web1_barkley-osu_TONED.jpg

Week 9 College Football Preview: Buckeyes seek revenge against Penn State

web1_Foxtrot2.jpg

Oscar hopeful ‘Foxtrot’ locked in Israel’s culture war

<p>HOUSTON &#8212; A perfect fit in their own place, the Houston Astros are halfway home.</p><p>George Springer and the Astros broke out the bats early this time to keep up their unbeaten October run at spirited Minute Maid Park, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the World Series.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re very comfortable here,&#8221; Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.</p><p>You can say that again.</p><p>Houston moved two wins from its first championship, but the game also included this: Yuli Gurriel made a racist gesture shortly after homering off Japanese star Yu Darvish. Major League Baseball will follow up, and punishment is possible.</p><p>The ballpark was booming hours earlier, with cheers, chants and a train whistle echoing beneath the closed roof.</p><p>Deep in the heart of football country, a sellout crowd stood much of the evening. And with every Houston batter getting a hit or walk, fans enjoyed the Friday Night Sights.</p><p>&#8220;The energy in the building is second to none,&#8221; Hinch said. &#8220;It&#8217;s loud. They&#8217;re loud from the very beginning.&#8221;</p><p>Coming off a dramatic rally to win Game 2 at Dodger Stadium, the Astros improved to 7-0 at home this postseason. Jose Altuve &amp; Co. have dominated, too, outscoring the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers 36-10 in that span.</p><p>Gurriel homered to begin a four-run burst in the second inning that sent Darvish to the shortest start of his career.</p><p>Back in the dugout, Gurriel put his fingers to the side of his eyes and said &#8220;chinito&#8221; &#8212; a derogatory Spanish term that translates literally to &#8220;little Chinese.&#8221; Gurriel, from Cuba, previously played in Japan.</p><p>&#8220;I feel bad and I apologize for anybody who got offended,&#8221; Gurriel said through a translator.</p><p>Darvish, through a translator, said, &#8220;Acting like that, you just disrespect all the people around the world.&#8221;</p><p>Astros curveballer Lance McCullers Jr. wobbled, but protected the lead into the sixth.</p><p>Brad Peacock rose to the occasion with 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief for his first pro save.</p><p>With every pitch by Peacock in the ninth, the decibel level increased.</p><p>&#8220;To tell you the truth, when I was out there a couple of times, I got the chills from them screaming so loud,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Springer lined a leadoff double in the first and the Astros went on to win a home game for the first time in the World Series. They were swept by the White Sox in 2005, and this win left them two victories from a most elusive championship.</p><p>Game 4 will be Saturday night when Charlie Morton starts for Houston. Left-hander Alex Wood pitches for the Dodgers, facing a lineup that has put at least one runner on in 14 straight innings.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, this crowd is into it. Very educated, very enthusiastic,&#8221; Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. &#8220;They&#8217;ve got some confidence over there, that team.&#8221;</p><p>McCullers left in the sixth as Los Angeles scored twice to cut into a 5-1 deficit.</p><p>Peacock followed, and shouldered the load for a shaky bullpen. The right-hander was nearly perfect, walking one and striking out four.</p><p>&#8220;It was awesome,&#8221; said Peacock, who made 21 starts and 13 relief appearances during the regular season. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never experienced anything like that in my life.&#8221;</p><p>Coupled with four shutout innings from McCullers to finish off the Yankees in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series, the unconventional Astros became the first team to have two saves of three-plus innings in one postseason.</p><p>On a night when a lot went right for Houston, also credit third base coach Gary Pettis, who&#8217;s been having quite a postseason. He boldly sent Josh Reddick careening home on a wild throw by reliever Tony Watson for a two-out run in the fifth.</p><p>The Astros rode the momentum of a thrilling victory Wednesday night in Los Angeles, where Marwin Gonzalez hit a tying homer in the ninth on an 0-2 pitch from star closer Kenley Jansen, and Houston went deep three times in extra innings before hanging on to win 7-6 in 11 on Springer&#8217;s two-run shot.</p><p>Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger almost won that game with a drive that was caught on the warning track in the ninth. He fanned all four times up in Game 3, leaving him 0 for 11 with seven strikeouts in the Series.</p><p>&#8220;I think he&#8217;s just in that funk right now where he&#8217;s chasing balls out of the strike zone,&#8221; Roberts said.</p><p>This game wasn&#8217;t nearly as dramatic as the previous one, not that the home crowd minded.</p><p>Fans were revved up from the start when injured Houston Texas defensive end J.J. Watt &#8212; who has raised more than $37 million for relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey &#8212; hobbled out to the mound on crutches to throw the first ball.</p><p>Soon, it was time for the Houston hitters to take over.</p><p>Gurriel homered into the Crawford Boxes in left to begin the second &#8212; he became the 12th hitter already to homer in this Series. Reddick followed with a double and Evan Gattis, the designated hitter with the game in an American League park, drew a walk.</p><p>Gonzalez launched a drive off the wall in left-center and wound up with an RBI single when Gattis held at second , seeing if the ball would be caught. Brian McCann singled home another run with one of his three hits , and Alex Bregman&#8217;s sacrifice fly made it 4-0.</p><p>When Altuve doubled, Darvish was done after 1 2/3 innings. He threw 49 pitches and the Astros swung and missed only once.</p><p>Darvish had done well at Minute Maid, going 4-1. That included a 2013 start when he was one out from a perfect game for the Rangers before Gonzalez singled.</p><p>&#8220;The fastball command wasn&#8217;t there, and the slider was backing up. So he just really didn&#8217;t have the feel and couldn&#8217;t get any type of rhythm going,&#8221; Roberts said.</p><p>Last month, Darvish and several Dodgers players wore Houston Strong T-shirts to raise money for hurricane relief. The four-time All-Star who previously played in Texas also contributed to the relief efforts.</p><p>On Thursday, Darvish kidded that maybe his goodwill would lead to good luck.</p><p>&#8220;Since I made that donation, maybe I can use a ball that doesn&#8217;t have much pop in it,&#8221; he said through a translator.</p><p>Nope, didn&#8217;t quite work out that way.</p><p>___</p><p>More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_119077928-c9be7d725e5b4569ac3ef81dcbd4e21f-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Los Angeles Dodgers' Yasiel Puig walks to the dugout after striking out against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_119077928-c9be7d725e5b4569ac3ef81dcbd4e21f-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Los Angeles Dodgers' Yasiel Puig walks to the dugout after striking out against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_119077928-e4b4c028df174233b2311742cd6468e8-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Houston Astros fans cheer during the ninth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_119077928-e4b4c028df174233b2311742cd6468e8-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Houston Astros fans cheer during the ninth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_119077928-e9f6d9b5b3284b6cb07f855529c8ba1a-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Houston Astros' Carlos Correa and George Springer celebrate Game 3 of baseball's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston. The Astros won 5-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_119077928-e9f6d9b5b3284b6cb07f855529c8ba1a-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Houston Astros' Carlos Correa and George Springer celebrate Game 3 of baseball's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston. The Astros won 5-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By BEN WALKER</p><p>AP Baseball Writer</p></bylineMeta></div>

Astros start fast, top Dodgers 5-3 for 2-1 World Series lead