It’s been 86 years since Washington baseball fans witnessed a World Series home win by one of their three major league teams. The wait continues. The Houston Astros have a three-games-to-two lead in the Fall Classic after beating the Nationals in Washington for the third straight night, 7-1.
The Astros took the three games in DC by a combined 19-3 margin after dropping the first two games at home. It was a redemption game for Gerrit Cole, who dropped the series opener to end his 19-game winning streak. Cole was terrific in this one, limiting the Nationals to three hits while striking out nine over seven innings. Cole blanked the Nats until Juan Soto homered with one out in the seventh to trim Houston’s lead to 4-1. The Nationals banged out a trio of two-run homers while outhitting the Nationals, 10-4. Yordan Alvarez opened the scoring with a second-inning homer and finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Carlos Correa added a two-run blast in the fourth, and George Springer capped the scoring with his second homer of the series. Joe Ross was pressed into service when scheduled starter when ace Max Scherzer couldn’t lift his arm Sunday morning. Scherzer says he underwent treatment after the neck spasms started a few days earlier. Ross was reached for four runs and five hits over five innings. Game 6 is Tuesday in Houston.
President Donald Trump drew loud boos and jeers when introduced to the crowd during Game 5 of the World Series in Washington. Cheers could be heard in the ballpark while video screens carried a salute to U.S. service members after the third inning, but the cheers abruptly turned into a torrent of boos and heckling as chants of "Lock him up!" broke out in some sections. Some fans behind home plate held a sign reading "VETERANS FOR IMPEACHMENT," while another banner appeared during the game that stated "IMPEACH TRUMP!"
NFL
Tom Brady threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots knocked off the Browns, 27-13 to improve to 8-0 for the third time in team history. Brady completed 20 of 36 passes, hitting Julian Edelman on eight of them for 78 yards and both TDs. New England capitalized on three first-quarter turnovers by Cleveland to take a 17-0 lead before Bill Belichick became the third coach in league history with 300 career victories.
Detroit’s three-game losing streak is over after Matthew Stafford threw two of his three touchdown passes to Kenny Golladay in a 31-26 victory over the slumping Giants. Stafford's 41-yard flea flicker to Golladay early in the fourth put the 3-3-1 Lions ahead by 12 points. The 2-6 Giants dropped their fourth in a row despite rookie Daniel Jones, who finished with 311 passing yards and had career highs of 28 completions, 41 attempts and four TD passes.
Rookie Miles Sanders scored on a career-best 65-yard touchdown run as part of the Eagles’ 31-13 whipping of the Bills. Carson Wentz finished 17 of 24 for 172 yards and a touchdown in a game Philadelphia blew open by scoring TDs 83 seconds apart spanning halftime. The Eagles moved to 4-4 and prevented Buffalo from posting its first 6-1 start since 1993.
Gardner Minshew outplayed Sam Darnold while completing 22 of 34 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns in Jacksonville’s 29-15 win over the 1-6 Jets. Minshew connected with Keelan Cole and Chris Conley for first-quarter touchdowns that put the 4-4 Jaguars in control. New York quarterback Sam Darnold passed for 218 yards and two scores, but he also was sacked eight times and threw three interceptions just six days after he was picked off four times by New England.
In NFL news, Minnesota Vikings backup safety Jayron Kearse has been arrested in Minneapolis on suspicion of driving while impaired and with a loaded gun. The Minnesota State Patrol says a trooper stopped Kearse just before 4 a.m. Sunday after seeing a Mercedes drive around a barricade onto a closed portion of Interstate 94 and "observed signs of alcohol impairment." The patrol says Kearse had a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent, above Minnesota's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between Alabama and LSU in two weeks looks set, though the order of the Crimson Tide and Tigers changed in the AP Top 25 in one of the closet votes ever. Heading into an off date for both teams, LSU flip-flopped with Alabama to become the new No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll. The Tigers received 1,476 points, two more than Alabama, for the closest margin between 1 and 2 since No. 1 Florida State was two points ahead of Auburn on Oct. 5, 2014. No. 3 Ohio State was not far behind with 1,468 points. Eight points separating first from third is the fewest in the regular season since Dec. 3, 1979, when No. 1 Ohio State was 10 points ahead of No. 3 Southern California, with Oklahoma in between, two back of the Buckeyes. Alabama received the most first-place votes this week with 21. LSU and Ohio State both got 17 first-place votes. No. 4 Clemson received seven first-place votes.
NBA
The Grizzlies pulled out a 134-133 win over the Nets on Jae Crowder’s 3-pointer as time expired in overtime. Rookie Ja Morant led the Grizzlies with 30 points and handed out his ninth assist on Crowder's winning basket.
The NBA’s defending Western Conference champs find themselves 0-2 following their second consecutive blowout loss. Oklahoma City had been 0-2 until Dennis Schroeder contributed 22 points in a 120-92 rout of Golden State. Danilo Gallinari added 21 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 19 points and nine rebounds as the Thunder bounced back from losses to the Jazz and Wizards. The blowout matched Oklahoma City's largest margin of victory over the Warriors since the franchise moved from Seattle before the 2008-09 season. Golden State never came close to recovering from a 70-37 halftime deficit. Stephen Curry scored 23 points for the Warriors, making 7 of 18 shots while his teammates made just 23 of 74.
Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Dwight Howard all had double-doubles as the Lakers thumped the Hornets, 120-101. Davis had 29 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who took control with an 18-2 run in the first half. James had 20 points, 12 assists and six boards, while Howard chipped in 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Damian Lillard's twisting layup with 26 seconds remaining proved to be the winner in the Trail Blazers’ 121-119 victory against the Mavericks. Lillard shot just 1-for-7 before scoring 26 of his 28 points in the second half.
Andrew Wiggins made four 3-pointers in the final six minutes and finished with 25 points to propel the undefeated Timberwolves to a 116-109 victory over the Heat. Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Wolves, who are 3-0 for just the second time in franchise history.
NHL
The Islanders ran their winning streak to seven games as Mathew Barzal provided a goal and an assist in a 5-3 decision over the Flyers. Anders Lee, Derick Brassard, Ross Johnston and Ryan Pulock scored for New York, while Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots.
The Bruins coasted to a 7-4 win over the Rangers behind Brad Marchand’s two goals and three assists. Patrice Bergeron scored three goals for his fifth regular-season hat trick, and David Pastrnak set up five goals as Boston improved to 8-1-2.
The Detroit Red Wings were able to claw back from a two-goal deficit in the third period against the defending Stanley Cup champs on Sunday before absorbing their eighth consecutive loss. David Perron was able to bail out the Blues by scoring 1:28 into overtime to complete a 5-4 victory over the Wings. Perron also collected three assists, including a pass on Ryan O’Reilly’s power-play goal with 4:18 left in regulation. O'Reilly had two goals and two assists to help the Blues withstand the Red Wings’ three-goal third period.
Brian Boyle and Jayce Hawryluk each had a goal and an assist as the Panthers rolled to a 6-2 win over the Oilers. Aaron Ekblad, Noel Acciari, Evgenii Dadonov and Frank Vatrano also scored to help Florida improve to 5-2-4.
Dylan Strome had two goals and assisted on linemate Alex DeBrincat's score in helping the Blackhawks end a four-game skid with a 5-1 win over the Kings. David Kampf and Drake Caggiula also scored for Chicago, which had scored just twice in its previous three games.
Nick Paul produced his first career NHL multipoint game by furnishing two goals and an assist in the Senators' 5-2 victory over the Sharks. Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists as Ottawa dropped San Jose to 1-2-1 on its five-game road trip.
Nicolas Roy scored his first NHL goal in helping the Golden Knights dump the Ducks, 5-2. Mark Stone, Ryan Reaves, William Karlsson and Paul Stastny also scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury needed to make just 13 saves.
NASCAR
Martin Truex Jr. has earned a spot in NASCAR's championship race for the third consecutive year with a dominating victory at Martinsville Speedway. Truex led 464 of the 500 laps in becoming the first driver to claim a spot in the Nov. 17 title-race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It marked the most laps led by a winner since Kyle Petty led 484 laps in 1992 at Rockingham. Denny Hamlin was knocked to the ground in a confrontation with Joey Logano in the most intense action of an otherwise lackluster playoff race. They were having what appeared to be a civil conversation until Hamlin wagged his finger at Logano. Logano placed his hand on Hamlin's shoulder somewhat flippantly as he walked away, causing Hamlin to chase after him. Hamlin finished fourth, behind championship non-contenders William Byron and Brad Keselowski.
PGA
Tiger Woods shrugged off an early bogey Monday in the final round to win the Zozo Championship and tie Sam Snead's PGA Tour record of 82 victories. The 43-year-old American returned Monday to play the final seven holes in the rain-plagued tournament, completing a 3-under 67 to beat local favorite Hideki Matsuyama by three strokes. Rory McIlroy completed his final round with two birdies for a 67 to tie for third with Sungjae Im at 13 under.
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