The Houston Astros won a wild 11-inning see-saw battle beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 in Game 2 of the World Series.

Astros center-fielder George Springer smacked a two-run homer in the top of the 11^th inning silencing fans at Dodgers Stadium after their team had tied the game in the bottom of the 10^th inning at 5-5.

The Dodgers struck back in the bottom of the 11^th inning with a solo homer by pinch-hitter Charlie Culberson. But that was all the Dodgers could muster against Astros reliever Chris Devenski.

The Astros’ victory ties the series at one game a piece with the action moving to Houston on Friday. The Astros have not lost a game at home in this post-season.

“We’re never out of it and we have a lineup that’s really scary when it’s on,” said Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, who had three hits and two RBI’s.

The Dodgers looked like they were headed to victory after seven innings when they led the game 3-1. Those three runs came off of Astros ace Justin Verlander who had appeared to be in control of the game giving up only two hits: a solo homer by the Dodgers Joc Pederson in the 5^th inning and a two-run shot by Corey Seager in the 6^th.

But Houston began clawing back in the 8^th inning against Dodger closer Kenley Jansen. They scored one run on a ground-rule double by Alex Bregman and a single by Carlos Correa, making the game 3-2. That run ended a string of 28 scoreless innings by Los Angeles’ vaunted bullpen.

Houston tied the game at 3-3 when Marwin Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the top of the 9^th inning. The Dodgers went quietly in their half of the 9^th, sending the game into extra innings.

That’s when Houston, the most potent offense in baseball this year, showed signs of life with back-to-back homeruns by Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in the top of the 10th inning, making the game 5-3.

It was the Dodgers turn to get back in the game when right-fielder Yasiel Puig launched a solo shot in the bottom of the 10^th inning. A walk, a wild pitch and then a single by pinch-hitter Enrique Hernandez off of Astros closer Ken Giles tied the game at 5-5.

Astros starter Verlander pitched six innings. The Dodger’s starter, Rich Hill, was pulled after four innings, despite striking out seven batters. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to go to his bullpen early, a strategy that had worked well until tonight.

The game featured eight homeruns. It will likely be remembered for the fact that the Dodgers bullpen—a team strength all year—couldn’t hold a lead when it mattered most.

Updated at 12:41 a.m. ET

In a dramatic, 11-inning contest, the Astros even the series at one game a piece. It’s Houston’s first-ever World Series game win.

Updated at 12:32 a.m. ET

The Dodgers’ Charlie Cuberson hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Updated at 12:15 a.m. ET

After the Dodgers rallied to tie the game 5-5 in the 11th inning, the Astros answered back with a two-run homer.

Updated at 11: 35 p.m. ET

Houston has a 5-3 lead over Los Angeles in the tenth inning of Game 2 of the World Series.

Our previous post:

Los Angeles Dodgers have taken a 3-1 lead in Game 2 of the World Series with a two-run home run by shortstop Corey Seager off Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander in the bottom of the 6th inning.

Verlander had appeared in command of the game, retiring the first two batters he faced in the sixth, before walking Chris Taylor and then watching Seager drive a pitch out of Dodger Stadium.

In the fifth, Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson broke up a no-hit bid by Verlander with a solo home run, tying the game at 1-1.

The Astros had taken a one-run lead over the Dodgers, scoring on a series of singles in the top of third. After an infield single by Josh Reddick, a bunt by Verlander, and another single by George Springer, first baseman Alex Bregman roped yet another single to center field, scoring Reddick.

Verlander then retired the Dodgers in the bottom of the third, and held the Angelenos hitless over four innings.

Dodgers starter Rich Hill recovered from the Astros’ single run by striking out the dangerous Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa.

Neither starting pitcher made it through the whole game.

The Dodgers took the first game of the Series 3-1 Tuesday, with starter Clayton Kershaw handcuffing the Astros. Kershaw needed only 83 pitches to strike out 11 batters and hold them to one run on three hits.

This story will be updated during the game.

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Updated 11:50 p.m. ET

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros 3-1 in Game 1 of the 2017 World Series in Los Angeles on the strength of superior pitching and timely home runs.

The Dodgers got a strong performance by their ace, Clayton Kershaw, who struck out 11 batters over seven innings, surrendering only one run on three hits. He walked none.

“It was a special night for Clayton,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about his three-time Cy Young Award winner.

Kershaw said he really couldn’t tell the difference between any other post-season start and a World Series start.

“But it definitely feels good to say it was the World Series and feels good to say we’re 1 and 0,” he said.

The Astros’ starter, Dallas Keuchel, pitched almost as well. But the Dodgers’ three runs came on pitches Keuchel would probably like to pull back.

The Dodgers drew blood in the bottom of the first inning when center fielder Chris Taylor smacked Keuchel’s first pitch deep into the left field seats.

Down by a single run, the Astros’ starting pitcher kept the Dodgers at bay with his own efficient pitching and the help of three double plays by his teammates. Houston’s third baseman Alex Bregman silenced the Los Angeles crowd when he opened the fourth inning with a solo homer off of Kershaw to tie the game 1-1.

The game was looking like a classic pitchers’ duel until the bottom of the sixth inning when Keuchel, with two outs, walked Taylor. Dodger third baseman Justin Turner broke the tie with a two-run homer to left field.

Keuchel gave up three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out three and surrendered one walk — to Taylor, setting up the Turner home run.

That made the score 3-1 Dodgers and their highly touted bullpen held that lead. LA reliever Brandon Morrow retired the Astros in the eighth inning and closer Kenley Jansen wrapped it up in the ninth.

In addition to outstanding pitching, Game 1 of the 2017 World Series will likely be remembered for the heat. The recorded temperature at Dodger Stadium at game time was a toasty 103 degrees.

In fact, Turner gave credit to the heat for his game-winning homer.

“When it’s that hot here the ball does travel a lot better,” he said in a post-game press conference. “If it’s ten degrees cooler that’s probably a routine fly ball to left field.”

Game 2 will be played Wednesday evening In Los Angeles. The scheduled starting pitchers are Rich Hill for the Dodgers and Justin Verlander for the Astros.

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Alaska’s Iditarod race committee has identified four-time champion Dallas Seavey as the musher whose dogs tested positive for a banned opioid pain reliever in this year’s race. Seavey is denying the charge and has withdrawn from the 2018 dog sled race in protest.

Last week, the Iditarod Trail Committee announced that at the March finish in Nome this year, four dogs from a single team had tested positive for the drug tramadol. The committee initially declined to name the musher involved.

However, competitors kept up pressure to release the name of the accused musher. On Monday, the Iditarod Official Finishers Club released a statement signed by 83 current and former competitors calling for the musher to be named within 72 hours, according to The Associated Press.

Seavey, now 30, came in second in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race behind his father, 57-year-old Mitch Seavey.

In a YouTube video, a visibly agitated Dallas Seavey denied any wrongdoing and fired back at the race organizers, saying he had been cooperating with them to clear things up.

“I did nothing wrong,” Seavey said in the video.

“I have never knowingly broken any race rule. I have never given any banned substance to my dogs,” he said, adding that he fully expects to be banned but that he doesn’t care “if I never make another cent” from the sport, which he said “is my life.”

He said he spent several months trying to explain how his dogs showed positive for the drug, but instead was “thrown under the bus.”

“I believe this was given to my dogs maliciously,” he said. “That’s one of the options. I think that is the most likely option. There are numerous ways that could have been done.”

As we wrote in last week’s story:

“… the board said it was revising the rules on doping by shifting the burden of proof from race officials to the mushers.

“In future, mushers will be held accountable for a positive test unless they can prove the drugs were administered the drug outside their control. Previously, the rule could be interpreted so that race officials would need to prove the doping was intentional, AP says.”

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The Houston Astros are going to the World Series. They beat the New York Yankees 4-0 Saturday night in Minute Maid Park in Houston — the series went seven games.

The only other time the Astros have made an appearance in the World Series was in 2005 when they lost to the Chicago White Sox.

According to the MLB Stat of the Day: The Astros are the first team to reach the World Series as an American League team (2017) and as a National League team (2005).

Pitcher Justin Verlander was named the Most Valuable Player of the American League Championship Series.

MLB.com reports:

“Verlander, 34, was remarkable in his two ALCS starts, going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA while striking out 21 and walking two. The right-hander allowed one run in a complete-game effort that included 124 pitches and 13 strikeouts in Game 2 to help the Astros take a 2-0 lead in the series. In Game 6, with Houston’s back against the wall, down 3-2, Verlander went to the well again with seven shutout innings and eight strikeouts to help his team stay alive.

“Houston was rumored to be a potential trade destination for Verlander all summer, but a deal seemed unlikely when the Astros were unable to work out a deal with Detroit before the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline. Still, Houston’s front office didn’t give up on Verlander and finally inked a deal with the 2011 AL Cy Young Award winner with seconds to spare before the Aug. 31 deadline for waiver trades.”

The World Series begins Tuesday in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers have been waiting to find out who they would be playing.

The Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 11-1 Thursday night at Wrigley Field in Chicago to capture the National League Championship Series.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers nailed down the National League championship and a trip to the World Series Thursday by beating the Chicago Cubs 11-1 to take the series four games to one. Left fielder Enrique Hernandez was on fire for the Dodgers, hitting three home runs and driving in seven runs at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

The Dodgers were in charge all the way. Their biggest inning was the third, with four runs on a grand slam by Hernandez. He also hit two other homers and joined nine other players, including Babe Ruth, who have hit three home runs in one postseason game.

The defending champion Cubs got on the board with a solo homer by Kris Bryant in the fourth inning.

Los Angeles will play the winner of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros. The Yankees lead three games to two in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Friday night.

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Editor’s note: This story contains graphic language.

As women around the world tell their stories of sexual harassment and assault using the phrase “#MeToo,” one prominent voice added her own harrowing account.

McKayla Maroney, a member of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team that won gold at the 2012 Olympics in London, says she was abused for years by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

“I had a dream to go to the Olympics,” she writes in a statement posted to Twitter, “and the things that I had to endure to get there, were unnecessary, and disgusting.”

“Dr. Nassar told me that I was receiving ‘medically necessary treatment that he had been performing on patients for over 30 years,’ ” she writes. “It started when I was 13 years old, at one of my first National Team training camps, in Texas, and it didn’t end until I left the sport.” She says the abuse continued in London during the 2012 games.

Maroney says the scariest night of her life happened when she was 15 years old, when the team traveled to Tokyo. She says Nassar gave her a sleeping pill to help her sleep on the flight, and when she awoke she was alone with him in his hotel room, “getting a ‘treatment.’ ” She does not describe his specific actions.

“I thought I was going to die that night,” she writes.

Maroney retired from gymnastics in 2016, at age 20. She sprang to fame with strong routines at the 2012 Olympics, and her look of dissatisfaction at her silver medal performance in the vault final gave rise to the “McKayla is not impressed” meme.

Her story of molestation by Nassar echoes the accounts of many others. More than 125 women have sued the former team doctor, alleging abuse.

Attorneys representing Nassar had no comment on Maroney’s accusations.

In July, Nassar pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts related to child pornography, for which he could be sentenced to 22 to 27 years in prison. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for Dec. 7, the same week as jury selection in his trial on state charges in Michigan.

Nassar faces almost two dozen charges of sexual assault in two different Michigan counties, the Lansing State Journalreports. From 1997 until he was fired last September, Nassar was a sports medicine doctor and faculty member at Michigan State University.

He has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges; many of the civil charges are in mediation, according to The Associated Press.

In court, Nassar’s attorneys have defended his actions — including breast massages and digital vaginal and anal penetration for up to 20 minutes as a time — as helpful medical treatments, according to the Journal.

Maroney’s accusation against Nassar comes amid sweeping allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by film executive Harvey Weinstein and others. She says she wants people to know that the problems are not only in Hollywood.

“Things have to change,” Maroney writes, and she has some suggestions for how to make that happen:

“One: Speaking out, and bringing awareness to the abuse that is happening.

“Two: People, Institutions, Organizations, especially those in positions of power, etc. need to be held accountable for their inappropriate actions and behavior.

“Three: Educate, and prevent, no matter the cost.

“Four: Have zero tolerance for abusers and those who protect them.”

She ends with one more piece of advice: “remember, it’s never too late to speak up.”

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NFL owners and players met at league headquarters in New York on Tuesday but failed to resolve the contentious issue of national anthem protests.

Eleven owners and 13 players attended the meeting that lasted for several hours and was variously described as “positive” and “constructive,” but didn’t break any new ground on the protests that have seen players take a knee, sit or raise fists during pregame renditions of the national anthem to protest against racial inequality and police shootings of unarmed black men.

NPR’s Tom Goldman tells All Things Considered that there “were hopes Tuesday’s meeting would bring a resolution — players agreeing to stop or curtail the demonstrations, the league and team owners agreeing to address the players’ issues.” However, the meeting ended without that.

“We heard what they had to say and they heard us,” Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said. “It’s open talks and that’s a good thing.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league “did not ask” for any change to the policy on the national anthem. That policy says players “should” stand for performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” but in the wake of the protests, some have suggested changing that language to “must.”

The NFL Players Association union and the league issued a joint statement, saying the sides came together “to promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities.”

“NFL executives and owners joined NFLPA executives and player leaders to review and discuss plans to utilize our platform to promote equality and effectuate positive change. We agreed that these are common issues and pledged to meet again to continue this work together,” the statement read.

“As we said last week, everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country, our flag, our anthem and our military. In the best American tradition, we are coming together to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change,” it continued.

Last week, Commissioner Goodell said in a memo to the teams that the league prefers for players to stand during the anthem.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, who has been a leading spokesman for the players on this issue, said the discussion covered “everything to do with the state of the NFL now, obviously anthem protests, activism that players have been doing, and how we can move this forward to really amplify players’ voices and amplify these issues and make some long sustainable changes.”

“I’m not sure we’re close to a resolution, but conversations are ongoing,” he added.

Indianapolis Colts defensive back Darius Butler told Sports Illustrated that it was a good dialogue, adding, “it’s not going to be fixed overnight.”

The protests were touched off a year ago when then-San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick began taking a knee for the anthem. When President Trump weighed in last month saying owners should “fire” players for such protests, the issue snowballed into a national debate over those who see the matter as one of free speech and others who see it as a lack of respect for the flag and the national anthem.

Kaepernick, who became a free agent this season has remained unsigned. Earlier this week his attorney said he was filing a grievance against the NFL and owners for allegedly conspiring to shut him out of the league over the protests.

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The University of Louisville has fired men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino, ending his tenure with the team roughly three weeks after the program was implicated in a federal bribery and fraud investigation. The board of the school’s athletic association voted unanimously during a closed-door meeting Monday to terminate his contract with “just cause.”

During the course of the hourslong meeting, Pitino’s lawyers argued that the coach was unaware of an alleged scheme to secretly funnel cash — in the words of acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim — from “employees of one of the world’s largest sportswear companies … to the families of high school recruits.”

But university officials remained unconvinced by the lawyers’ argument.

“We listened carefully to what they said, we read carefully everything they gave us,” interim President Gregory Postel told reporters Monday, “but we felt that our initial decision to begin the process of termination for cause was still in the best interest of the university.”

Pitino had been placed on unpaid leave late last month, when the school put his employment under review.

The decision is the latest episode in a storied — if scandal-plagued — career on the sideline for Pitino. Before he was placed on unpaid leave late last month, Pitino had spent more than a decade and a half with Louisville, where he won a national championship in 2013 — just hours after his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

But that championship was vacated earlier this year, after the NCAA found the program guilty of more wrongdoing: “arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes and others.” In addition to losing its records over a span of more than three years, Louisville was placed on probation for another four — and the NCAA called for Pitino to be suspended for several games in the coming season for his alleged failure of oversight.

As ESPN noted last month, other scandals have clouded Pitino’s career, despite successes including a national title for Louisville’s cross-state rival, the University of Kentucky. The network reports his run-ins with the NCAA date back to the very early years of his career with the University of Hawaii.

But it was the FBI probe that helped provide the coup de grace for Pitino’s time with Louisville.

Member station WFPL reported on the alleged illicit payments — which led to arrests at four universities, though not at Louisville:

“In court filings, prosecutors describe two scenarios in which an Adidas staffer secured payments for families of U of L recruits. In one instance, an Adidas employee arranged for $100,000 and ongoing monthly payments allegedly funneled through a third-party company for a high school player, who is currently a freshman athlete at the school.

“That athlete is widely believed to be star recruit Brian Bowen.”

Adidas also announced Monday that it had terminated its deal with Pitino, according to ESPN.

Postel asserted “there isn’t just a single reason” that led the school to fire Pitino.

“There were a number of issues that over time were brought to our attention,” Postel said, “and we simply felt that this was in the best interest of the university to make the decision at this point in time.”

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Free-agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL and team owners alleging that they colluded to keep him out of the league following his pregame protests during the National Anthem.

Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before games last season to protest police treatment of blacks, alleges that the NFL and team owners violated anti-collusion provisions in the league’s collective bargaining agreement with its players.

“If the NFL (as well as all professional sports teams) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful protest — which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago — should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our government,” Kaepernick’s attorney, Mark Geragos said in a statement, according to ESPN.

“Such a precedent threatens all patriotic Americans and harkens back to our darkest days as a nation. Protecting all athletes from such collusive conduct is what compelled Mr. Kaepernick to file his grievance,” Geragos said.

ESPN writes:

“Kaepernick is not going through the NFL Players Association but has instead hired Geragos, who has represented several high-profile clients, including Michael Jackson, former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield and musician Chris Brown.”

As NPR’s Tom Goldman reported back in August, when it became clear that Kaepernick would go unsigned by any team, collusion is difficult to prove.

The language of the provision in the collective-bargaining agreement that Kaepernick cites requires “clear and convincing evidence of a violation.”

Even so, Tom explains in a newscast report, “to prove collusion, [Kaepernick] doesn’t have to show every team is conspiring – it can be as few as two teams, or one team and the league agree they want to keep out the former Super Bowl quarterback.”

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