A look at what¡¯s happening around the majors today:LOSING
GROUNDStruggling Seattle turns to ace James Paxton as it opens a series against
AL West-leading Houston. The Mariners have lost seven of nine overall and three
of Paxton¡¯s past four starts dating to July 7. Paxton
(9-5
Chris
Hatcher Jersey , 3.51) will oppose Justin Verlander (11-6, 2.19), who
struck out 14 last time out in a 2-1 win over the Dodgers. Seattle is eight
games back of the Astros and also chasing Oakland in the AL wild-card race.RICK
ROLLINGRick Porcello starts for Boston against Toronto coming off an astounding
game against the Yankees. Porcello (14-4, 3.84) carved up New York, completing
nine innings of one-hit ball on just 86 pitches in a 4-1 victory. The only
blemish on his stat line was a homer allowed to Miguel Andujar. Porcello, the
2016 AL Cy Young Award winner, has 20 strikeouts and two walks over his past
three starts combined.GOING, GOING, GALLOJoey Gallo is on a tear for the Texas
Rangers. Gallo slugged two homers in an 11-7 win over Seattle on Wednesday, and
he enters a series at Yankee Stadium having hit 10 of his 31 homers in his past
19 games. He also had three hits Wednesday to lift his batting average over .200
for the first time since June 16. The 24-year-old is closing in on his career
high of 41 homers, reached last season. New York starter J.A. Happ is set to be
activated following a bout with hand, foot and mouth disease.BIG FOURThe Rockies
are trying to keep pace with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers in the NL West
race
http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-khris-davis-jer sey ,
and they have a chance to make progress during a four-game series against Los
Angeles. Tyler Anderson (6-4, 4.05) takes the Coors Field mound for Colorado in
the opener against Ross Stripling (8-3, 2.68), whose breakout season hit a bump
with a pair of shaky outings late in July followed by a DL stint with an
inflamed toe on his right foot. BOSTON (AP) ¡ª Aaron Judge helped chase David
Price early by hitting a home run to a part of Fenway Park where balls rarely
travel.Gary Sanchez did him one better.The Yankees catcher, who tested his
manager¡¯s confidence with a sub-.200 batting average and poor defense for most
of the season, hit two homers, the second a 479-foot shot clear out of the
ballpark that sent New York to a 6-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday
night and tied their AL Division Series at one game apiece.¡°Just a monster
night,¡± Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. ¡°You know he¡¯s capable of that. We all
know he¡¯s capable of that. That¡¯s kind of what we¡¯ve been waiting for to some
degree, where he can take over a game on offense.¡±One night after Chris Sale
earned his first career playoff victory, Price fell to 0-9 in 10 postseason
starts and was booed off the field after five outs by a Fenway crowd hoping to
see the Red Sox protect the home-field advantage they earned with an AL East
title and franchise-record 108 regular-season wins.Instead, Masahiro Tanaka
helped the wild-card Yankees claim the first victory by a road team in a
Division Series game this year and gave them a chance to advance to the AL
Championship Series with a pair of wins at home, where they are 7-0 over the
past two postseasons.Games 3 and 4 are at Yankee Stadium on Monday and Tuesday
nights
Boog
Powell Jersey , with Game 5 back in Boston on Thursday, if necessary.¡°We
can¡¯t wait,¡± Judge said. ¡°We know our fans are waiting for us to come back home,
especially with the series tied 1-1.¡±Judge homered for the third straight
playoff game, a 445-foot shot that landed in the back row of seats above the
Green Monster , high above the 379-foot marker and about 10 feet to the left of
the pole flying an American flag blowing straight out.It was the longest home
run of the postseason ¡ª for about five innings.That¡¯s when Sanchez aimed one in
the same direction, sending it out of the park and onto Lansdowne Street. A few
feet away, a plaque commemorates the six home runs in the 106-year history of
Fenway Park that have cleared the back wall to the other side of the
flagpole.¡°Everybody knows that Judge has way more power than me,¡± said Sanchez,
who joined Yogi Berra as the only catchers in Yankees history with multihomer
postseason games. ¡°But a homer is a homer. And if we have the opportunity to
score runs like that, you know, even if it¡¯s 300
feet
Giancarlo
Stanton Jersey , I¡¯ll take it.¡±Sanchez also had a solo shot in the second
inning to give New York a 2-0 lead. Price then walked back-to-back batters with
two outs and gave up Andrew McCutchen¡¯s RBI single on what could be his last
pitch in a Red Sox uniform.The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner ¡ª and two-time
runner-up for the award ¡ª Price signed a seven-year, $217 million deal to come
to Boston as a free agent before the 2016 season and has pitched like an ace at
times in the regular season. But his postseason struggles have caused Red Sox
fans to sour on him, and vice versa; he can opt out of his contract after the
season, and if he can find something close to the four years and $124 million he
is owed, he might just take it.In all, Price was charged with three runs on
three hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings ¡ª the shortest playoff start of his
career, and tied with Roger Clemens for the shortest in Red Sox postseason
history. It was the first time in 299 regular-season and postseason starts that
Price failed to strike out a batter.¡°I just want to win. That¡¯s it,¡± Price said.
¡°My main goal is to win in the playoffs, to win a World Series. ¡ And whatever I
need to do to help us do that, I¡¯m fine with. But I know I¡¯m more than capable
of winning games as a starter in October. That¡¯s what I look forward to
doing.¡±Tanaka allowed just three hits, including Xander Bogaerts¡® solo homer,
before leaving after five innings with a 3-1 lead. He struck out four and walked
one.BAD BLOODRed Sox reliever Ryan Brasier had words with Sanchez in the
fifth
Derek
Jeter Jersey , when the Yankees catcher stepped out of the box to think
about the 1-2 count against him. Brasier motioned impatiently for Sanchez to get
back in the box , and told him so in some impolite terms.Sanchez struck out on
the next pitch, a 97 mph fastball. But when he came up again in the seventh, he
broke the game open. Sanchez had three multihomer games in the regular season,
none after May 19.¡°Not much to talk about,¡± Brasier said plainly. ¡°He stepped
out three pitches in a row after an 0-2 count, and I felt like it was time to
throw the pitch. He just kept stepping out. I was ready to go. That¡¯s all it
was.¡±UP NEXTThe teams have Sunday off before resuming the series in New York on
Monday night. Luis Severino is scheduled to pitch for the Yankees against Rick
Porcello or Nathan Eovaldi.