LEADING OFF: Red Sox seek to clean things up vs Astros
A look at what's happening around the majors Sunday:
TRY AGAIN
The Red Sox send David Price to the mound for Game 2 of their AL Championship Series against Houston hoping for a bounce-back performance from the entire club. Price hasn't pitched since allowing three runs in 1 2/3 innings in a Game 2 Division Series loss to the Yankees. That dropped him to 0-9 in 10 career postseason starts, the longest such skid in major league playoff history.
Boston is coming off a lousy night all around in a 7-2 loss to Houston. Chris Sale struggled, Alex Cora was ejected, the defense had a few misplays and the offense had just three hits against Justin Verlander and a trio of relievers.
Gerrit Cole is up for the Astros. The right-hander struck out 12 over seven innings in a 3-1 win Game 2 win against Cleveland in the Division Series.
LOOK OUT!
Umpire Joe West slides from second base to first for ALCS Game 2 after getting closer to the action than he'd like in the opener. Boston catcher Christian Vazquez drilled West in the chest with a throw when Jake Marisnick stole second in the eighth. The 65-year-old crew chief appeared to be fine.
REST UP
The Brewers and Dodgers get a day to travel to Los Angeles before playing Game 3 Monday. It's a chance for Milwaukee's vaunted bullpen to recover and look for answers after an uncharacteristically lousy first couple games. Aside from lights-out lefty Josh Hader, Brewers relievers have allowed eight runs in 7 1/3 innings. That crew had the fifth-best bullpen ERA in the majors during the regular season at 3.47, including a big league-best 1.98 in September.
