David Price, Steve Pearce Send Red Sox To Ninth Championship With 5-1 Win Over Dodgers

Players of the Day for Sunday, October 28, 2018

World Series Game 5: Boston Red Sox 5 LA Dodgers 1

Pearce: Series MVP

In a fitting end to the 2018 baseball season, the American League's Boston Red Sox thumped the Los Angeles Dodgers, representing the National League, 5-1, ending the World Series, four games to one.

David Price pitched a solid seven-plus innings for the win, allowing one run on three hits, fanning five and walking three, the sole Dodger run coming on the first pitch Price threw to David Freese to open the bottom of the first inning. Freese blasted a Price fastball into the stands in right field.

For the Dodgers, Freese's homer supplied some hope after Steve Pearce rocked LA starter, Clayton Kershaw, for a two-run home run in the top of the first.

Following Freese's home run and a walk to Justin Turner, Price delivered the best mound effort of the series. Starting with a double play to erase Turner and batter Enrique Hernandez, he then struck out Manny Machado to end the inning with Boston holding a slim, one-run lead.

Price: Game 5 winner

Price allowed a single by Yasiel Puig in the second, and a David Freese triple on a misplayed fly ball by J.D. Martinez in the third, after which he set down the Dodgers in order, retiring 14 straight Dodger batters. He was relieved by Joe Kelly after walking Chris Taylor to lead off the Dodger eighth.

By then, however, the lead had grown to 5-1, on solo homers by Mookie Betts in the sixth, Martinez in the seventh, and a second home run by Pearce. Kelly struck out the side in the eighth, and Chris Sale did the same in the ninth, getting Turner, Hernandez and Machado swinging to close out the game, the series and the 2018 season.

In addition to his game two win, Price won his second game of the series and was 3-1 in the post-season with a 3.46 ERA. Steve Pearce was named World Series MVP. During the post-season, he batted .289 with four homers and 11 RBI. In the five games against the Dodgers, he batted .333 (4-for-12) with three home runs and eight RBI.

The Red Sox won 108 games during the regular season, took out the Yankees in four games in the ALDS, and wiped away the Houston Astros in five games in the best-of-seven AL championship series.

Steve Pearce's 4 RBI Deliver Game Four Red Sox Win; Boston Leads World Series, 3-1

Players of the Day for Saturday, October 27, 2018

World Series Game Four: Boston Red Sox 9 LA Dodgers 6

Pearce: 2-4, 2B, HR 4RBI

Just when it seemed the Dodgers had found new life, the Red Sox hammered another nail in the coffin, erasing a 4-0, sixth-inning LA lead with nine runs in the final three frames for a 9-6 victory and a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven series.

After Yasiel Puig had put the Dodgers up 4-0 with a three run blast off Boston starter, Eduardo Rodriguez, Boston bats came to life. Mitch Moreland socked a three-run, pinch-hit home run to close the gap to one run in the seventh and Steve Pearce's solo shot tied it in the eighth. With Boston hurlers keeping the Dodgers off the bases, the Red Sox struck for five runs in the ninth to put the game away.

Rafael Devers singled home Brock Holt from second base to give the Red Sox the lead and Pearce delivered again, stroking a bases-loaded double in the right-center gap, driving in three additional runs. Xander Bogaerts delivered Pearce with an RBI single to complete the Boston scoring.

The Dodgers' responded with two runs via an Enrique Hernandez home run in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not nearly enough, sending the series to game five, Sunday night in LA, 8:15 pm ET.

A Boston win on Sunday would finish the series and give the Red Sox their ninth championship and fourth in the 21st century. Boston has won the World Series in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, and 2013.

Yasiel Puig Helps Dodgers Blast Brewers, 21-5; Steve Pearce's 3 Boston Homers Crush Yankees, 15-7

Players of the Day for Thursday, August 2, 2018

American League

Pearce: 3-5, 3HR, 6 RBI

Feasting on Yankee pitching, Steve Pearce belted a trio of home runs as the Red Sox opened a four-game series with the Yankees at Fenway Park with a 15-7 blowout.

Pearce's homers were all to left field, over the fabled Green Monster.

New York took an early lead with three runs in the first inning and one more in the second, but their joy was short-lived as the Red Sox banged out 19 hits.

Pearce socked a solo homer in the third inning and his three-run blast in the fourth gave the Red Sox the lead, 6-4, as the rout developed. Acquired by the Red Sox from Toronto in late June, Pearce capped his great night with a two-run homer in the sixth, racking up six RBI for the game.

The Red Sox took a 6 1/2 game edge over the Yankees in the AL East with the win.

Game two of the series is scheduled for a 7:10 start on Friday.

National League

Puig: 2HR, 3RBI, 3R

Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig each hit two home runs and Cody Bellinger cranked out a grand slam as the Dodgers sent a message, downing the Brewers in LA, 21-5.

Bellinger finished 2-for-4 with five RBI, Pederson, 2-for-6 with four ribbbies, and Puig was 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs.

The win produced a 2-2 split in the four-game series between the two contenders. The Dodgers captured first place in the NL West as Arizona lost and dropped one game back. Colorado trails the Dodgers by two games.

The Brewers remained a game behind the Cubs in the NL Central. Chicago dropped a 6-1 decision to San Diego on Thursday.

On Friday, the Dodgers open an three-game interleague series when Houston visits. Milwaukee returns home to host the Rockies.

Charlie Blackmon 4-5, 4 R, Rockies Top Nats, 10-6; Steve Pearce Slams Again For Jays; Adrian Beltre Notches #3000

Players of the Day for Sunday, July 30, 2017

American League

Pearce: Walk-off Slam

He did it again.

Just three days after slugging a 10th-inning, walk-off grand slam in Toronto's 8-4 win over the A's, Steve Pearce capped a dramatic seven-run, ninth inning rally with another bases-full round-tripper, leading the Blue Jays over the LA Angels, 11-10.

Pearce's second walk-off grand slam in four days came off Angels' reliever, Bud Norris, who surrendered three hits and a walk and was charged with all four runs off Pearce's bat. Prior to Norris' appearance, Brooks Pounders failed to record an out in the bottom of the ninth. He faced three batters, allowed two hits and a walk and was charged with three runs.

Toronto's win came as the top two teams in the AL East - New York and Boston - were losing, but the Jays still trail by eight games in the division and also have to contend with the Orioles and Rays, both winners on Sunday.

Pearce's and Toronto's flair for the dramatic may have come too late in the season for the Blue Jays, however. They got off to a poor start, had injuries to key players and have not recovered. Despite having a mostly healthy lineup, Toronto is just 8-9 since the all-star break, though they have won five of their last seven.

Toronto begins a six-game road trip Monday, opening with the White Sox, then on to Houston for three games.

Beltre: 3000 Hits

MILESTONE: Adrian Beltre recorded his 3000th major league hit Sunday with a fourth-inning double off Baltimore starter, Wade Miley. Beltre would later score on Rougned Odor's single, but the Orioles out-slugged the Rangers, 10-6. Beltre becomes the 31st player to reach the 3000-hit level, joining Roborto Clemente at the magic mark. Beltre, 38, is a 20 year veteran who has played his entire career - save 2010 in Boston - in the AL West, with the Angels, Seattle, and currently, the Rangers. He is a career .286 hitter, with 454 home runs and 1607 RBI, Hall of Fame numbers for sure.

National League

With a rainout of their scheduled Friday night opener, the three-game series between Colorado and Washington evolved into game one on Saturday and a double-header Sunday. The Rockies won Saturday, 4-2, and took the first game of the double-header, 10-6 at Nationals Park in Washington, DC, thanks to another outstanding game from leadoff hitter, Charlie Blackmon, who's been tearing up opposing pitching all season long.

In five at-bats, Blackmon lashed four singles, drove in a run, stole a base and scored four times, improving his batting average to .329, fourth-best in the National League, .001 behind Washington's Bryce Harper. Blackmon leads the league in runs, with 93; Harper is second, at 86. Colorado's best hitter is also reshaping the way pitchers handle a lineup. He has 25 home runs (tied for 6th) and 70 RBI, 14th overall.

Blackmon: 4-for-5, 4 R

After singling and scoring in the first and third innings, Blackmon got his third single of the game in the fourth, driving in a run, later scoring from second on Nolan Arenado's single.

In the eighth, Blackmon singled again, stole second and scored on Arenado's triple. Arenado was 3-for-3 and his two RBI increased his league-leading total to 91.

In the nightcap, the Nationals came back with a 3-1 win, avoiding being swept and maintaining a 13 game lead over Miami in the NL East. The Rockies are 1/2 game behind Arizona for second place in the West, but 14 1/2 behind the Dodgers, winners of eight straight.

Colorado is 8-7 after the break and returns home Monday to open a six game home stand, starting on Tuesday with the Mets for three, followed by a visit from the Phillies over the weekend. Washington opens a three-game series in Miami on Monday, followed by three games in Chicago against the Cubs, opening Thursday.

Bryce Harper's 2 HR Lead Nationals Over Brewers; Steve Pearce, Kendrys Morales Power Blue Jays

Morales: 2 HR, 2 RBI

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 27, 2017

American League

Kendrys Morales slugged a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game; an inning later, Steve Pearce rocked a walk-off grand slam as the Blue Jays came from behind to defeat the Oakland A's, 8-4.

Pearce: walk-off Slam

Morales, who also homered in the fifth, was walked immediately ahead of Pearce in the 10th. He has 20 homers on the year. Pearce's blast was his ninth.

The Blue Jays swept the series with the visiting A's, leaving them just 1/2 game behind the Orioles in last place in the AL East. The Jays have been in last place all season, but still have hope of winning the division, since they are only 7 1/2 games behind first place Boston.

Toronto has a slew of games left against teams in the division, including nine each with the Yankees and Red Sox, the two leaders in the division.

Hosting the Angels for three games starting Friday, Toronto hopes to extend their four-game winning streak.

National League

Max Scherzer was on the mound again for the Washington Nationals, and that meant trouble for the visiting Brewers in the rubber game of the three-game series.

Harper: 2HR, 4 RBI

While Scherzer was at his usual high level of efficiency, allowing one run on three hits over six innings, the major issue for Milwaukee came when he was on the bench and the Washington regulars were batting.

The Nationals banged out a total of 19 hits, scoring all of their runs in the first four innings in a 15-2 drubbing of the Brewers.

Of those 19 hits, 11 went for extra bases, including six home runs, two each by Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman hit his 21st and 22nd, Harper's were his 26th and 27th, a two run shot in the first to open Washington's scoring spree, a solo belt in the third. Harper also ripped a double, driving in another run, in the fourth.

The Nationals' superstar - 2012 rookie of the year, 2015 NL MVP - is having another sensational season, with his team gliding toward the post-season, the win putting them 13 in front of the Braves in the NL East.

Harper is batting .338 and has 79 RBI. He's third in National League average, HR and RBI.

The Brewers fell 1 1/2 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central and head home to face the division leaders in a three-game series starting Friday. Washington hosts the Rockies for three over the weekend.

Steve Pearce Homers, Orioles Clinch AL East; Tanner Roark, Ian Desmond Lead Nationals to Clinch NL East

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 16, 2014

American League

Steve Pearce

The Baltimore Orioles are champions of the American League East for the first time since 1997.

Steve Pearce socked a three-run homer in the first inning, which turned out to be all the O's needed as Ubaldo Jimenez and four relievers held the Blue Jays to four hits and a pair of runs in an 8-2 rout.

The win was Baltimore's third straight and ninth in their last 10, as they streak toward their second playoff appearance in the last three years. They've taken the first two from Toronto at Camden Yards and will play the final game of the series on Wednesday, beginning at 7:05 pm EDT at Camden Yards.

The O's finish their regular season at the Rogers Center in Toronto with three games against the Blue Jays, but, prior to that, they will get to take victory laps against the Red Sox in Baltimore (three games), followed by a four-game series in New York with the Yankees.

Baltimore has a chance to finish with the best record in the league, though they trail the Angels in that department by three games. LA can clinch the West with a win over Seattle, Wednesday night.

National League

Ian Desmond

Tanner Roark

Champions of the National League East after a 3-0 blanking of second-place Atlanta, the Washington Nationals present an splendid blend of speed, power, and pitching to whomever they'll oppose in the post-season.

Ian Desmond doubled and homered, drove in two runs and scored twice while Tanner Roark blanked the Braves over seven innings in the pennant-clincher.

Roark (14-10) allowed five hits, did not issue any walks and struck out four. Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen finished up with perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Storen picked up his seventh save.

The first NL team to claim a playoff spot, the Nationals currently have the best record in the league, which would assure them of home field throughout their playoff run. They lead the Dodgers - currently on top in the NL West by three games over the Giants - by 1 1/2 game.

With eight wins in their last ten games and winners of four straight, the Nationals finish up with the Braves for the year in game three of their series in Atlanta, Wednesday night at 7:00 pm EDT.

A quirky schedule has the Nationals playing Miami eight times in the final two weeks, starting with four games in Miami this week, and four to close out the season in Washington. Sandwiched in between is a three-game series with the Mets at home.