Sweep After Howie Kendrick Leads 8-1 Romp

Players of the Day for Monday, October 14, 2019

American League

There were no games in the American League on Monday. The ALCS resumes on Tuesday when the New York Yankees host the Houston Astros in game three of their best of seven series at 4:08 pm ET. The series is tied at one game apiece.

Kendrick 3-for-4, 2R, 3RBI

National League

Washington Nationals 8 St. Louis Cardinals 1

Washington will be looking for the series sweep when they play game four of the NL Championship Series on Tuesday after blowing out the Cardinals in game three. While Stephen Strasburg was scattering seven hits over seven innings, Howie Kendrick led the Nationals' offense with three doubles, two runs and three RBI.

Kendrick's first two-bagger came in the third, after Washington had already scored a pair of runs. His opposite field gash went to the wall in right-center field driving in two more runs for a 4-0 lead.

In the fifth, Kendrick doubled again, driving in Anthony Rendon. He later scored on Ryan Zimmerman's double. Kendrick doubled again in the seventh, coming home on a single by Zimmerman.

Kendrick is batting .417 over the three games of the series. In nine post-season games, the 36-year-old veteran has 11 hits in 35 at-bats (.314) with one home run and nine RBI.

The Cardinals managed only to score an unearned run in their half of the seventh inning. Over the first three games of the series, the Cardinals have scored a mere two runs.

Washington's pitching has been nothing short of sensational, holding the Cardinals to a combined batting average of .121 (11 for 91). Through three games, the Nationals' ERA is 0.67.

Game four is at Nationals Park in Washington, DC, Tuesday, 8:05 pm ET. Washington leads, three games to none.

NLDS: Howie Kendrick's Grand Slam Advances Nationals; Cardinals Score 10 In First To Squash Braves

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 9, 2019

National League

St. Louis Cardinals 13 Atlanta Braves 1

Scoring 10 runs in the first inning, the St. Louis Cardinals took all the air out of SunTrust Park in Atlanta, completely overwhelming the Braves in a game five win to advance to the NL Championship Series.

St. Louis sent 14 batters to the plate in the first, chasing Atlanta starter, Mike Foltynewicz after he threw just 1/3 of an inning. Foltynewicz pitched to nine batters, allowing three hits, walking three (one intentionally) and six earned runs. His relief, Max Fried, fared only marginally better, getting the final two outs of the inning only after surrendering four more runs.

The 10 runs were the most ever scored in a single inning by one team in major league history.

Cardinals' starter, Jack Flaherty, made sure the game remained one-sided, allowing the braves one run on four hits over six full innings. Flaherty was credited with the win, fanning eight.

Kendrick Slams Dodgers

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Washington Nationals 7 Los Angeles Dodgers 3, 10 innings

Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto hit back-to-back home runs to tie the game in the eighth inning, 3-3, and Howie Kendrick put an abrupt end to LA playoff dreams with a 10th-inning grand slam, sending the Washington Nationals to the NL Championship Series agains the St. Louis Cardinals.

Kendrick, who had struggled at the plate and in thefield during the series, put all of that behind him, golfing a low delivery from Joe Kelly over the wall in center field. Kelly had loaded the bases with no outs on a Rendon ground rule double and two walks.

Sean Doolittle retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the inning to seal the victory.

Washington's win sent the wild card Nationals to the Championship Series against St. Louis, who earned home field advantage by winning the Central division with a record better than Washington's.

Game one of the series begins Friday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.


American League

There were no games in the American League on Wednesday. Tampa Bay plays at Houston on Thursday in game five of their divisional playoff series. The winner will advance to the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees, who qualified by defeating Minnesota, three games to none.

Game time in Houston is 7:07 pm ET.

Howie Kendrick Grand Slam Lifts Nationals in 11th; White Merrifield Cashes 5 RBI As Royals Trounce White Sox, 14-6

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 13, 2017

American League

Merrifield: 3-6, HR, 5 RBI

Whit Merrifield singled, tripled and socked his 14th home run, helping the Kansas City Royals to a 14-6 win over the White Sox with five RBI.

Merrifield was starting as the leadoff hitter for the Royals, and for good reason. The second-year second baseman has shown vast improvement over his rookie season. In 2016, Merrifield batted .283 in 81 games, with two home runs, 29 RBI and eight stolen bases. This year, in 100 games, he's at .299, with 14 homers, 56 RBI and 19 swipes.

Merrifield socked a three-run homer in the third inning, putting the Royals up, 8-0, adding two more RBI with his sixth-inning triple.

The game was the third of the series at Chicago, Kansas City taking two of three. Kansas City got off to a poor start for the month of August, losing eight of 10, but their back-to-back wins over the White Sox leave them in third place in the AL Central, five games behind Cleveland. Minnesota is in second place, 1/2 game better than the Royals. Both the Twins and Royals have legitimate shots at either the division or a wild card. They're 1/2 and one game behind the Angels for the second wild card. The Yankees lead, but only by 1 1/2 games after dropping two of three to the Red Sox over the weekend.

The Royals conclude their road trip with three games at Oakland beginning Monday. Game time is 7:10 pm PT.

National League

Kendrick: Walk-off slam

No Bryce Harper? No problem, judging by the standings and the time left in the season.

Washington's Bryce Harper suffered a bone bruise in his knee, but no ligament or tendon tears, the results of an injury caused by slipping on a wet first base in Washington's 3-1 win over the Giants on Saturday.

Initially, it was feared the injury would be season-ending, but Harper and Washington's front office believe he'll return to the team before the end of the season. He's been placed on the 10-day disabled list.

Meanwhile, the Giants and Nationals had unfinished business on Sunday, a day-night doubleheader, with the Giants taking the opener, 4-2, before Washington came back with a 6-2, 11th-inning victory in the nightcap.

Matt Moore and Max Scherzer dueled through seven innings in a 2-2 tie, and the relief staffs took the game into extra innings before Howie Kendrick racked a grand slam with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th for the walk-off win.

Giants' reliever, Albert Suarez, didn't retire a batting in the winning inning. Murphy singled to center to lead off the frame, followed by Ryan Zimmerman's single to shallow center, sending Murphy to third. Anthony Rendon was intentionally walked, setting up Kendrick with the bases chock full.

Kendrick's homer was just his fourth of the season. The 34-year-old utility player spent most of the season with Philadelphia, acquired by the Nationals in late July. He spent half the season on the DL, but, he's batting .375 (15-for-40) since joining the Washington squad.

The Nationals should be all right without Harper, their star player. They have a 14 game lead over the Marlins in the NL East, and even though Miami has won three straight, there's almost no chance of them - or anybody else - catching the Nationals. Washington is 70-46, which is the second-best record in the league, after the Dodgers. The Cubs (61-55) have a one-game lead in the NL Central, so Washington is probably not in any danger of losing their position for the playoffs.

The Nationals get a day off Monday, and host the Angels for two games, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Kendall Graveman Shuts Down Rangers As A's Win; Howie Kendrick Stars As Phillies Pound Nats, 17-3

Players of the Day for Saturday, April 8, 2017

American League

Kendall Graveman

The Oakland A's aren't supposed to compete in the race for the AL West crown, but don't tell that to Oakland hurler Kendall Graveman, who held the Texas Rangers to one run on two hits over seven innings on the mound Saturday.

Graveman, in his third season as a starter, threw 85 pitches - 58 for strikes - as Oakland evened their three-game series with the Rangers at a game apiece with a 6-1 win.

Graveman walked one and fanned five, improving to 2-0 on the year. The only run allowed was on a solo homer by Mike Napoli in the seventh inning, after Graveman had set down 14 Rangers in a row. Once Graveman finished the inning and took a spot on the bench, Santiago Casilla and Ryan Madsen went to work, each throwing a perfect inning to close out the game.

The win got the A's to 3-3, while the Rangers dropped to 1-4. The two teams will complete the series on Sunday. Game time at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, is 3:05 pm ET.

National League

Howie Kendrick

Supposedly, the Washington Nationals have the best starting rotation in the league, maybe in all of baseball, but you couldn't tell by yesterday's mauling at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, as the Phillies hammered out 12 runs in the first inning en route to a 17-3 beat down of their NL East rivals.

Washington starter Jeremy Guthrie lasted just 2/3rds of an inning, allowing six hits, four walks and 10 runs. The main protagonist for the Phillies was left fielder Howie Kendrick, who socked a bases-loaded triple to highlight the opening inning.

The three-bagger was in Kendrick's second at-bat of the inning. He earlier singled and scored Philadelphia's second run. Coming up again in the seventh, Kendrick singled once more, driving in Cesar Hernandez, completing a 3-for-5 day with four RBI for the journeyman utility player.

A 12-year veteran, Kendrick spent nine seasons with the Angels and the last two with the Dodgers before being picked up by the Phillies in the off-season. In four games this year, he's batting .444 with 12 total bases.

LA 2nd Basemen Come Alive: Howie Kendrick Leads Angels; Mark Ellis Powers Dodgers

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 23, 2013

American League

The LA Angels got off to another slow start this season, but have been coming on strong of late, Tuesday's 5-4, 11-inning win over Texas getting them to within 4 1/2 games of the NL West-leading Rangers.

Howie Kendrick

Tuesday's outcome was largely the work of LA's steady second baseman, Howie Kendrick, who drove in all but one of the Angels' runs, including the solo homer in the bottom of the 11th, which ended the game in heroic, walk-off style, Kendrick's second home run of the season.

Kendrick went 3-for-5, reaching on an infield single in the first, scoring Albert Pujols. His first home run of the season came in the fourth, a two-run blow that put the Angels up 4-0.

Texas battled back to tie the game in the eighth, before Hendrick ended it in the 11th.

The win tied the three-game series at a game apiece. The Rangers and Angels will settle matters on Wednesday at 10:05 pm EDT.

National League

Mark Ellis

Another LA story came out of New York, where the Dodgers topped the Mets, 7-2.

The Dodgers had lost six straight before beating Baltimore on Sunday, prior to their visit to the Big Apple, taking the first of their three-game set at Citi Field, improving to 9-10 on the season.

Second baseman Mark Ellis delivered the goods for LA, going 4-for-5 with a pair of homers, a double, single, four RBI and two runs. His two dingers were the first of the season for Ellis, who belted a solo shot in the fifth inning to tie the game at 2-2, then cleared the wall in left for a three-run shot in the seventh which put the Dodgers ahead to stay, at 5-2.

Catcher A.J. Ellis (no relation) completed the scoring with a two-run double in the ninth.

Bottom line, "all's Ellis that ends Ellis."

The Dodgers will go for their third straight win when the meet the Mets Wednesday at 7:00 pm EDT.

Edwin Encarnacion Homers Twice in Blue Jay Win; Albert Pujols, Howard Kendrick Combine for 7 RBI in Angel Loss

Players of the Day for Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Grapefruit League

Edwin Encarnacion

Edwin Encarnacion hit two home runs in Toronto's 7-5 win over the NY Yankees and may have put one of New York's starters out of the rotation for a while. Encarnacion was at the plate when Yankee starter Fredddy Garcia opened the fourth inning, smacking a sharp comebacker that hit Garcia on his pitching hand. Encarnacion was credited with a single, but Garcia left the mound and the game. X-rays were negative, but, according to reports, the hand swelled up significantly.

Back at the ballpark, Encarnacion scored on JP Arencibia's two run homer and an inning later, in the fifth, he belted a three run banger, to go with the solo shot he had off Garcia in the second.

For Encarnacion, it was an excellent day at the plate; 3-for-3, two homers, four RBI and three runs. For Garcia and the Yanks, not so much.

Cactus League

The LA Angels lost another Spring exhibition game on Wednesday, losing to the White Sox, 9-7, but the XXX paying customers at Chicago's Glendale, Arizona pre-season home got a glimpse of Albert Pujols' awesome power.

Pujols: 2 HR, 4 RBI

Pujols socked a three-run homer and a solo shot in his two official at-bats, his first two of the Spring in his seventh game with the Angels. His run-producing, and that of Howie Kendrick, who went 3-for-3 with a homer, two singles and three RBI, accounted for all of the Angels' runs, but it wasn't enough as the Sox scored none runs on 10 hits and sent starter Ervin Santana to an early shower with a line drive that struck the hurler on his right shoulder in the second inning.

Kendrick: 3-3 HR 3RBI

Santana was considered day-to-day with a bruised shoulder.

Pujols, who took the free agency route from St. Louis to LA after last year's world series triumph by St. Louis, is expected to provide an extra boost at the plate for the Angels. The slugger, entering his 12th year in the bigs, may make a run at 500 homers and 500 doubles. He will open the regular season with 455 doubles and 445 home runs.

As for Kendrick, his Spring performance is in line with his usual consistent play. In 2010, he hit .285 with 18 long balls, 63 RBI and 86 runs in 140 games.

Pujols Bangs Three for Cards; Kendrick Walks Off Mariners, Survives Celebration

Players of the Day for Sunday, May 30, 2010 American League Just a day after Kendry Morales suffered a potential season-ending broken leg celebrating his walk-off, grand slam homer, the LA Angels had reason to jam home plate again, as Howie Kendrick connected for a ninth inning, three-run shot to trip up the visiting Mariners, 9-7. This time the players waiting for the home run hero were a bit more subdued, allowing kendrick to touch home plate unmolested, then surrounding him with hugs and high fives. The blast was the second of the game for Kenrdick and only his 4th of the season. He connected earlier in the game with a solo homer in the 7th, going 2-for-5 with 4 RBI as the Angels battled back from a 7-2 deficit. Starter Joe Saunders allowed all seven runs in 4 1/3 innings, but the bullpen came on and shut the M's out the rest of the way. By winning while the Rangers were losing to Minnesota, 6-3, and the A's were being blown out in Detroit, 10-2, the Angels - still under .500 at 25-27 - crept to within 2 1/2 games of first place in the AL West. Oakland leads Texas by 1/2 game in the contentious division. National League It was just a matter of time before Albert Pujols would join the home run race in the National League, and who better to do it against than division rival and long-standing enemy of the Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs. Albert, "The Machine" had only 2 long balls in his last 31 games, a pretty serious drought for a guy who's rung up 374 in his 10-year career, but he made up for lost time by banging two balls over the left field bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue. The first was a solo shot in the opening frame, the second a two-run dinger in the 5th, that put the Cards ahead 4-0. Albert finished things off with a monstrous drive to dead center in the 9th for his third homer of the day, capping the 9-1 road win by the Cardinals. Pujols had what many ordinary men would consider a good week, going 3-for-3 with 4 RBI and 4 runs. The other two times he stepped to the plate, Cubs pitchers walked him. The three homers gave Pujols 12 on the season, tying him for the league lead with some unlikely characters: Kelly Johnson and Mark Reynolds of Arizona; Florida's Dan Uggla; and, Milwakuee's Corey Hart. His 38 RBI are good for third place in that department, 3 behind Casey McGahee of the Brewers. With the win, St. Louis got to within one game of division-leading Cincinnati. Those two teams hook up in St. Louis beginning Monday.

Jimenez Tosses No-Hitter; Break Up the A's!

Players of the Day for Saturday, April 17, 2010 National League Ubaldo Jimenez wasn't nearly perfect, but he was sure good enough, tossing the first no-hitter of the season in a 4-0 Rockies win over the Braves, in Atlanta. Jiminez walked six batters, but made up for it by striking out 7, and finishing strong, retiring the final 15 batters of the game. Jimenez issued all of his bases on balls in the first five innings, including walking the leadoff hitter in the 3rd, 4th and 5th. He got plenty of help from his infield, which turned a first inning double play, but produced two fielder's choices. A pick-off of Kenshin Kawakami by catcher Miguel Olivo helped him out of a rough 3rd inning, in which he walked two Atlanta hitters. Jimenez has been hot as a barbecue to start the season, the no-no improving his record to a sparkling 3-0, with an ERA of 1.29 and 20 Ks over 21 innings. The Colorado win moved them into sole possession of 2nd place in the NL West, 2 games behind the Giants, who hammered the Dodgers, 9-0, behind 6 shutout innings from Tim Lincecum (also 3-0). Lincecum had three singles himself, driving in three runs. American League Oakland won again on Sunday, beating the O's, 4-3, improving to 9-4 with a 2 1/2 game lead in the AL West. while still early in the season, could this start be an early-warning sign that Billy-ball and Sabremetrics are still alive and well? Whatever the case of that debate, Howie Kendrick and the Angels aren't about to take it lying down. Still mired in last place in the division, the Angels improved to a somewhat respectable 5-7 win a 6-3 win over the Blue Jays. Howie Kendrick had a break-out game, going 3-for-5 with a stolen base. Kendrick opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the 1st, singled, stole second and scored in the 8th and singled home another run in the 9th, for his third RBI of the day. Kendrick scored twice and upped his batting average to .317. The Angels go for the three-game road sweep Sunday afternoon in Toronto before returning home for a 10-game home stand with 4 games against Detroit, followed by three each with the Yankees and Indians. NOTES: The Mets and Cardinals played the longest game of the season, with the Mets prevailing, 2-1, in 20 innings. The game produced some stunning stats. The two teams used 19 pitchers, who produced 35 strikeouts while allowing just 24 hits. Albert Pujols actually had a fair night at the plate, going 2-for-5 and scoring a key run in the bottom of the 19th after the Mets had surged ahead 1-0, in the top of the inning. Not surprisingly, Pujols walked 4 times. Three Mets had rough nights at the plate: Jose Reyes, Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur each went 0-7, though Reyes scored the Mets' first run (on Francoeur's sac fly), and drove in the game-winner with a sac fly in the 20th. The Mets and Cards played a 25-inning contest in 1974, won by St. Louis, 4-3.

Kendrick, Angels End Rangers' Season; Jimenez Gives Rockies a Boost

Players of the Day for Sunday, September 20, 2009 American League In the rubber game of their three-game weekend series, the LA Angles, led by 2nd baseman Howie Kendrick, put an end to any post-season aspirations that may still have been considered by the Texas Rangers. After splitting the first two games, the Angles blasted their AL West rivals by a 10-5 score, opening up a 7 1/2 game lead in the division. With 13 games left on the schedule (Texas still has 14 to play), the Angels' lead now certainly looks insurmountable. Even if the Rangers were to win all of their games - including 4 at Anaheim at the end of the month - the Angels would only have to win 7 times. That's the magic number now for LA - 7 - to capture their third straight, and 4th in 5 years - divisional crown. Kendrick provided the pivotal hits which led to the Angel win. Trailing 5-3 entering the 6th inning, Kendrick tied the game with his 10th home run of the season, bringing home Vlad Guerrero. One out later Gary Matthews Jr. smashed a solo shot to give the Angels a 6-5 lead. In the next inning, Kendrick came to the plate with the bases full of Angels and drove a ball to the right-center gap that cleared them. Kendrick, one of the key players in LA's success, drove in five runs, tying his season-high, set July 29 against the indians. National League While their three closest pursuers all losing, Ubaldo Jimenez worked a dominant 7 innings for the Rockies, leading them to a 5-1 win over Dan Haren and the Arizona Diamondbacks, and a comfortable 4 1/2 game lead in the wild card race. Jimenez (14-11), allowed five hits and one earned run on Sunday, punching out 8 Arizona batters on strikes. After the Rockies scored three in the top of the 7th for a 3-1 lead, Jimenez worked another scoreless frame in the bottom of the inning. When Colorado added two more to start the 8th, Jimenez was done, and two relievers mopped up. The Rockies are once again proving to be a solid September contender, posting a 13-6 record thus far in the month. Following a 4-game losing streak last week, Colorado has won 3 of 4 to regain command in the race for the last playoff spot. San Francisco lost to LA on Sunday, dropping the Giants 4 1/2 behind the Rockies. The Marlins lost to Cincinnati, putting them 5 back. Atlanta was topped by the Phillies. The Braves are 5 1/2 out. NOTES: It looks as though the divisional races are all but over, except in the AL Central, where the Tigers regained a 3-game edge over the Twins with a 6-2 win over Minnesota on Sunday. The Cardinals are stuck with a magic number of 4 after dropping their Sunday night decision to the Cubs. The Philles lead the East by 8 and the Dodgers are 5 to the good in the West. In the AL, the Red Sox may be the first team to clinch a post-season berth as they have an 8-game bulge over Texas in the wild card, putting their wild magic number at 6. They are still within striking distance of the Yankees, who are just 5 ahead in the AL East. The Sox head to the Bronx this weekend - 9/25-9/27 - for three decisive games with the Yanks.