Bellinger, Betts rally Dodgers against Braves, cut lead to 2-1
LOS ANGELES » Cody Bellinger hit a tying, three-run homer and Mookie Betts then lined an RBI double as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied in the eighth inning, beating Atlanta 6-5 Tuesday and cutting the Braves’ lead in the NL Championship Series to 2-1.
The Dodgers were down to their final five outs when Bellinger drove a two-strike pitch from Luke Jackson into the right-field pavilion, igniting the blue towel-waving crowd, some of whom had already left with LA trailing 5-2.
Chris Taylor singled, stole second and moved to third on pinch-hitter Matt Beaty’s groundout. Betts followed with a double off Jesse Chavez to right-center. ASTROS 9, RED SOX 2 » Jose Altuve hit a tying home run in the eighth inning and the Houston offense awakened with seven runs in the ninth night as the Astros came back to beat the Boston Red Sox, evening the AL Championship Series at two games apiece.
Six outs from falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and facing a Game 5 in Fenway Park — where Boston hadn’t lost all postseason — the defending AL champions instead guaranteed themselves at least one game back in Houston.
In a series that had been dominated by offense — especially Boston’s — the teams traded first-inning homers and then both pitching staffs put up six straight zeros on the Fenway scoreboard before Altuve’s leadoff shot in the eighth.
Carlos Correa doubled
and scored the go-ahead run on Jason Castro’s twoout single in the ninth. But that was just the beginning for Houston, which had seen Boston bully its pitchers for 10 homers in the series, including a record-setting three grand slams that turned Games 2 and 3 into routs.
Women’s basketball
DEFENDING CHAMPION
STANFORD OPENS NO. 3 IN
AP WOMEN’S RANKINGS » Stanford returns all but one player from last season’s NCAA national championship team, but the Cardinal will open the season No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
As they say, it’s not where you start, but where you finish. And Stanford knows this as well any anyone. Last season the Cardinal opened at No. 2 and spent a couple of weeks as low as No. 6, but none of that mattered when Tara VanDerveer and her players were cutting down the nets after the program’s
third national championship and first since 1992. Now the Cardinal has a chance to become just the fourth school to win backto-back titles since the NCAA Tournament began in 1982.
NFL
BROWNS STAR RB CHUBB TO MISS SECOND GAME »The NFL’s top rushing team has run into major trouble.
Browns star back Nick Chubb will miss his second straight game with a calf injury, leaving Cleveland without its two best backs Thursday night against the Denver Broncos.
Chubb was ruled out Tuesday by coach Kevin Stefanski before practice. He also didn’t play against Arizona on Sunday, when running back Kareem Hunt suffered a calf injury that could sideline him for more than a month.
Hunt was placed on injured reserve — meaning he will miss at least three games — along with rookie linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
NBA
76ERS SUSPEND SIMMONS 1 GAME » Ben Simmons has been suspended by the Philadelphia 76ers for one game due to conduct detrimental to the team. Simmons will miss the 76ers’ season opener Wednesday night at New Orleans.
The three-time All-Star guard was a holdout in training camp in the wake of his offseason trade demand. He reported last week and practiced Sunday and Monday with the Sixers.
Soccer QUITTING FIFA MULLED IN
EUROPE TO FIGHT BIENNIAL WORLD CUPS » More than a dozen European nations are considering the option of last resort in the fight to prevent biennial World Cups: quitting FIFA, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.
Plans to double the frequency of World Cups were pitched by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on a private call on Tuesday with many leaders from the 55 European member associations that are resisting the transformation of the global game.
Behind the scenes, European soccer body UEFA has already heard from more than a dozen federations contemplating informing FIFA of their intention to withdraw their membership of the global governing body, people with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential talks.