Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t want his lefties to feel left out.

#1 von panxing18 , 18.04.2019 04:23

BOSTON (AP) —Even as Los Angeles loaded its lineup with right-handed batters to face Boston lefty Chris Sale Brandon Morrow Jersey , Cora stayed with Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers against left-handed Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night.Benintendi responded with four hits — going 3 for 3 against the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner — and three runs. Devers drove in one of them to lead the Red Sox to an 8-4 victory in a blustery Series opener.“We’re facing a guy who’s one of the best of all time. And a lot of guys didn’t have a lot of experience off of him; the first time a lot of us have faced him. Didn’t really know what to expect,” Benintendi said. “We had a good game plan. We stuck to it.”Benintendi had one four-hit performance in the regular season but had never topped two in a postseason game during his career. The 24-year-old left fielder became just the second lefty ever to have three hits against Kershaw in a game.“He hangs in there with lefties,” Cora said. “We do feel that he’s a good hitter against them. When he’s using the whole field, he becomes very dangerous.”Benintendi had an RBI single and came around to score in the first, singled again in the third and singled a third time to chase Kershaw with nobody out in the fifth before scoring to give Boston a 5-3 lead.In the seventh, Benintendi sliced a double that handcuffed charging left fielder Joc Pederson and scored on Eduardo Nunez’s pinch-hit homer.“He got lucky, too,” Cora said. “Twice, probably.”Although Kershaw is tough on everybody, he’s not that much better against lefties (who have a .195 batting average against him over his career) than righties (.211). So Cora decided to stick with left-handed regulars Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr., as well as Devers, who has platooned with Nunez.Leaving Nunez on the bench was a tough call for the manager http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-david-ross-jersey , requiring a talk with the 31-year-old third baseman who had never played in the World Series before and had started against every lefty in the playoffs so far.“We felt Raffi was going to hang in there with Kershaw, and having (Nunez) on the bench, it was going to pay off,” Cora said. “So keeping him in the dugout and out of the lineup was going to probably give us a chance to win the game. And it worked out.“He was prepared. He wasn’t upset, actually, that he wasn’t playing. I told him, ‘Be ready, man. You might have a big at-bat tonight and do your thing.’ And he did.”Kershaw and Sale were both chased in the fifth inning. With righty Pedro Baez on the mound in the seventh, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in lefty Alex Wood to face Devers.Cora countered with Nunez, and he hit a low breaking pitch into the first row of the Green Monster seats to give Boston an 8-4 lead.“That was the plan and we did it,” Nunez said. “I think he makes great moves. He watches a lot of video. He’s very smart. I think that he’s the reason we’re here. Because every move we make, it’s for a reason http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-david-ross-jersey , and it’s a good reason.” KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — This is the Josh Donaldson the Cleveland Indians were hoping for after rolling the dice in an Aug. 31 trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.Donaldson, a former AL MVP, hit a grand slam and double during a 10-run seventh inning, powering the Indians past the Kansas City Royals 14-6 Friday night.With the win, the AL Central champion Indians improved to 90-70, marking the third time in team history they’ve won at least 90 games in three straight seasons.“We should be winning 90 games with the team we’ve got in here and this division the way it is right now,” said Jason Kipnis, an eight-year veteran with the Indians. “It’s been ours to lose the last couple years and we don’t want to waste it.”Kipnis’ homer in the Cleveland third was the game’s only run in the first six innings.But the Indians then broke loose for their first 10-run inning since doing it on Sept. 30, 2012, against the Royals in Cleveland led by Donaldson, who struggled the first two months of the season http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-david-ross-jersey , then missed three months with a left calf strain before the trade.If he can produced at the plate in the postseason, Donaldson could be a difference-maker for the Indians. Friday’s performance was the best evidence yet he’s close to the player who powered Toronto into the 2015 postseason.“Kind of stating the obvious, isn’t it?” manager Terry Francona said when asked if was good to see him drive the ball. “We don’t want him to make outs, but it’s nice to see him hitting the ball like that.”His leadoff double set the stage for a nine-hit inning, but it was his grand slam that ultimately delivered the game-winning runs.Still, it wasn’t Donaldson booming extra-base hits that keyed the rally, Francona said.“I thought it all kind of started with Kip laying a bunt down,” Francona said. “Little things turn into big things. You play the game right and you get rewarded for it.”After Donaldson’s double, Yonder Alonso hit an RBI single and Melky Cabrera followed with a hit that chased Royals starter Ian Kennedy (3-9).Kipnis, who made his 12th start in center field, greeted reliever Tim Hill by beating out a sacrifice bunt to third baseman Hunter Dozier for an infield single and the rout was on.“It always does that,” Kipnis said. “Sometimes Anthony Rizzo Jersey , that’s exactly what the offense needs, where the little thing — the bunt over —- gets the big inning. We would have been happy with two runs . but you see what getting guys on and causing havoc on the bases and putting the ball in play does for an offense.”Roberto Perez added an RBI single before Francisco Lindor hit a chopper to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn against a drawn-in infield. A wild throw home let two more runs score.One out later, reliever Jake Newberry walked Jose Ramirez and gave up an RBI single to Edwin Encarnacion before Donaldson launched his fifth career grand slam and second this season. He also had one in April for the Blue Jays.Adam Rosales, who pinch-ran for Alonso earlier in the inning, doubled and later scored on a double by Greg Allen, who pinch-ran for Kipnis.The 10 runs were the most the Royals had allowed in an inning this season.It was a welcome outburst for the Indians, who had only scored two runs in the first 16 innings of the series and open the AL Division Series on next Friday at the Houston Astros.Mike Clevinger (13-8) was the beneficiary of the bonanza. He allowed one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings.Clevinger finished the season with an even 200 innings for the first time in his career, which was a big personal goal for the 27-year-old right-hander.“Still, there’s a bigger goal than my 200 innings,” Clevinger said.His counterpart, Kennedy, went six strong innings before facing three batters in the seventh.“He threw the ball well http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-david-ross-jersey ,” manager Ned Yost said. “It just got away from us there.”Brian Goodwin hit a grand slam in the Royals ninth off Adam Plutko as part of a five-run inning. It was the second career grand slam for Goodwin, acquired in a July trade with Washington. He also had one March 31 for the Nationals.Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 18 games for the Royals. It’s the longest active streak in the majors and one shy of his career best.TRAINER’S ROOMIndians: Francona essentially ruled out INF Erik Gonzalez for the remainder of the weekend. He said Gonzalez, who was hit in the head by a pitch Wednesday at the Chicago White Sox, remains in concussion protocol. The team hopes Ramirez will be available for an intrasquad game Tuesday in preparation for the playoffs.NEXT UPReigning AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (20-7, 2.83 ERA) will make his final appearance before the ALDS. RHP Jakob Junis (8-12, 4.42) is scheduled to start for the Royals.

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Sonny Gray knows what he’s getting into even before he
.The Tigers said Tuesday that surgery to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligamen

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