Oct. 25
1911 - Fred Merkle’s 10th-inning sacrifice fly scored Larry Doyle to give the New York Giants a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. The victory cut the A’s lead in the Series to 3-2.
1978 - Gaylord Perry of the San Diego Padres becomes the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. Perry wins the National League award with a 21-6 record and a 2.72 ERA.
1981 - Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees and take a 3-2 lead in the World Series.
1986 - The New York Mets rallied for three runs with two outs in the 10th inning against the Boston Red Sox and pushed the World Series to a decisive seventh game. The tie-breaking run scored on Boston first baseman Bill Buckner’s error on Mookie Wilson’s slow grounder.
1987 - The Minnesota Twins, behind Frank Viola, won their first World Series championship by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 in Game 7, becoming the first team to win four home games.
1997 - Cleveland’s Chad Ogea beat Florida with his arm and bat to force a Game 7 in the World Series. Ogea allowed a run on four hits over five innings and got two hits with two RBIs and a run scored in a 4-1 victory over the Marlins. Ogea drove in the first two runs of the game with a bases-loaded single in the second.
2003 - Florida’s Josh Beckett threw a shutout to lead the Marlins to a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees to win the World Series. Pitching on three days rest, Beckett, who was named MVP of the series, allowed five hits in Game 6 as Florida won its second title in seven seasons.
2005 - Geoff Blum homered in the top of the 14th inning in his first World Series at-bat to help the Chicago White Sox defeat Houston 7-5 in Game 3. At 5 hours, 41 minutes, it was the longest game by time in Series history and matched the longest in innings. The Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers also went 14 innings in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series.
2017 - George Springer hit a two-run drive in the 11th inning and the Houston Astros won a thrilling home run derby at Dodger Stadium, beating Los Angeles 7-6 to tie the World Series at one game apiece. The teams combined for a Series record eight homers.
Today’s birthdays: Juan Soto 21; Pedro Martinez 48.
Oct. 26
1911 - Danny Murphy of Philadelphia had four hits as the Athletics beat the New York Giants 13-2 to win the World Series in six games. The A’s put the game out of reach with a seven-run seventh inning.
1940 - Detroit outfielder Hank Greenberg won the American League MVP with Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller finishing second. Greenberg hit .340 with 41 home runs and 150 RBIs. Greenberg, who won the award in 1935 as a first baseman, became the first player to win the MVP again playing a different position.
1977 - Sparky Lyle of the New York Yankees became the first American League relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Lyle posted a 13-5 record with 26 saves and a 2.17 ERA in a league-leading 72 appearances.
1982 - Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies became the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards, taking National League honors. The 37-year-old lefthander led the league in wins (23), innings pitched (295.2), strikeouts (286) and shutouts (6). Carlton also won the award in 1972, 1977 and 1980.
1985 - Dane Iorg’s two-run single and a disputed call by first base umpire Don Denkinger in the ninth inning gave the Kansas City Royals a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and tied the World Series after six games. St. Louis scored its run on a bloop single by Brian Harper in the eighth inning.
1991 - Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett homered off Charlie Leibrandt to give the Twins a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Atlanta Braves and force a Game 7 in the World Series.
1996 - The New York Yankees won their 23rd World Series by beating the Atlanta Braves 3-2 in Game 6. John Wetteland, who allowed a run in the ninth, hung on to get his fourth save of the series and capture Series MVP.
1997 - Edgar Renteria ended one of the most thrilling Game 7s, singling with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Florida Marlins their first World Series championship with a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. The 5-year-old Marlins became the youngest expansion team to win a championship.
2000 - The New York Yankees became the first team in more than a quarter-century to win three straight World Series championships, beating the New York Mets 4-2. The Yankees matched the Oakland Athletics’ three in a row from 1972-74, and won their fourth title in five years.
2002 - The Anaheim Angels overcame a 5-0 deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 and force a Game 7 in the World Series. Scott Spezio hit a three-run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Giants lead to 5-3. Darin Erstad opened the eighth with a home run off Todd Worrell. Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson followed with singles to chase Worrell. Robb Nen came in and gave up a two-run double to Troy Glaus. It was the biggest comeback in Series history for a team facing elimination.
2005 - Jermaine Dye singled home the only run in the eighth, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros 1-0 to win their first World Series title in 88 years.
2008 - Joe Blanton became the first pitcher in 34 years to homer in the World Series, Ryan Howard drove in five runs and the Philadelphia Phillies romped over the Tampa Bay Rays 10-2 to move within one win of their first championship since 1980.
2018 - Max Muncy ended the longest World Series game ever with a leadoff home run in the 18th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers outlasted the Boston Red Sox 3-2 to pull within 2-1. Muncy connected off Nathan Eovaldi, who was in his seventh inning of relief.
Today’s birthdays: Joe Palumbo 25; Dwight Smith Jr. 27; Erik Skoglund 27; Dominic Leone 28; Francisco Liriano 36.
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