Corey Seager blasted two home runs and finished with five RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their seventh straight National League West title with a 7-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
“This feels great. It never gets old,” said Seager. The Dodgers, who have reached the last two World Series, are seeking their first World Series title since 1988.
Los Angeles lost to the Boston Red Sox in five games last year and lost to the Houston Astros in seven in 2017.
“I just think after losing your first World Series, you probably got a little bit of a hangover coming into it,” pitcher Clayton Kershaw said. “After ‘18, I think we came in a little bit more determined, maybe a little more focused.”
Seager smacked two homers in the first three innings and also scored two runs for the Dodgers who celebrated with champagne in the clubhouse.
Seager said the festivities won’t last long as they have their sights on the bigger prize. “We are glad to get this out of the way,” he said. “We will have fun tonight and come back to work tomorrow.”
Seager hit a three-run homer in the first inning and belted a two-run shot in the third as the Dodgers took a big early lead and cruised from there in front of a crowd of just 12,000 at Camden Yards. He hit both homers off of Baltimore starting pitcher Ty Blach. Gavin Lux hit his first major league homer in the fifth inning as the Dodgers scored six of their seven runs from homers. Starting pitcher Walker Buehler got the victory with a dominant performance to improve to 13-3 on the season. The right-hander fanned 11 batters and allowed just four hits in seven shutout innings. “It was really special,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We needed it, and I think that he needed it.”
Baltimore is mired in a six-game losing streak and are just two losses away from losing 100 games for the second consecutive season.
Orioles’ pitcher Blach is no stranger to the Dodgers having played previously with the San Francisco Giants. But Blach has struggled since joining the Orioles and on Tuesday he gave up four runs in the first inning. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits.
Padres defeat Cubs on
walk-off walk in 10th
Manuel Margot drew a four-pitch, walk-off walk from Chicago Cubs reliever Steve Cishek with one out in the 10th inning Tuesday night to give the host San Diego Padres a 9-8 victory.
The Padres held leads of 6-2 and 8-5, but the Cubs rallied to tie the game in the eighth on the second homers of the game by both Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward.
Cishek retired the first hitter he faced in the 10th before giving up an infield single to Luis Urias. Cishek (3-6) then issued walks to Austin Hedges and Travis Jankowski to load the bases before failing to throw a strike to Margot.
Reliever Michel Baez (1-1) picked up his first major league win for the Padres.
The loss cut the Cubs’ lead over Milwaukee to one game in the race for the National League’s second wild card.
The Cubs tied the game at 8-8 in the top of the eighth as Bryant and Heyward went deep off 20-year-old reliever Andres Munoz. With the Cubs trailing 8-5, Anthony Rizzo opened the inning with a single. Bryant, who received a cortisone injection in his knee Monday, drove a 100 mph fastball 403 feet to left-center, giving the University of San Diego graduate his third and fourth RBIs of the game. Heyward hit his game-tying, 21st homer of the season two hitters later. The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the second on Heyward’s two-run shot into the seats just beyond the leap of Padres left fielder Nick Martini.
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager hits a home run in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
