Astros advance to World Series.
Charlie Morton scattered two hits in five innings and Brian McCann broke the game open with two-run double in the fifth as the Houston Astros downed the visiting New York Yankees, 4-0, in the seventh game of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night to advance to the World Series.
Morton became the first AL starter with a scoreless outing in a Game 7 since Jack Morris tossed a 10-inning shutout for Minnesota in the 1991 World Series.
Evan Gattis and Jose Altuve socked home runs to stake the Astros to a 2-0 lead.
Cubs fire Bosio: Chris Bosio is out as the Chicago Cubs’ pitching coach after six seasons.
A person familiar with the situation said the team will not pick up his contract option for next season.
Bosio’s dismissal comes after the Cubs we’re eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
Bosio, a former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher, worked under three managers in Chicago and helped oversee a transformation of the pitching staff that contributed to a drought-busting World Series Championship last year and three straight trips to the NLCS.
He helped Jake Arrieta develop into a Cy Young Award winner and built up mid-level pitchers such as Scott Feldman and Jason Hammel that the Cubs traded for key players.
Feldman was dealt to Baltimore in the Arrieta deal. Hammel and Jeff Samardzija were traded to Oakland for Addison Russell.
But the bullpen faltered in the playoffs this year.
President of baseball operations Theo Epstein also pointed to seasonlong control issues in a news conference on Friday. Giants make changes:
The San Francisco Giants have reassigned longtime pitching coach Dave Righetti from manager Bruce Bochy’s field staff to special assistant to the general manager, working under Bobby Evans.
The club announced Righetti’s role change to the front office, along with bullpen coach Mark Gardner moving into a special assignment job assisting in pitching evaluations. Assistant hitting coach Steve Decker is now a special assistant in baseball operations.
Evans said the club is interviewing for a pitching coach and hitting coach. He said it was too soon to say whether hitting coach Hensley Meulens would remain in his role but that at least one hitting coach position is open with Decker being reassigned.
Righetti’s 18 years as pitching coach marked the longest run in the position in San Francisco history. He was one of only five Giants coaches since 1900 with at least 10 years on the staff.
San Francisco went 6498 for a last-place finish in the NL West and avoided the franchise’s first 100loss season since 1985 during the final weekend of the regular season.
The Giants, long defined by dominant pitching, had a 16th-ranked 4.50 team ERA and lost ace Madison Bumgarner for nearly three months after his dirt bike accident in Colorado. Right-hander Johnny Cueto also was out for significant time on the disabled list with various injuries.