LOS ANGELES鈥?The scene was familiar. The Los Angeles Dodgers hung their heads over the dugout railing as they watched the other team celebrate a World Seriestitle on their home turf. This Christian Vazquez Jersey , after dropping the 2018 Fall Classic in five games to the Boston Red Sox.They knew what to do. Slink down to the dugout steps. Pack up their stuff. Hug their teammates. Wish them a good offseason. Next year, some of them will be gone. There will be new faces mixing in, and this would be the last night the 2018 Dodgers gathered in their locker room. Together, in defeat."There's only one team that can win, and we know that, but it just hurts when you make it all the way and get second place,"Clayton Kershaw said. "So having done that two years in a row now, it doesn't make it any easier."The Dodgers head home for a second straight November, their hands empty once again. The last time they had an opportunity to raise a World Series title, they pushed the Houston Astrosto a Game 7 on Nov. 1. They spent the summer ruminating on everything they could've done better to flip the script this year, to ensure they wouldn't let the opportunity slip away if they made it back.The Red Sox plotted a different course and ripped any chance of a happy ending in Los Angeles away from the Dodgers, who were bullied throughout the five-game series by Boston's offense. The Dodgers looked overmatched."You have to give credit to the Red Sox," Kershaw said. "They're a great team. They won 108 games in the regular season. They beat two teams that also won a hundred games in the postseason and then beat us four games to one. 鈥?They're a great team. Not a lot of margin for error."Jae C. Hong/Associated PressChanges loom in Los Angeles. Clayton Kershaw, who would look like Spock on Tatooine in any other uniform, can opt out this offseason. Either way,as his velocity drops, so does his ability to match his reputation as the best pitcher of his generation.Manny Machado, like Yu Darvish before him, came into Dodger Stadium like a Kardashian, causing controversy and drama for his team at nearly every turn before leaving behind a potential mess. And Dodgers fans booed manager Dave Roberts during the pregame introductions of Game 5, when his team still had a chance to earn its first World Series title since 1988."We've just got to go back out there, and I expect us to be back here next year, but celebrating on the field," Roberts said. "I think the culture, the players http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-fred-lynn-jersey , as far as the large majority are in place."For the L.A. manager, the "us" may turn into "them." The Dodgers now face the dilemma of whether they should renew Roberts, whose contract expired after Sunday night's season finale, with a team option for 2019 looming.Decision after decision, night after night, Roberts made moves that swung momentum in favor of the city where he's a postseason hero. His performance in this World Series may have cost him any opportunity to do the same in Los Angeles.He overmanaged his bullpen, relying on Ryan Madson鈥攚ho let every inherited runner score in the World Series鈥攊nstead of Pedro Baez, who often made appearances after things had already gotten out of hand. After the game, Roberts danced around a question regarding his future.Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images"[Picking up the option] hasn't happened yet, and I'm just kind of feeling for the guys in the clubhouse right now and feeling their pain, the coaches, and all of that stuff," Roberts said. "There's time for all of that stuff."When the calendar flips to March 2019 and the Dodgers report to spring training, the clubhouse in Arizona may look drastically different. They could be without their ace, arguably their best position player and their manager.The Dodgers halfway stumbled into this window鈥攁nd into the World Series this year. They developed franchise cornerstones in Kershaw, Yasiel Puig and Walker Buehler, among many others, but in Justin Turner, Chris Taylor and Max Muncy, they found stars and contributors where nobody else could.Throughout the season, the Dodgers treaded water, sitting in second and third place in the NL West before a late-season push netted themtheir sixth straight division title. These weren't the 104-win Dodgers from 2017, who won the most games since the franchise moved from Brooklyn after the 1957 season. The 2018 Dodgers didn't have enough.Given the depleted bullpen鈥攁 product of the seven-hour, 20-minuteGame 3 and the meltdown in Game 4鈥擪ershaw did all he could to try to bring this series back to Boston. This wasn't the choking Kershaw we've seen in postseasons past, but it also wasn't the ace who never posted an ERA above 2.31 from 2013 through 2017. His future in Los Angeles is now in question."I know the future questions are obviously coming for myself Wade Boggs Jersey ," Kershaw said. "I don't want to take away from tonight and what everybody is feeling. I never want to put the focus on just me or anything like that. 鈥?It will be an eventful three days for me, and I'll try to figure it out."Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressIn a series where Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez looked to be shades of their MVP-candidate selves, Kershaw allowed two home runs to Boston's star sluggers to sap Los Angeles of any hope it could push this series to seven games.And as their homers flew over the baby blue padded walls of Dodger Stadium, potentially, so too did Los Angeles' window at winning its first World Series in decades. Kershaw put his hands on his knees and looked up. Another year, another World Series strangled out of the Dodgers' grasp.Again, they'd come so far, only to watch others dance and celebrate on their field. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Albert Pujols keeps climbing up the career hits list and hurting the Texas Rangers in their home park.Pujols drove in a season-high four runs, Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer and the Los Angeles Angels beat Texas 11-7 on a rainy Saturday night.Pujols went 3 for 4 to tie 19th-century star Cap Anson for 23rd with 3,081 hits. His 633rd homer was his 16th in 59 games in Arlington.“This is a tremendous offensive ballpark,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Albert swings the bat pretty well wherever he goes.”Pujols hit a solo home run in the second inning and a two-run single in the third against Rangers starter Martin Perez.“I threw a bad pitch to Pujols, and he hit a home run off me,” Perez said.Pujols singled home another run in the seventh against losing pitcher Eddie Butler (2-3) for a 7-6 lead.Ohtani, a left-handed batter, then came on as a pinch hitter and homered to center field before Taylor Ward hit his first major league homer to complete the five-run inning against right-hander Butler.“Shohei coming off the bench was a huge hit,” Scioscia said.Winning pitcher Cam Bedrosian (5-2), the second of five Angels pitchers, got two outs in the sixth.Los Angeles took a 6-2 lead with two outs in the fourth on a three-run double by David Fletcher.Texas came back with four runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game against Angels starter Andrew Heaney. Odor singled home a run and the second scored as Andrus struck out but reached base on a wild pitch. Adrian Beltre drove in two runs with a bloop single.“I was frustrated,” Heaney said. “In the fourth inning, a walk to the 9-hole hitter and let it snowball from there.”Odor, Elvis Andrus and Joey Gallo each had three hits for the Rangers.With two outs and first base open, Pujols struck again in the third with his two-run single for a 3-2 lead.“The two-out RBIs, the double down the line and then the slider to Pujols in that situation where he gave up the runs,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-carlton-fisk-jersey , “it just seemed to be a lot of pitches mid-across and tight.TRAINER’S ROOMAngels: Before the game, manager Mike Scioscia said he hadn’t seen information about RHP/DH Ohtani’s bullpen session Saturday. He’s scheduled for another bullpen. “His workout in Arizona will probably be more aggressive,” Scioscia said.Rangers: LHP Mike Minor (stiff back) was scratched from Friday’s start, but has played catch and said, “I’ll pitch in a couple days.” . RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez, who underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2017, made his first appearance since 2016 on Friday night in the rookie Class Arizona League. He retired all six batters he faced, striking out two, and is expected to continue pitching in Arizona.RAIN, RAIN GO AWAYThe game and the ceremony honoring Rangers RHP Bartolo Colon were delayed 2 hours, 26 minutes because of a downpour that began just minutes before the scheduled 7:05 CDT start. Rain fell again in the first through sixth innings. The game ended at 12:59 a.m.“It was sloppy out there,” Scioscia said. “We were a little afraid at times.”EL PRESIDENTE HONORS BIG SEXYIn a pregame ceremony, Dennis “El Presidente” Martinez recognized Colon for breaking his career record for wins by a Latin American player with Colon’s 246th victory on Aug. 7.Martinez helped Vernon Wells Sr. unveil Wells’ original artwork with images of Colon in a Rangers uniform and portraits of Martinez and Juan Marichal, whose record Martinez broke in 1998. Martinez then raised Colon’s hand to recognize that he was the champion.ANDRUS TIES, SETS RECORDSElvis Andrus’s first-inning single extended his hitting streak at Globe Life Park to 37 games, every game he has played this season, to tie Rafael Palmeiro (2003) and Michael Young (2009) for the stadium record. With a streak of 44 consecutive games since last September, Andrus broke Julio Franco’s 1993 record for the longest home-game streak in franchise history.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Jaime Barria (8-7, 3.50) will try to help Los Angeles gain a split of the four-game series. He’s 2-0 against Texas this season with a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings.Rangers: RHP Yovani Gallardo (7-2, 5.33) will start with RHP Bartolo Colon (7-10, 5.19) bothered by what manager Jeff Banister called “a little stiffness.”
