ARLINGTON, Texas – No dogpile, no champagne and a mask on nearly every face — the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated their first World Series title since 1988 in a manner no one could have imagined prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Since Orel Hershiser struck out Oakland’s Tony Phillips for the final out of the 1988 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers have played 5,014 regular-season games and 113 more in the postseason in pursuit of their next title. They have spent $3.69 billion in player payroll over 32 seasons.

ARLINGTON, Texas –  Clayton Kershaw’s glittering career lacked two of the most satisfying accomplishments: a win deep in the World Series and a championship ring.

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas – For all the talk about pride in advancing runners and manufacturing runs, teams in the postseason have really dug the long ball.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers left the Tampa Bay Rays stuck in neutral to start a most strange World Series played amid the pandemic.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Clayton Kershaw has pitched in the final game of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers six of the last seven years. None of those were followed by lifting the World Series trophy.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated as Cody Bellinger’s drive soared deep into the Texas night. Bellinger flung his bat off to the side and strutted up the first-base line.

Corey Seager homered again, Walker Buehler pitched six scoreless innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers pushed the NL Championship Series to Game 7 with a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off the Atlanta reliever with the same name, Corey Seager homered twice and Los Angeles avoided elimination with a 7-3 win over the Braves in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series on Friday night.

SAN DIEGO – Joey Wendle hit a go-ahead, two-run single two batters after another critical error by José Altuve, and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for a 5-2 win against the Houston Astros on Tuesday night that moved them within one victory of the second World Series appearance in franchise history.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Ozzie Albies homered into the Atlanta Braves bullpen in the ninth inning for the second straight night, and Mark Melancon once again grabbed the ball on the fly.

SAN DIEGO – Manuel Margot hit a three-run home run one batter after a crucial Houston error and made a spectacular catch in right field in his former home ballpark, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Astros 4-2 Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series.

SAN DIEGO – After the Houston Astros bashed the ball all over Dodger Stadium for the past week, they found it a whole lot harder to slug when they moved a couple of hours down the coast for the AL Championship Series.

Mike Brosseau homered off Aroldis Chapman with one out in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 2-1 Friday night to reach the AL Championship Series for the first time in 12 seasons.

MIAMI – Their T-shirts say Bottom Feeders, even though the Miami Marlins are showing they’re a different kind of fish in 2020 – the sort that rises to make a splash.

Associated Press

Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers got off to a ragged start this year. They never got above .500. And they dropped their last game to finish with a losing record.

OAKLAND, Calif. – Maybe it was because they actually played baseball on the final day of a 2020 regular season that at times seemed like it would never start, then later seemed like it might not finish, that it felt a little different than in years past. A feeling of accomplishment permeated, more than finality or frustration, as the Mariners wrapped up the shortest and weirdest regular season in MLB’s modern era.